Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 160, as amended, amends three statutes that are a part of the Dental Practices Act and that concern the renewal of licenses, the maximum fees authorized to be fixed by the Kansas Dental Board, and screening by dental hygienists.

SB 160 deletes the current requirement that a licensed dentist or licensed dental hygienist be at least 65 years of age before applying for a retired license. The latter license allows the licensee to continue to use the appropriate protected title and hold a retiree license without the payment of license fees or meeting continuing education requirements.

The bill increases the maximum set by statute for the various fees established by the Board through rules and regulations. The new maximums represent a 25 percent increase over the existing statutory maximums.

The Senate bill deletes the statutory restrictions that currently limit dental screening by licensed hygienists who hold a permit issued by the Board to settings in which the licensee is an employee of the state or any political subdivision providing screening in a public institution or facility under the supervision of the governing body of such institution or facility. Pursuant to the amendment, dental screening could be done in such places and for such client populations as authorized by the permit issued by the Board. The length of the permit is extended from one to two years to coordinate the life of the permit with biennial license renewal.

The House Committee amendment was technical, adding a dollar sign ($) to the section on fees.

Background

The introduction of SB 160 was requested by the Kansas Dental Association whose representative supported the bill during hearings, as did the President of the Kansas Dental Board.

The Kansas Dental Board estimates the fiscal effect of SB 160 to be negligible. There is a potential for some revenue loss by allowing licensees to apply for a retired status license prior to age 65, but the fiscal effect cannot be estimated. The agency indicates it has no immediate plans to change fees even though the maximums would be increased by SB 160.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi