On behalf of our member companies that make NJBIA the largest, most impactful association representing job creators in New Jersey, we strongly support the following bills being considered by the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee:
- A-3389- (Stanley/Speight/Collazos-Gill)- Establishes quorum standards for professional licensing entities under certain circumstances.
- A-3390 - (Stanley) - Requires Division of Consumer Affairs to create open data portal and provide certain datasets online.
- A-3577 - (Greenwald/Swain/Hutchison) - Requires issuance of report on certain information and data on processing of applications for professional and occupational licenses and mandates review of training and call intake in Division of Consumer Affairs.
These bills capture some of the pain points that have been communicated to the previous administration by NJBIA and a coalition of groups representing the licensed community since 2022. We were pleased that this committee, through the leadership of former Chairman Sterling Stanley, prioritized the voices of the licensed community by holding a special hearing regarding the organization of the state professional boards and licensure delays in March 2025, where we further elaborated on challenges and opportunities for improvement.
Through the bills considered today, meaningful solutions to improve our state’s workforce pipeline infrastructure are being offered, including:
- Ensuring that a lack of quorum due to board vacancies does not hinder an individual’s license application from being processed in a timely manner;
- Providing insight into the Division’s operational efficiencies via public access to non-confidential statistical datasets concerning application volume, processing times, and disposition of consumer complaints; and
- Requiring the Division to develop and administer profession-specific training for employees supporting the professional boards and reviewing the feasibility of outsourcing intake calls by individuals seeking a license in a specific profession or occupation to entities with industry and licensing expertise.
With workforce shortages prevalent in many industries, it is important to ensure that the Division of Consumer Affairs is given the tools and infrastructure to operate efficiently and effectively to serve the over 720,000 licensees and the millions of consumers that rely on these professionals.
We thank the Chairman, members of this committee and other legislative sponsors for your leadership to implement common-sense strategies to support the professional licensing community and urge the Committee to vote in support of A-3389, A-3390, and A-3577.
NJBIA thanks you all for consideration of our perspective on this bill. Please email me at aford@njbia.org if you have any questions.
