HB2159 Summary

• Creates the Occupational Regulation Oversight Subcommittee consisting of 4 Senate members and 10 House members from the Senate and House Committees on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor, with at least 2 members representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts.

• Requires the subcommittee to review at least 10 regulated occupations annually to determine if state requirements impose substantial burdens, lack public health justification, or are more restrictive than necessary, using a hierarchy of least restrictive to most restrictive regulatory means.

• Mandates the subcommittee submit a biennial report by December 31 of even-numbered years to state leadership with recommendations on reducing occupational regulation burdens while protecting public health, safety, and welfare.

• Requires an initial report by September 1, 2017 addressing whether a constitutional officer should provide active supervision of regulatory boards to comply with federal antitrust law and whether the General Assembly should establish the right to pursue an occupation as fundamental.

• Establishes legislative findings that occupational regulations can harm consumers through increased costs and reduced competition, and cites the U.S. Supreme Court's North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners decision regarding antitrust liability risks.