PRESS RELEASES

January 14, 2020

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DBPR Secretary Halsey Beshears Applauds Governor DeSantis’ 2020 State of the State Address

Agency Remains Committed to Accomplishing the Governor’s Agenda on Regulatory Reform

Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Secretary Halsey Beshears applauded Governor Ron DeSantis’ 2020 State of the State address and continued commitment to occupational license reform. As a result of the Governor’s Deregathon initiative and efforts by DBPR and Florida’s professional licensing boards over the past year, Florida’s approach to occupational licensing and the regulatory channels that facilitate licensure and compliance for more than 1.4 million state license holders continues to improve. As the 2020 legislative session begins, DPBR remains committed to improving Florida’s regulatory environment and reducing the barriers to professional licensure.

DBPR Secretary Halsey Beshears said, “I applaud Governor DeSantis on his State of the State address and commitment to removing burdensome regulations for hardworking Floridians. His leadership on occupational licensing reform is resulting in real improvements to the state’s business and professional climate. I look forward to continuing our work on these issues together in 2020 and throughout the legislative session.”

Secretary Beshears also highlighted some of the 2019 accomplishments to build upon, in collaboration with Governor DeSantis’ 2020 initiatives, including:

·         The Department established a roadmap for occupational license reform in collaboration with the seventeen professional licensing boards, which resulted in more than 50 administrative rules being repealed or changed to resolve unnecessary regulatory burdens during the past year.

·         Rule modifications reduced barriers of professional entry into many of the department’s regulated occupations by reducing license fees, reducing minimum-hour requirements of pre-licensure and continuing professional education, and easing restrictions on frequency of examination and application that have previously delayed Floridians from achieving the licensure required for them to begin practicing in their respective professional field.

·         Some of the regulatory improvements include:

• • Reduction in pre-qualifying education and experience required for licensure by more than 1600 hours across several regulated professions, including residential appraisers, restricted barbers and community association managers
  • Streamlined veterinarian licensure to a single step process, allowing applicants to submit all required fees upfront with their application resulting in automatic issue of the license upon the department’s receipt of a passing exam score, which results in a license to be issued within 48 hours of the applicant passing the exam
  • Revised a rule to allow for continuous testing for the certified public accounting exam
  • Capped the continuing education requirement to reinstate an inactive Certified Public Accounting license at 120 hours

·         These efforts resulted in fee reductions for many of the professions regulated by DPBR, including:

• • Reduction in  the biennial renewal fees by 50 percent for all real estate licensees, which will result in an $8.8 million dollar savings to licensees
  • Lowering of the athlete agents application fee by 50% from $500 to $250
  • Reduction in the continuing education provider fees by 50% for the mold and home inspector professions from $250 to $125
  • Reduction in all individual and business initial licensure fees for architecture and interior design that were over $50.00 by $25.00 each
  • Reduction of the reactivation fee for architecture and interior design licenses from $100.00 to $75.00, the examination review fee from $75.00 to $50.00, and the renewal fees for individual and business licenses from $125.00 to $100.00

DBPR is committed to these bold initiatives in order to license efficiently and regulate fairly. For more information please go to www.myfloridalicense.com.

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The Department of Business and Professional Regulation licenses and regulates more than one million businesses and professionals in the State of Florida, including accountants, architects and interior designers, asbestos consultants, athlete agents, auctioneers, barbers, building code administrators and inspectors, community association managers, construction contractors, cosmetologists, electrical contractors, employee leasing companies, geologists, home inspectors, landscape architects, mold assessors and remediators, pilot commissioners, real estate appraisers and brokers, and veterinarians, as well as businesses dealing in alcoholic beverages, tobacco, food service, public lodging, pari-mutuel wagering, and condominiums, timeshares, and other cooperative residential arrangements.  The Department’s mission is to license efficiently and regulate fairly.  For more information, please visit www.myfloridalicense.com.

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