SB224 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris ElliottSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing, created within the Department of Labor; oversight provided to professional or occupational licensing boards.

Summary

This bill would create a new office within the Department of Labor to oversee and centralize the administrative functions of dozens of professional licensing boards.

What This Bill Does

This bill establishes the Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing within the Alabama Department of Labor. This new office would take over administrative tasks for more than 40 professional licensing boards, such as processing applications, setting fees, and managing funds. The individual boards would still exist to set professional standards and make final decisions on licenses, but their staff and funds would be managed by the new central office. The bill also moves the Sickle Cell Oversight and Regulatory Commission to the Department of Public Health.

Who It Affects

• Dozens of state professional licensing boards and the professionals they license (such as nurses, counselors, architects, and athletic trainers). The boards would be moved under a new central office, which would handle their administrative tasks like processing applications and fees. Professionals would interact with this new office for licensing matters.
• The Alabama Department of Labor, which would be responsible for creating and managing the new Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing.

Key Provisions

• Establishes the Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing within the Department of Labor to centralize administrative functions like processing applications, setting fees, and managing funds for various professional boards.
• Transfers more than 40 specific licensing boards, such as those for nursing, counseling, and architecture, into the new office in two phases on October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026.
• Creates a single 'Occupational and Professional Licensing Fund' to replace the individual funds of each board, with all fees being deposited into this new fund.
• Standardizes pay for members of the affected boards to $100 per day plus travel expenses for official business.

AI-generated summary using google/gemini-2.5-pro on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Occupational Licensing Boards