Fiscal Impact Summary	FY 1999/2000	FY 2000/2001
State Revenues General Fund Cash Fund	Minimal Fines $38,955	Minimal Fines $16,870
State Expenditures Cash Fund	$33,653	$12,908
FTE Position Change	0.2 FTE	0.2 FTE
Other State Impact: TABOR
Effective Date: July 1, 1999
Appropriation Summary for FY 1999-2000: Department of Regulatory Agencies: $33,653 cash fund and 0.2 FTE; Department of Law: $5,101 cash fund exempt
Local Government Impact: Potential impact to county jail costs

The bill creates a registration program for persons who practice naturopathy, in the Division of Registrations, Department of Regulatory Agencies. The program would become effective January 1, 2000 and would be repealed effective July 1, 2006. The bill also provides for the following:

• defines naturopathic practice to be a system of health care for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human health conditions, injury, and disease consistent with the training, education, and experience of naturopathic doctors, and grants naturopathic doctors the exclusive right to use certain terms;

• establishes qualifications for registration of naturopathic doctors and exempts individuals who are otherwise licensed by the division, if the practice of naturopathy is within the scope of such licensure;

• defines unprofessional conduct and provides disciplinary action, enforcement tools, and a class 3 misdemeanor penalty for failure to register while holding oneself out as a naturopathic doctor; and

• requires every registered naturopathic doctor to provide proof of financial responsibility by obtaining commercial professional liability insurance.

The Division of Registrations would assess fees to cover the total costs of the naturopathic registration program, including those expenditures not included pursuant to the Joint Budget Committee's budget policies.

Pursuant to Section 2-2-322, C.R.S., which requires legislative service agency review of legislative measures which include the creation or increase of any fee collected by a state agency, the following analysis of registration fees is provided.

In the second year, it is estimated that the registration fee will be reduced to $482 and will generate $16,870 to cover the ongoing program costs. The bill will result in an increase in cash fund revenues of $38,955 in FY 1999/2000 and $16,870 in FY 2000/2001.

Since the bill creates a new class 3 misdemeanor for failure to register as a naturopathic doctor, there may be an impact to the General Fund from the amount of fine revenue collected. A class 3 misdemeanor carries a penalty of a $50 to $750 fine that is deposited into the General Fund, and/or a possible jail sentence between zero and six months to be served in the county jail. It is at the discretion of the court whether to impose a fine, a jail sentence, or both. Therefore, the amount of fine revenue cannot be determined. Additionally, sufficient data are not available from the Judicial Branch at this time to determine the number of violations that may occur. However, this fiscal note assumes the number of violations will be minimal.

It is estimated that there will be approximately 35 applications submitted for registration each year. The division will use an examination already in existence and the applicants will pay the costs directly to the examination service. Assuming that there are existing accredited colleges of naturopathy, the use of advisory panels to advise the division will be minimal. The division's licensing computer system will need to be reprogrammed, requiring an estimated 300 hours of programmer time. The division will require additional 0.2 FTE in total staff time to develop and administer the program. In addition, it is assumed that complaints against naturopathic doctors will total 20 in FY 1999/00 and 12 in FY 2000/01, requiring both attorney general time and administrative law judge time.

Pursuant to the Joint Budget Committee’s budget policies, the following expenditures of $5,285 in FY 1999/00 and $3,963 in FY 2000/01 have not been included in this fiscal note:

The bill may have an impact on the county jails from persons convicted of this class 3 misdemeanor. The court may sentence a person to the county jail for between zero and six months for a class 3 misdemeanor. The court may also impose a fine in addition to or in lieu of a jail sentence, and since it is at the discretion of the court to determine the proper sentence, the impact on the county jails cannot be estimated. This fiscal note assumes the impact to local government agencies will be minimal.

The fiscal note implies that $33,653 and 0.2 FTE should be appropriated out of the Division of Registration's cash fund to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Registration, in FY 1999/00. Out of the moneys appropriated to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, the Department of Law should be appropriated $5,101 cash fund exempt.

REGISTRATION FEE IMPACT ON NATUROPATHIC DOCTORS
Type of Fee (identify each fee separately)	Current Fee	Proposed Fee	Fee Change	# of Affected Individuals	Total Fee Impact
Registration Fee	$0	$1,113	$1,113	35	$38,955
TOTAL					$38,955

ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES FOR THE NATUROPATHIC REGISTRATION PROGRAM
	FY 1999-2000	FY 2000/2001
Personal Services: 0.2 FTE	$6,637	$4,729
Contract Computer Programmer	20,400
Operating Expenses	1,515	876
Legal Expenses - AG	5,101	5,101
Hearing Expenses - ALJ		2,202
Total Expenses	$33,653	$12,908
Total FTE	0.2 FTE	0.2 FTE