CSG 20 Under 40 Leadership Award
Productive Partnerships Occupational licensing makes a difference for military families and others
Over the last 60 years, the number of jobs requiring an occupational license, or government approval to practice a profession, has grown from about one in 20 to nearly one in four. When implemented properly, occupational licensing can help protect the health and safety of consumers by requiring practitioners to undergo a designated amount of training and education in their field. However, differences and disparities in occupational licensing laws across states can create barriers for those looking to enter the labor market and make it harder for workers to relocate across state lines.
ISSUE 5 2020 | CAPITOL IDEAS
Certain populations — including military spouses and families, immigrants with work authorization, people with criminal records and unemployed and dislocated workers — are especially affected by the requirements and variances of occupational licensing.
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States have prioritized license portability for military spouses by enacting legislation to streamline or expedite licensure, but barriers to true reciprocity still exist. To address these challenges, states and professions have turned to occupational licensure interstate compacts. These compacts create reciprocal professional licensing practices between states while ensuring the quality and safety of services and safeguarding state sovereignty. To date, more than 40 states and territories have adopted occupational licensure compacts for nurses, physicians, physical therapists, emergency medical technicians, psychologists and speech therapists/audiologists. In September 2020, CSG entered into a cooperative agreement with the
U.S. Department of Defense to support development of new interstate compacts for occupational licensure. Through this cooperative agreement, CSG, with support from Department of Defense, will assist in developing interstate occupational licensure compacts that address multistate professional licensing issues impacting transitioning military spouses and professionals in state-licensed occupations. “Across America, states recognize the need to streamline license protocols for military spouses,” said Dan Logsdon, director of the CSG National Center for Interstate Compacts. “CSG, with the support of the U.S. Department of Defense, will build lasting solutions to the problems caused by the variances in state licensing processes that will bring substantial benefit to the military community and practitioners at large.” This project is in response to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which states: “[T]he Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Council of State Governments to assist with the funding of the development of interstate compacts on licensed occupations in order to alleviate the burden associated with relicensing in such an occupation by spouse of members of the armed forces in connection with a permanent change of duty station of members to another State.” Through state enactment of new interstate compacts, CSG aims to help remove barriers that exist for military spouses and general practitioners in the current state regulatory structure.
