Utah becomes first state to enact PA Licensure Compact

Utah has become the first state to adopt the Physician Assistant (PA) Licensure Compact after Gov. Spencer Cox signed new legislation into law on March 14.

The PA Licensure Compact is a multistate contract that will allow physician assistants to have their licenses recognized by other member states. In addition to reducing time and cost burdens for PAs wanting to practice in multiple states, the compact will also enhance public protection by creating a data system that will facilitate the sharing of licensure and disciplinary information across compact member states.

Several other states – including Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, and Rhode Island – have also filed legislation to join the PA Licensure Compact. A total of seven states must enact the compact for it to become active. Read more from Becker’s Hospital Review.

Arkansas tops new index for occupational licensure

A new State Occupational Licensing Index from the Archbridge Institute, a think tank based in Washington D.C., found that Arkansas had the most occupational licensure in the nation, followed by Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington. At the bottom of the list were Colorado, Indiana, Wyoming, Missouri and Kansas, which had the fewest barriers.

The authors of the report looked at what was required for 345 occupations in all 50 states and Washington D.C. The index takes into account total barriers and total licenses. It defines a barrier as “the tasks associated with an occupational title are restricted by an occupational license,” whereas “a license is an explicit license for that occupational title.” The index accounts for both.

Noah Trudeau, assistant professor of economics at Saint Francis University and co-author of the index, noted that licensing can impact both economic mobility and physical mobility for workers. He also said that “Performing well in economic freedom doesn’t necessarily mean a state is likely to license fewer occupations,” adding, “Texas and Oklahoma, for example, both rank in the ‘Most Free Quartile’ of the 2022 Economic Freedom of North America index, but also rank in the most heavily barriered quintile of this index.” Read more at The Center Square.

Wisconsin schools increasingly use emergency teacher licenses, report finds

Wisconsin schools are increasingly turning to emergency licenses to get staff into classrooms with some using those licenses longer than may have been intended, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF).

Emergency licenses play an important role in school staffing by allowing licensed staff members – such as teachers, counselors, social workers, librarians and school administrators – who either move from another state or are transitioning to a new position to be temporarily licensed while they work towards permanent licensure.

The report revealed that the state Department of Public Instruction issued 3,197 emergency licenses to teach in Wisconsin in the 2021-22 school year, up 184.2% from the 1,125 issued in the 2012-13 school year. The number of districts using teachers with an emergency license has also increased from 303 districts using a teacher with an emergency license in 2013 to 406 districts doing so in 2022. WPF also found that about 30% of school staff holding an emergency license held one in a previous year, and about 10% had one in two previous years, potentially indicating their use beyond the short term.

While the report recognized that use of emergency licenses does not necessarily indicate a problem, it noted that “the rapid growth in emergency certifications raises questions about whether workforce challenges have grown for districts, whether the use of emergency licenses has outgrown their original purpose, and whether other solutions should be considered.” Read the full story in The Cap Times.

Minnesota lawmakers approve marijuana legalization bill with overhaul amendment in House committee

On March 20, Minnesota’s House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, after members adopted a large-scale amendment to overhaul various provisions of the legislation.

The amendment is primarily meant to address concerns from industry stakeholders who are operating under a cannabis law enacted last year that legalized low-THC edibles in the state. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Zack Stephenson told fellow committee members that the overhaul “eliminates some of the cannabis regulations that don’t make sense in the context of a low dose hemp market.”

The changes are similar to amendments made by a Senate committee to a companion bill making its way through that chamber, but with a few distinctions. For example, the House amendment lowers the amount of cannabis a person can possess in a private residence and also expands who qualifies as a social equity license applicant. Both bills are broadly consistent with 2021 legislation passed in the House by former Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, although there are some key changes.

The House bill now heads to the Taxes Committee, while the Senate version goes to its Rules Committee. With Democratic control of the House, Senate, and governorship, lawmakers expect that both bills will pass in short order. However, a key issue left to resolve is the tax rate for cannabis products, as Gov. Tim Walz is pushing for a rate that’s almost double what’s being proposed in the legislation. Read more in Marijuana Moment.

Nursing regulator announces a first-in-Canada licensure process for nurses coming to Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia College of Nursing (NSCN) recently announced changes to its licensure process that will allow nurses who demonstrate good standing and good character and are licensed in Canada, the Philippines, India, Nigeria, U.S., U.K., Australia, or New Zealand, to be immediately eligible for a license with no additional requirements other than passing the entrance exam.

According to the college’s press release, the new registration and licensing approach will:

• Reduce the overall application process timeline for nurses licensed in good standing in another Canadian jurisdiction from five days to 24 hours. (Effective March 29, 2023.)
• Reduce the overall application process timeline for international nurses in good standing from the Philippines, India, Nigeria, U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand from over a year to a few weeks. (Effective May 1, 2023.)

As NSCN CEO and Registrar Sue Smith told CTV News, nurses from these seven specific countries have a very similar scope of practice to nurses in Nova Scotia. Currently, 87% of the college’s international applicants come from these jurisdictions.

Although all applicants for licensure in Nova Scotia will still have to pass the national entry-to-practice exam, they will be able to practice immediately with a conditional license while they wait to successfully complete it.

More news:

• Malta’s Green Party is opposing proposed regulations for the licensing of the construction industry, saying that they lack clarity and fail to give due weight to the data that the Building and Construction Authority regularly collates from various construction sites following incidents.
• Pan-Canadian licensure for physicians – an idea championed by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) that would allow doctors to practice in every province without going through separate licensing processes – is continuing to gain traction with Canadian political leaders.
• Google’s medically focused generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, known as Med-PaLM 2, performed at an ‘expert’ level on a U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) practice test. Med-PaLM 2 achieved 85% accuracy, the highest score ever recorded by an AI model.

Also noteworthy:

Interesting opinion, commentary, and analysis from the web:

• Barriers to employment fall with the rise of out-of-state occupational license recognition (Forbes)
• So where were SVB’s regulators? (The Atlantic)
• Here’s a bright idea – state licensing for electricians (Times Union)
• Lombardo, Youngkin take aim at occupational licensing (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• Alaskans need universal temporary licensure (Anchorage Daily News)
• Hawaii is ‘paradise’ – so why the doctor shortage? (Real Clear Policy)

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.