LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2546

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JULY 9, 1997

      Assembly Bill No. 2546 of 1997 provides for the licensing of persons who perform tatooing and body piercing by the State Board of Medical Examiners. The bill establishes standards for licensure and creates a five-member advisory committee to carry out the licensing process under the auspices of the board.

      The committee would establish standards of licensure consistent with the provisions of the bill, evaluate the qualifications of applicants, administer examinations for licensure, and issue licenses. The committee also would have authority to approve instruments and procedures used in tatooing and body piercing, to conduct inspections of tatooing and body piercing facilities, and to initiate disciplinary actions. Committee members are to be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

      The bill further provides that no person shall practice tatooing or body piercing in this State unless licensed pursuant to the bill. But it would not prohibit persons licensed under any other State law from engaging in the practices allowed by that license.

      The Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, which oversees the State Board of Medical Examiners, informally estimates the cost of implementing this bill at $114,000 in the first year after enactment. This amount includes $42,000 in salaries and fringe benefits for a full-time clerk and part-time (10 percent) executive director; $55,000 for services, including legal, enforcement and data processing; and $17,000 in related operating costs. After adjustment for inflation and the deduction of certain fixed costs, the division estimates the cost of this bill at $103,000 and $115,000, in the second and third years, respectively.

      While the division could not accurately estimate how many persons would be required to be licensed under this bill, it noted that an annual licensing fee of approximately $200 would be required if licensees numbered 500.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurs with this estimate.

      This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.