Georgia considers occupational licensing reform
Georgia’s Senate Study Committee on Occupational Licensing is considering changes to the state’s laws and policies to help workers in licensed occupations get to work faster.
Recent laws passed in Georgia have made it easier for veterans and military spouses with professional skills to obtain licenses when they move into the state. But many advocates for reform, such as public policy expert Marc Hyden from Washington D.C.-based think tank R Street Institute, stress that more needs to be done.
Hyden says that the Professional Licensing Boards Division, which houses the state’s 43 licensing boards that are responsible for issuing 197 license types for various occupations, is understaffed and underfunded. This lack of resources prevents some boards from providing timely services and has led to a backlog in application approvals. About 27% of professional license applications administered by the division take a year or more to process, while the rest can take up to six months. Additionally, some boards are relying on paper applications, mail service, and manual processes to handle applications. Read more in Hyden’s commentary published on R Street News.
Indiana committee says no to universal licensing
The Interim Study Committee on Employment and Labor recommended against universal licensing recognition in Indiana in its recently finalized report on the issue.
Advocates for universal licensing say it makes it easier for licensed professionals to work in other jurisdictions without having to re-do strict licensing requirements or navigate complex reciprocity agreements. But members of the committee said that there are already interstate compacts and other procedures in place to address mobility, and that those who did testify on the topic did not want to be included if the state moved forward with it.
The committee drafted a bill requiring the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency to study what other states are doing in terms of universal licensing. The agency must also get feedback from the 40 different occupations and professions they license and prepare a report for the General Assembly by the end of October 2024. Read more in the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Florida introduces legislation to create interstate compact for social workers
The Florida legislature is considering a pair of bills that would establish an interstate compact for social workers to streamline licensure across participating states.
House Bill 99 and Senate Bill 68 outline specific licensing and regulatory requirements for states to join the compact, including education accreditation and national qualification exam passage. States will be able to choose to issue multistate licenses for certain social work categories, even if they do not meet all compact requirements, and home states can charge fees for granting multistate licenses. Once granted multistate certification, social workers would be permitted to perform services in multiple states via in-person or telehealth appointments. According to the language of the House Bill, a professional license issued by a practitioner’s home state will be recognized by all compact member states as certification for social work authorization.
The measures also propose the formation of an oversight committee that would engage in decision-making processes and be responsible for financial oversight, codes of conduct, and various administrative functions. The committee would act as an independent entity and be composed of a selected delegate from each member state.
If the Florida legislature passes one of the bills under consideration, it would go into effect when the seventh member state joins the compact. Read more in The Capitolist.
Multi-agency report examines state CIOs’ use of AI, automation to build up resilience
A report by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), IBM, and the Center for Digital Government (CDG) has found that state CIOs see a direct connection between resilience and information technology modernization and view innovation as an enabler of resilience.
CDG, NASCIO, and IBM interviewed 21 state CIOs on the topic of resilience between July and August for the report, titled Preparing for Future Shocks in State Government. Their research identified cyberattacks and fraud, natural disasters and climate change, insufficient workforce talent, legacy systems and technical debt, and economic uncertainty and budget constraints as the top threats facing state CIOs.
According to the report, AI and automation are playing major roles as state government IT leaders take on technology modernization and shore up resilience. CIOs are advancing the adoption of AI and automation in order to protect their infrastructure from cyberthreats, improve operational efficiency, and address talent gaps. They are also pursuing other strategies to improve their defenses, such as adopting a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud approach, collaborating with partners to improve disaster recovery and business continuity, and upskilling and reskilling employees.
The report also explored how state IT officials play a key role in enterprise resilience, IT resilience, workforce and employee resilience, and personal resilience. Read more about the research findings from ExecutiveGov.
Nearly 39,000 Alabama nurses likely to leave profession in next five years
A total of 38,727 experienced nurses in Alabama indicated that they intend to leave the profession within the next five years, according to a new survey conducted by the Alabama Board of Nursing.
The survey also revealed that the current nurse shortage of about 7,200 could nearly double to 14,000 vacancies by 2027 if current trends continue. Alabama hospitals are currently short 5,422 registered nurses, 1,500 licensed practical nurses for long-term care, and 300 general licensed practical nurses.
Although the ABN estimates that 25,000 new graduates will apply for nurse licenses in Alabama during the same five-year timeframe, and an additional 8,500 will apply from out of state, ABN Executive Director Peggy Benson said that these numbers would not be enough to counter the projected losses.
In addition to pay increases, Benson is advocating for changes to the Nurse Practice Act to address increased work burnout, stress, and substance abuse among nurses, which are major factors in nurses leaving their profession. She is also calling on the legislature to provide supplemental funding in 2024 for the state’s Education Loan Repayment Program as well as an additional $2 million for the continued development of the ABN’s licensing management system, which she said was inadequate to meet existing demands. Read more in the Alabama Daily News.
More news:
- Confronting a worsening mental health crisis and a shortage of care providers, Massachusetts-based psychologists urged Beacon Hill lawmakers Tuesday to allow the commonwealth to join an interstate compact designed to expand access to telepsychology care across state lines.
- The University of North Florida has been awarded matching state legislative funding of nearly $800K to make enhancements to its nursing program that will help alleviate the growing nursing shortage. This new funding is in addition to the substantial legislative PIPELINE funding received by UNF in recent years, which helped the School of Nursing further its prelicensure nursing student initiatives, improve simulation equipment and faculty recruitment, foster enrollment growth in nursing, and maintain high pass rates on the NCLEX-RN licensure exam.
- The U.K.’s Cabinet Office announced plans to recruit at least 2,500 people to its digital, data, and technology apprenticeship and early-talent programs by June 2025. The programs are designed to train civil servants and new entrants for the most in-demand DDaT roles, such as cybersecurity technologists and software developers. The Cabinet Office also confirmed its pilot secondment program dedicated to DDaT roles is now open for applications.
Also noteworthy:
Interesting opinion, commentary, and analysis from the web:
- Physicians and mental health: Making medical license applications less punitive to doctors who seek help (The Do)
- Is it ethical for dietitian influencers to take money for posts? Not everyone agrees (CBC)
- Reluctant to learn: How we opened the door to cyberattacks (Financial Review)
Disclaimer: The thoughts, opinions, and commentary of the articles we share links to in Week in Brief do not necessarily reflect those of Ascend Magazine or Thentia.
IN BRIEF
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