MONTGOMERY — An amended bill consolidating the administration of 25 licensing boards into an office inside the Department of Labor passed the Senate County and Municipal Government committee on Tuesday afternoon.
The bill would establish the Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing within the Department of Labor to "serve as a centralized entity providing leadership, support, and oversight to certain professional or occupational licensing boards operating within the state."
It also outlines the process for the appointment of the office's executive director, deputy directors and other staff for the office, including investigators, and would provide uniformity for certain provisions relating to licensing, fees, funding and expenses.
Licensing boards are managed by individual state employees or private companies in Alabama.
The original version of the bill consolidated 38 boards into the office. However, the amended version of the bill passed by the committee on Tuesday narrowed the number of boards.
If passed into law, boards that would be consolidated into the Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing on Oct. 1, 2025 are the: Board of Examiners of Assisted Living Administrators, Alabama Athletic Commission, Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers, State Board of Auctioneers, Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board, Alabama Behavior Analyst Licensing Board, Board of Examiners in Counseling, Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors, Alabama Electronic Security Board of Licensure, State Board of Genetic Counseling, Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists, Board of Home Medical Equipment, Alabama Board for Registered Interior Designers, Alabama Licensure Board for Interpreters and Transliterators, Alabama Board of Examiners of Landscape Architects, Alabama Board of Examiners in Marriage and Family Therapy, Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board, State Board of Midwifery, Alabama Board of Optometry, State Board of Podiatry, Alabama Private Investigation Board, Alabama State Board of Prosthetists and Orthotists, and the Alabama Security Regulatory Board.
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