CLEAR

West Virginia: elevator workers should be licensed

A recent sunrise report recommends that the West Virginia legislature should consider licensing elevator workers. The occupational duties are defined as assembling, installing and replacing elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, moving walkways and similar equipment in new and old buildings. Currently, West Virginia licenses only elevator inspectors. The report says that 25 states license elevator workers, most frequently through their Departments of Labor. Read the report.

Colorado: sunrise recommendation against regulating massage therapists

The Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform recommends against the state regulation of massage therapists. Its report concludes that "with respect to massage therapists, the harm caused is not a result of incompetence; it is the result of inherently criminal activity. Therefore, there is presently no basis for regulation at any level." A table details training hours, examination(s) accepted, criminal history background check method, and level of regulation in the 38 states with statutes regulating massage therapists. Read the report.

Washington: sunrise reviews underway

The Washington State Department of Health has issued notice of two sunrise reviews, one on speech-language pathologist assistants, the other on colon hydrotherapists. Public comment is currently being solicited and evaluated. Read the letters requesting sunrise review, the draft bills, and the applicant reports on the Health Sunrise Review Page.

Colorado: Interpreters for the Deaf

Interpreters for the Deaf, a 2006 sunrise report of The Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform, points out that the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) Act mandates using qualified interpreters in places of public accommodation. Colorado does regulate interpreters for the deaf in both legal and educational (K-12) settings. The Colorado Association for the Deaf, which submitted the sunrise application, provided examples of harm from the use of unregulated interpreters in other settings.  Despite this, the report concludes that "the harm that has been identified through research as well as an analysis of the submissions of harm by interested stakeholders cannot be definitively attributed to interpreters, regardless of their competency levels. As a result, regulation is not justified."

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