MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Bills in the Alabama House would change the operations of two of the state’s largest occupational boards, those licensing doctors and pharmacists and pharmacies.
Lawmakers each year have to reauthorize dozens of boards that oversee professions from doctors to bail bondsmen. Known as “sunset bills,” they’re often non-controversial. But scrutiny from the Legislative Sunset Committee the past two years continues to lead to more boards being publicly confronted for operational issues, including violations of open meeting laws and issuing fines in higher amounts than what state law permits.
House Bills 110 and 123 would implement major reforms to the boards of medical examiners and pharmacy, respectively, which were both found in state audits to have significant issues with noncompliance.
On HB110, its sponsor, Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, told ADN that the bill would be taken up this week in committee, and that it would address the issue of the Board of Medical Examiners not being subject to state ethics law.
“It’s a simple change, we’re going to put the Medical Examiners Board underneath the ethics law just like the other boards are,” Pringle said. “They control millions of dollars’ worth of state funds and they have a tremendous amount of power over the citizens of the state, and yet they’re not covered under the ethics law.”
Established in 1877, the Medical Examiners Board is among the oldest of the state’s licensure boards. While most state licensure boards have members appointed by the governor, members of the Medical Examiners Board are instead elected by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, a private, nonprofit organization.
In a written statement to ADN, the board on Monday said it is charged with protecting the health and safety of all Alabama patients and is pleased the bill reauthorizes it for two years.
“The board and the agency staff remain committed to serving honorably according to the highest ethical standards,” the statement said.
HB123, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, is also scheduled to be taken up this week in committee, and would implement major reforms to the Board of Pharmacy such as expanding its board, reducing term lengths and amending eligibility requirements for its executive secretary.
“We’re adding some members, instead of five we’ll have nine, and we think that’ll give more viewpoints to the decisions that they’re going to make,” Underwood told ADN on Thursday. “We’ve (also) really worked hard to determine the differences between a fine, a fee and a non-public safety penalty.”
The Board of Pharmacy was found by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts to have had among the most severe noncompliance issues, finding 14 issues in its operations it listed as significant in a recent audit report.
On the same day Underwood’s bill was filed, the Pharmacy Board announced that its executive secretary, Donna Yeatman, who earned an annual salary of about $276,000, had resigned from her position. And while Underwood said he was hopeful that his bill would help address the board’s noncompliance issues, some, such as Joseph Kreps, an attorney who has represented pharmacists for 22 years, say it doesn’t go far enough.
“The issue is that this board has a long and storied history of secrecy, corruption and not being truthful in their dealings with licensees and with the public,” Kreps told ADN Thursday.
Last week on the House floor, several other boards’ structures were changed to require geographical diversity among their members. Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, brought the changes after previously criticizing boards for not representing the entire state.
“I think it’s fair to have representation for everybody to have a chance to come to the table,” Simpson told Alabama Daily News outside the House floor.
“(For) one of the boards, of the seven members, five of them represent Jefferson County, and that’s just not a fair representation of the state. It’s something I’ve harped on all summer and I’m very happy the House was in agreement with us here.”
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, praised the Sunset Committee’s work over the past 12 months.
“You’re going to see more changes (to state licensure boards recommended), and I’ll be honest, some of them needed to be made, and we’ll continue to make those and rightfully so,” Ledbetter told ADN. “I am impressed with that committee as a whole.”