OpenAI’s Sam Altman urges AI regulation in Senate hearing 

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman testified before a Senate subcommittee that AI technologies should be regulated in his first testimony in Congress on May 16, amid rising concerns that these rapidly developing and increasingly powerful tools could cause serious harm by eliminating jobs, spreading misinformation, and perhaps (one day) even threatening humankind.

But while both lawmakers and industry representatives at the hearing agreed on the need to regulate AI technologies, the shape that regulation would take remains unclear. Altman proposed the creation of an agency that issues licenses for the development of large-scale AI models, safety regulations, and tests that AI models must pass before being released to the public. IBM’s chief privacy and trust officer, Christina Montgomery, called for an AI law that is similar to Europe’s proposed regulations, which outlines various levels of risk and focuses on specific uses instead of regulating the technology itself.

Some members of the subcommittee suggested an independent agency to oversee AI; rules that force companies to disclose how their models work and the data sets they use; and antitrust rules to prevent major players from monopolizing the growing market.

While some critics felt that proposed solutions didn’t go far enough, there was also reluctance among some subcommittee members to clamp down too strongly, which could inhibit innovation and compromise the U.S.’s ability to compete with adversaries such as China. Read more in The New York Times.

Raffensperger launches professional licensing reform effort in Georgia

A new commission formed by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to reduce barriers in the state’s professional licensing process held its first meeting on May 15.

The GA Works Licensing Commission includes Raffensperger; Gabriel Sterling, interim director of the secretary of state’s Professional Licensing Division; Republican and Democratic state lawmakers; and economic development leaders. Specific challenges the commission is expected to address include helping military spouses new to the state get licensed to work in Georgia and helping paroled prison inmates navigate the licensing system after being released. Commission members will also consider why the state requires so many types of licenses and examine whether some should be eliminated.

The commission will meet several times this summer and fall to develop recommendations in time for the General Assembly’s 2024 session. Read more in the Capitol Beat.

Concern grows around US health care workforce shortage

Concern is mounting about the ongoing shortage of health care workers in the U.S., which if not addressed, could exacerbate existing health inequities and undermine the nation’s ability to respond to future health emergencies.

“We have nowhere near the kind of workforce, health care workforce, that we need,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, recently told CNN. “We don’t have enough doctors. We don’t have enough nurses. We don’t have enough psychologists or counselors for addiction. We don’t have enough pharmacists.”

According to data from the Health Resources & Services Administration, the U.S. needs more than 17,000 additional primary care practitioners, 12,000 dental health practitioners and 8,200 mental health practitioners, And the shortage is “more acute” in Black and brown communities, Sanders said, noting that the Black community constitutes 13% of the U.S. population, but only 5.7% of U.S. physicians are Black.

On May 12, Sanders met with heads of historically Black medical schools in a roundtable at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who called for more resources and opportunities to be allocated to their institutions to help train the nation’s incoming health care workforce. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine, also called on the other 150-plus medical schools across the nation to increase the diversity of the students they train.

In a letter written in March to Sanders and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, Bill McBride, executive director of the National Governors Association, said that the workforce shortage will remain a significant issue for states as they face the retirement and aging of “an entire generation” of health care professionals. He also outlined some of the innovative steps that governors are taking across the country to address the crisis, which include boosting recruitment efforts and loosening licensing requirements. Read the full story from CNN.

Legislative proposal could help hold teachers, school nurses more accountable for abuse in Oregon

Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the state’s educator licensing agency to better hold teachers and school nurses accountable for violating professional ethics or committing crimes.

SB 218 gives the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission greater access to crucial records when investigating alleged crimes. The commission investigates dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints filed each year. It reviewed 199 investigations in 2022, with 46% of these cases involving educator sexual conduct with a student, physical assault on a student, drug and alcohol violations, or internet pornography violations.

If passed, the bill would allow the agency to access reports from the Oregon Department of Education and law enforcement while investigating suspected sexual conduct or child abuse. Currently, the commission can only obtain police reports through the Oregon Department of Human Services and only if human services has investigated the same incident. Officials say this limits what information the commission can get, leading to incomplete investigations, delays, and added expenses.

Proponents of the new legislation argue the changes would dramatically reduce agency costs, better utilize state resources, and allow the agency to focus on cases that pose the most risk to student safety and professional standards. SB 218 passed through the Oregon Senate last month and passed a House vote on May 18. Read more from the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Nova Scotia nursing regulator sees influx of applicants after fast-tracking licensing

The Nova Scotia College of Nursing says it is being flooded with applications since it recently began fast-tracking the licensing process for out-of-province and some international nurses.

The provincial regulator announced in March that it would speed up application processing for nurses trained in Canada and seven countries where the scope of practice is similar to Nova Scotia. International nurses in good standing can now submit paperwork directly to the Nova Scotia college and be licensed to work in the province by passing one national nursing exam.

The changes are expected to shave months off the registration process for international applicants, which used to take one year or longer. The timeline for Canadian-trained nurses is expected to drop from five days to 24 hours by cutting down on paperwork.

The new process took effect for Canadian nurses on March 29 and May 1 for international nurses. Deputy Registrar Douglas Bungay said the college has received 10,526 applications as of May 16, and 13 international nurses have been licensed in the province since the changes were implemented. Read more from Global News.

Manitoba invests over $13 million to reimburse doctors for licensing fees

Health Minister Audrey Gordon recently announced that Manitoba is investing more than $13 million into the reimbursement of physician licensing fees over the next two years as part of the government’s Health Human Resource Action plan – a package of incentives and improvements aimed at health care workforce retention that was announced in November.

Dr. Candace Bradshaw, president of Doctors Manitoba, said in a statement that the supports will hopefully keep more doctors in the province, noting that recent data shows 51% of physicians are considering retiring, leaving the province, or reducing clinical hours. She also called on the government to fulfill the last piece of its Action Plan for doctors – a practice stabilization support payment which she believes has “tremendous potential” to aid retention and recruitment efforts. Read more from CTV News.

More news:

• G-7 finance ministers met to discuss crypto regulation ahead of the G-7 summit held in Japan from May 19-21, signaling their commitment to implementing the Financial Stability Board’s forthcoming norms for regulating crypto assets and the International Monetary Fund’s recommendations on central bank digital currencies.
• The Michigan Board of Cosmetology’s rulemaking subcommittee met recently to discuss and review public comments regarding the state’s new proposed rules on skincare services and the beauty industry. The proposed changes would require that some skincare services traditionally permitted to be performed by estheticians – such as microdermabrasion, derma-planing, hydrodermabrasion, and Botox injections – must be performed by a health care professional
• A legislative committee decided not to pursue an optional behavioral health licensure proposal for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in Wyoming for now. Sarah Penn, one of the seven Labor Committee members who voted not to move forward with the draft bill, said that they may consider the proposal in the future but feedback they received from EMTs indicated that adding extra certification would further strain the system, which is already struggling with a labor shortage.
• Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb recently signed legislation into law that significantly reforms the long-term care landscape in the state. House Enrolled Act 1461 makes several key changes to licensure, including removing certain licensure training requirements for residential care and health facility administrators; setting forth requirements for administrators in training, preceptors, and student interns; and establishing provisional administrator licensure.
• Yukon Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said that efforts to streamline licensing for international nurses in provinces across Canada could make it faster for applicants to receive a license in the territory. Currently, nurses are required to be registered elsewhere in Canada before they can be registered in the Yukon.

Also noteworthy:

Interesting opinion, commentary, and analysis from the web:

• Digital government is no longer an option, it is an imperative (Forbes)
• 10 legal challenges for the cannabis industry in 2023 (National Law Review)
• How to worry wisely about artificial intelligence (The Economist)

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.