Bill Text - SB440 (2024)

Relative to the board of optometry and the regulation of optometry.


Revision: Nov. 18, 2023, 4:15 p.m.

 

2024 SESSION

24-3025.0

09/08

 

SENATE BILL [bill number]

 

AN ACT relative to optometry licenses.

 

SPONSORS: [sponsors]

 

COMMITTEE: [committee]

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill repeals the optometry joint credentialing committee and grants the board of registration in optometry the authority to determine what constitutes the practice of optometry and to establish the credentialing requirements that need to be fulfilled before a person may be certified to perform minor surgical and other advanced procedures for the practice of optometry, subject to other provisions in the chapter.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

24-3025.0

09/08

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

 

AN ACT relative to optometry licenses.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1 Optometry; Examinations and Licenses; Licenses; Qualifications.  Amend RSA 327:6 to read as follows:

327:6 Licenses; Qualifications.

I.  No person, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall practice optometry without a license. The board shall not issue a license to any applicant until the person has passed an examination approved by the board, and has presented satisfactory evidence in the form of affidavits properly sworn to, that the person is over 18 years of age and of good moral character, has completed a minimum of 2 years at a college of arts and sciences and has graduated from a school or college of optometry approved by the board, maintaining a minimum of 4 years in optometric training. Persons who submit an application which demonstrates that they meet the eligibility requirements of this chapter and any rules adopted by the board pursuant to RSA 541-A, and pay the licensing fee, shall be licensed by the board.

II.  Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, the board shall have the authority to determine what constitutes the practice of optometry by persons licensed under this chapter, and shall establish the credentialing requirements that shall be fulfilled before a person may be certified to perform minor surgical and other advanced procedures for the practice of optometry.

2  Repeal.  RSA 327:6-b, relative to the optometry joint credentialing committee, is repealed.

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.