Licensure Portability Bills Move Forward in Ohio and Louisiana
Licensure portability has been a trending issue in state
legislatures over the last several years, and recently Ohio and Louisiana took
steps toward increasing licensure portability in their states.
The Ohio State House of Representatives passed a bill that would increase licensure portability in the
state. If signed into law, the bill would require licensing authorities to issue
a license to anyone who has held a license in good standing from another jurisdiction for at least one year. A similar
bill has also passed the State Senate, but in addition to also holding a license
for at least on year, an applicant would also be required to have been actively
practicing for at least one of the five years immediately preceding the application
date, unless a licensing board chooses to waive the requirement.
In Louisiana, the Senate passed legislation that would require a state licensing board
to issue a license to anyone who has held a license in good standing from another
jurisdiction for at least one year, provided that an applicant has passed an examination
or met education, training or experience standards.
Similar laws have recently been signed
or implemented in Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi,
Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Virginia.