RULES AND REGULATIONS

Title 49--PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS

STATE BOARD OF PSYCHOLOGY

[49 PA. CODE CH. 41]

Biennial Renewal Fee Increase

[35 Pa.B. 6230]

   The State Board of Psychology (Board) amends § 41.12 (relating to fees). The amendment increases the biennial license renewal fee for psychologists from $120 to $300.

Statutory Authority

   The amendment is authorized under section 3.3(a) of the Professional Psychologists Practice Act (act) (63 P. S. § 1203.3(a)). It requires the Board to increase fees by regulation to meet or exceed projected expenditures if the revenues raised by fees, fines and civil penalties are not sufficient to meet Board expenditures. The new fee will be effective for the biennial period commencing December 1, 2005.

Response to Comments

   Notice of proposed rulemaking was published at 35 Pa.B. 1582 (March 5, 2005). Publication was followed by a 30-day public comment period during which the Board received one public comment from the Pennsylvania Psychological Association in support of the proposal. Following the close of the public comment period, the Board received comments from the House Professional Licensure Committee (HPLC). On May 4, 2005, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) advised that it had no comments, questions or recommendations to the regulation. The Board did not receive any comments from the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee (SCP/PLC). The following is in response to the comment submitted by the HPLC.

   The HPLC noted that the Board's increased expenses occurred primarily in the areas of hearing examiner and legal office costs. The HPLC requested additional information about the types of cases that are referred to hearing examiners, the number of hearing examiners hearing Board cases and the number of hours expended by the hearing examiners on Board matters. The Board reviews each order to show cause and determines whether to hear the case or delegate it to a hearing examiner. Generally criminal convictions, reciprocal discipline, continuing education violations and application cases are delegated to the Department of State Office of Hearing Examiners. Five full-time hearing examiners are assigned to that office. In Fiscal Year (FY) 03-04, the Hearing Examiners Office reported 362.14 hours dedicated to hearing board matters. The Board delegated 30 cases to hearing examiners from July 1, 2002, to July 1, 2004.

   The HPLC also asked for a more detailed breakdown of the Board's legal expenditures and a list of other Board expenditures and projected expenditures, including the administrative fees which are paid to the Department of State. The following chart sets out the Board's expenditures. For ease of reference, the categories are described in detail preceding the chart.

   Board Administration:  Timesheet based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) for the licensing divisions in the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (Bureau). Direct charges, that is printing and mailing costs for boards and commissions newsletters, renewal notices, informational handouts, acts, rules and regulations are included in this cost category. Operating and fixed assets expenses that are distributed based on their benefit to the board using licensee population such as License 2000, printed forms, office supplies and interagency billings (that is, Civil Service Commission, Comptroller's Office, and the like). Test administration staff (staff) expenses (direct charges) may include freight charges for overnight delivery services and occasional travel charges incurred by the staff.

   Commissioner's Office:  Timesheet-based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed asset charges) for those staff assigned to Commissioner's Office and Revenue Office.

   Departmental Services:  Timesheet-based charges for support provided by the various support offices within the agency. These include the Executive Office, which consists of offices of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Deputy Secretary of Regulatory Programs, Chief of Staff, Deputy Secretary of Administration, Chief Counsel, Communications and Public Information, and Legislative Affairs Offices. In addition, costs are itemized by the offices of Bureau of Management Information Services, Bureau of Finance and Operations and Human Resources.

   Legal Office:  Timesheet-based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) for board counsel, board prosecutors, complaints office and support staff. Examples of direct charges are expert witness services, advertising costs of license suspensions, revocations or fines assessed.

   Hearing Expense:  Timesheet-based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) for staff assigned to the Hearing Examiners' Office. There are also direct charges for hearing related expenses such as court reporting services.

   Legislative and Regulatory Analysis:  Timesheet-based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) for legal review of policy and regulatory matters that affect all boards and commissions.

   Enforcement and Investigation:  Timesheet-based staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) are captured for headquarters and the four regional offices, with travel-related expenses listed as a separate line item.

   Professional Health Monitoring Program (Client-based):  staff expenses (personnel, operating and fixed assets) are distributed based on the number of licensees of the licensing board participating in this program.

   Board Member Expenses (Direct charges):  Board member per diem, conference registration fees, travel expenses and membership dues for National professional organizations.

A   Cost Category	B FY 2003-2004 Budget	C Expenses as of 4/26/05	D Required to Fiscal Year End	E FY 2003-2004 Projected Expenses	F Difference from Budgeted
Administrative Costs:
Board Administration	$  99,000.00	$  94,816.99	$  0.00	$  94,816.99	$   4,183.01
Commissioner's Office	34,000.00	8,149.92	0.00	8,149.92	25,850.08
Departmental Services	21,000.00	17,488.02	0.00	20,988.02	11.98
Legal Costs:
Legal Office	189,000.00	214,389.35	0.00	214,489.35	(25,489.35)
Hearing Expenses	11,000.00	28,329.07	0.00	28,329.07	(17,329.07)
Legislative and Regulatory Analysis	1,000.00	2,803.67	0.00	2,803.67	(1,803.67)
Enforcement And Investigation:
Nontravel	137,500.00	146,686.36	0.00	146,686.36	(9,186.36)
Travel	4,500.00	4,411.51	0.00	4,411.51	88.49
Prof. Health Monitoring Program	7,000.00	1,582.00	0.00	1,582.00	5,418.00
Board Member Expenses	40,000.00	36,782.68	0.00	36,782.68	3,217.32
Total Board Costs:	544,000.00 ______	555,439.57 ______	0.00 ______	559,039.57 ______	(15,039.57) ______

State Board of Psychology
FY 02-03 and FY 03-04 Sources of Revenue

Revenue By Source	FY 02-03 Actual	FY 03-04 Actual	Biennial Total
Renewals	$   4,080.00	$ 658,790.00	$ 662,870.00
Applications	20,410.00	25,405.00	45,815.00
Letters of Good Standing/Certifications	2,210.00	2,095.00	4,305.00
Fines	11,850.00	27,000.00	38,850.00
Licensee List	1,946.72	2,992.39	4,939.11
Total Revenue	40,496.72 ______	716,282.39 ______	756,779.11 ______

   Lastly, the HPLC noted that the Board imposed more disciplinary sanctions in 2003 than in 2002 and asked for a breakdown of the 2003 sanctions by category of offense. The following chart sets out the number and types of actions taken by the Board for calendar year 2003 by complaint type.
 

Total Actions Involving Failure to Satisfy Continuing Education Requirement	22
Total Actions Involving Unprofessional Conduct	2
Total Actions Involving Unprofessional Conduct	4
Total Cases Involving Conviction of a Crime	1
Total Actions Involving Arrests for Felonies or Misdemeanors	2
Total Actions Involving Practicing on Suspended License	2
Total Actions Involving Practicing Outside Scope of License	1
Total Actions Involving Mental or Physical Impairment	1
Total Actions Involving Disciplinary Action Taken In Another State	1
Total Application Actions Other Than Reinstatement	1

Violation

Failure to satisfy continuing education	22
Unprofessional conduct	2
Sexual misconduct	4
Conviction of a crime	1

Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements

   The amendment will increase the biennial renewal fee for psychologists and will require the Board to alter some of its forms to reflect the new fee. The amendment will have no other adverse fiscal impact or paperwork requirements on the Board, licensees, the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions or the public sector.

Sunset Date

   The Board continually monitors the effectiveness of its regulations through communication with the regulated population. Accordingly, no sunset date has been set.

Regulatory Review

   Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), the Board submitted copies of the notice of proposed rulemaking, published at 35 Pa.B. 1582, on March 5, 2005, to IRRC and the Chairpersons of the SCP/PLC and the HPLC for review and comment.

   In compliance with section 5(c) of the Regulatory Review Act, the Board also provided IRRC, the SCP/PLC and the HPLC with copies of comments received as well as other documents when requested. In preparing the final-form rulemaking, the Board has considered all comments received from IRRC, the SCP/PLC, the HPLC and the public.

   Under section 5.1(j.2) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(j.2)), this final-form rulemaking was approved by the HPLC on September 27, 2005, and deemed approved by the SCP/PLC on October 5, 2005. IRRC deemed the final-form regulation approved on October 5, 2005.

Contact Person

   Further information may be obtained by contacting Christina Stuckey, Administrative Assistant, State Board of Psychology, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, (717) 783-7155.

Findings

   The Board finds that:

   (1)  Public notice of proposed rulemaking was given under sections 201 and 202 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No 240) (45 P. S. §§ 1201 and 1202) and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 1 Pa. Code §§ 7.1 and 7.2.

   (2)  A public comment period was provided as required by law and all comments were considered.

   (3)  This final-form rulemaking is necessary and appropriate for administering and enforcing the authorizing act identified in Part B of this Preamble.

Order

   The Board, acting under its authorizing statutes, orders that:

   (a)  The regulations of the Board, 49 Pa. Code Chapter 41, are amended by amending § 41.12 to read as set forth at 35 Pa.B. 1582.

   (b)  The Board shall submit this order and 35 Pa.B. 1582 to the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Attorney General as required by law.

   (c)  The Board shall certify this order and 35 Pa.B. 1582 and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.

   (d)  This order shall take effect on publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

ALEX M. SIEGEL, J.D., Ph.D.,   
Chairperson

   (Editor's Note:  For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission relating to this document, see 35 Pa.B. 5893 (October 22, 2005).)

   Fiscal Note:  Fiscal Note 16A-6316 remains valid for the final adoption of the subject regulation.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-2079. Filed for public inspection November 11, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---