I believe the author of HB1054 has been short sighted with respect to the financial impact of the proposal of continuing education (CE).  The estimated $32k one time cost to mail everyone about the change is not the only cost.  Unlike other VA professional occupations, like nursing, which have been subject to CE for years, most engineers registered are not required to hold a PE license for their occupation.  A reasonable estimate is that 10,000 of the 24,561 engineering registrants do not require their license.  This amounts to $400k per year of funding to the board.  Is the board ready to lose this amount of funding, every year, after these engineers decide to not renew?  Will renewal fees then double for the remaining registrants?  What about the huge effort ($$) the board will undertake in developing and policing criteria for the CE courses?

What is the real reason for the bill?  The reason given is that it will better protect safety, health and welfare for the public.  If not all engineering jobs require licensure, this appears to be penalizing those who are doing their part to be 'official state qualified' professional engineers.  I wonder if some business that provides CE courses is funding this effort.