Create the Nebraska Health Professions Commission

LB 554 creates the Nebraska Health Professions Commission to review applications for new health professions or changes to scope of practice for existing regulated health professions. The commission will evaluate proposals using criteria including public health impacts, workforce shortages, healthcare quality, access, and patient affordability, while holding public hearings. It replaces previous "technical committees," requires co-chairs from public health and population health research, and must submit annual reports to the Legislature by October 1. The bill allocates $300,000 annually for the commission, including $100,000 to fund data collection through the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Health Professions Tracking Service.