One of the final significant portions of
Governor Rick Snyder’s Occupational Advisory Rules Committee Recommendations
was pushed across the finish line Thursday evening when the Senate passed House
Bill 4688, Representative Ed McBroom’s (R-Vulcan) legislation to deregulate
dieticians.
The legislation, which passed the Senate
26-12 on a bi-partisan vote, will immediately repeal Michigan’s statute that
regulates licensed dieticians – a statute that, despite going into effect in
2006, has never practically gone into effect.
The Department of Licensing and Regulatory
Affairs (LARA), and its predecessor departments, have neither promulgated rules
nor issued a single license under the statute, which heavily restricted access
to the profession for other qualified professionals such as nutritionists.