On behalf of our member companies that make NJBIA the largest, most impactful association representing job creators in New Jersey, we strongly support A-2805, which will provide data on the status of professional and occupational boards to process licenses and mandate staff training to bolster efficient interactions between boards and the licensed professionals they serve.
Operating procedures within the Division of Consumer Affairs have long been a challenge for the regulated professional community. Since 2022, NJBIA and a coalition of groups representing the licensed community have engaged with the Division and communicated the systemic challenges professionals face when dealing with the Division. While efforts have been made to reduce the amount of funds being diverted from DCA, which has a significant impact on the Division’s available resources, our state’s job creators are not getting the return on their investment of thousands of dollars in licensing and credentialing fees. Additionally, the Division’s operations leave the public vulnerable as prospective applicants are denied entry into the workforce, which exacerbates workforce shortages and opportunities for the public to connect with the licensed professionals they need, particularly in the healthcare and social work sectors.
In the absolute veto statement accompanying A-5283/S-3939, a similar bill seeking to increase efficiencies within the Division’s operations which passed unanimously by the Legislature last session, it was noted:
The DCA routinely meets to review, identify, and discuss metrics for each board, including application review time, and is already well-equipped to identify any weak spots and to implement appropriate solutions when delays are identified. Moreover, DCA has made significant strides in improving and streamlining the boards’ approval processes in recent years.
Yet, the licensed community continues to experience delays in the processing of
applications, a lack of timely communication from board staff regarding issues or anomalies with applications, interactions with board staff that are unfamiliar with the industry that they support, and boards riddled with vacancies and disengaged hold-over members which effect their ability to reach quorum and carry out their statutory and regulatory duties.
There is a lack of information shared with stakeholders about the Division’s operational assessments. Additionally, the licensed community is not experiencing more effective licensing boards. If such operational assessments are being done as the Governor suggested in last year’s veto, the Division should already have the appropriate infrastructure in place to operationalize this bill and should in a position to provide stakeholders with the status report this bill requires.
A-2805 will allow for a data-driven approach to assessing current DCA operations in service to the licensed community and, with the required issuance of a report, allow the Legislature and other stakeholders to better understand pain points to implement effective solutions. Additionally, this bill would codify one of the recommendations offered by industry to require training of the professional board staff, which we believe is valuable to ensuring effective operations and public safety.
Should you have any questions about our position on this or any other legislation, please feel free to contact me at aford@njbia.org.
