Nebraska Statutes 84-948. Standing committee of Legislature; duties; report; contents
(1) Beginning in 2019, each standing committee of the Legislature shall annually review and analyze approximately twenty percent of the occupational regulations within the jurisdiction of the committee and prepare and submit an annual report electronically to the Clerk of the Legislature by December 15 of each year as provided in this section. Each committee shall complete this process for all occupational regulations within its jurisdiction within five years and every five years thereafter. Each report shall include the committee’s recommendations regarding whether the occupational regulations should be terminated, continued, or modified.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 84-948
- Action: shall include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Government certification: means a nontransferable recognition granted to an individual by an occupational board through a voluntary program in which the individual meets personal qualifications established by the Legislature. See Nebraska Statutes 84-935
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lawful occupation: means a course of conduct, a pursuit, or a profession that includes the sale of goods or services that are not themselves illegal to sell irrespective of whether the individual selling them is subject to an occupational regulation. See Nebraska Statutes 84-936
- Least restrictive regulation: means one of the following types of regulation, listed from least restrictive to most restrictive, consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the public:
(1) Market competition. See Nebraska Statutes 84-937
- Occupational board: means a board, commission, department, or other entity created by state law which regulates providers through occupational regulations. See Nebraska Statutes 84-938
- Occupational license: means a nontransferable authorization in law (1) for an individual to perform exclusively a lawful occupation for compensation based on meeting personal qualifications established by the Legislature and (2) which is required in order to legally perform the lawful occupation for compensation. See Nebraska Statutes 84-939
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Process: shall mean a summons, subpoena, or notice to appear issued out of a court in the course of judicial proceedings. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Provider: means an individual provider of goods or services engaged in a lawful occupation. See Nebraska Statutes 84-943
- State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Year: shall mean calendar year. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
(2) Each committee may require the submission of information by the affected occupational board and other affected or interested parties.
(3) A committee’s report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) The title of the regulated occupation and the name of the occupational board responsible for enforcement of the occupational regulations;
(b) The statutory citation or other authorization for the creation of the occupational regulations and occupational board;
(c) The number of members of the occupational board and how the members are appointed;
(d) The qualifications for membership on the occupational board;
(e) The number of times the occupational board is required to meet during the year and the number of times it actually met;
(f) Annual budget information for the occupational board for the five most recently completed fiscal years;
(g) For the immediately preceding five calendar years, or for the period of time less than five years for which the information is practically available, the number of government certifications, occupational licenses, and registrations the occupational board has issued, revoked, denied, or assessed penalties against, listed anonymously and separately per type of credential, and the reasons for such revocations, denials, and other penalties;
(h) A review of the basic assumptions underlying the creation of the occupational regulations;
(i) A statement from the occupational board on the effectiveness of the occupational regulations; and
(j) A comparison of whether and how other states regulate the occupation.
(4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, each committee shall also analyze, and include in its report, whether the occupational regulations meet the policies stated in section 84-946 considering the following recommended courses of action for meeting such policies:
(a) If the need is to protect consumers against fraud, the likely recommendation will be to strengthen powers under the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act or require disclosures that will reduce misleading attributes of the specific goods or services;
(b) If the need is to protect consumers against unclean facilities or to promote general health and safety, the likely recommendation will be to require periodic inspections of such facilities;
(c) If the need is to protect consumers against potential damages from failure by providers to complete a contract fully or up to standards, the likely recommendation will be to require that providers be bonded;
(d) If the need is to protect a person who is not party to a contract between the provider and consumer, the likely recommendation will be to require that the provider have insurance;
(e) If the need is to protect consumers against potential damages by transient providers, the likely recommendation will be to require that providers register their businesses with the Secretary of State;
(f) If the need is to protect consumers against a shortfall or imbalance of knowledge about the goods or services relative to the providers’ knowledge, the likely recommendation will be to enact government certification; and
(g) If the need is to address a systematic information shortfall such that a reasonable consumer is unable to distinguish between the quality of providers, there is an absence of institutions that provide adequate guidance to the consumer, and the consumer’s inability to distinguish between providers and the lack of adequate guidance allows for undue risk of present, significant, and substantiated harms, the likely recommendation will be to enact an occupational license.
(5) If a lawful occupation is subject to the Nebraska Regulation of Health Professions Act, the analysis under subsection (4) of this section shall be made using the least restrictive method of regulation as set out in section 71-6222.
(6) In developing recommendations under this section, the committee shall review any report issued to the Legislature pursuant to the Nebraska Regulation of Health Professions Act, if applicable, and consider any findings or recommendations of such report related to the occupational regulations under review.
(7) If the committee finds that it is necessary to change occupational regulations, the committee shall recommend the least restrictive regulation consistent with the public interest and the policies in this section and section 84-946.