Montana State Legislature

Study of Board Licensing Fees

Senate Bill 390 in the 2015 session required the Economic Affairs Interim Committee to study fees charged by the Department of Labor and Industry to licensing boards. The study was to look at fees incurred, calculated or charged by the Department of Labor and Industry, as well as Department costs and whether the fees are commensurate with the costs or provide added value related to public safety.

The study plan is incorporated into the Economic Affairs Interim Committee's work plan in Appendix B. The final report's Appendix B summarizes activities taken during the study.

Study activities have included:

• SB 390 Background Information (presented June 2015)
• Presentation on Taxes vs. Fees (presented August 2015)
  -- Background Report on Taxes vs. Fees
• SB 390 Report Connecting Dots (provided in April 2016)
  -- Commissioner's Memo on Active Supervision 
• Enterprise Fund Analysis

Public Comment has included:

• SB 390 Sanitarian Letter - Attachment 1, 2
• Issues Raised by Speech-Pathologists/Audiologists at December 2015 meeting
• April 14 public comment - 1-MHSA, 2SB, 3TM, 4DS, 5-MEHA, 6-Tri-County, 7-Riverstone, 8-JJ, 9-Pondera, 10-Missoula

Additional reading material related to whether boards' fees as administratively attached agencies to the Department of Labor and Industry are commensurate with costs include:

• U.S. Supreme Court Decision in North Carolina Dental Board case
• Federal Trade Commission Guidance on Active Supervision
• Opinion in the Washington Post by George Will on Licensing Board Exclusion of Others' Economic Activity
• Brookings article about licensing and social mobility
• Montana's administrative attachment statute, 2-15-121, MCA