North Carolina Association of Professional Psychologists

In 1996, House Bill 452 to amend the Psychology Practice Act was introduced and overwhelmingly approved by the Business and Labor Committee, the Labor Relations and Employment Subcommittee and the Licensing Study Commission. Although HB 452 did not make it beyond the short session, the North Carolina General Assembly’s fiscal note indicated the bill would have a positive impact on the state’s revenues and allow for more efficient use of personnel.

If HB 452 had passed, the Department of Human Resources, the Department of Corrections and Local Area Mental Health Authorities would have saved $674,450 per year by eliminating career-long supervision. Not accounting for inflation, as of 2009, the savings would have totaled $8,767,850.

With time previously spent on supervision freed to provide services to clients, the agencies employing master’s-level psychologists would have generated more revenues all those years as well.