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Senate committee advances interstate occupational therapy licensure compact to joint session
Summary
The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee voted without objection to advance Senate Bill 172, which would enact the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact and establish an interstate commission, after staff and therapists described the measure as a step to ease licensing burdens and increase access to care in Alaska.
The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee advanced Senate Bill 172 to a future joint session without objection, ending a second hearing on the bill that would enact the interstate Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact.
The compact would create a shared framework allowing occupational therapists licensed in a member state to obtain a compact privilege to practice in other member states. Matt Churchill, staff to Committee Chair Senator Bjorkman, summarized the bill and said enactment “will alleviate the shortage of occupational therapists in Alaska and enhance the state's ability to protect the public's health and safety.”
Why it matters: supporters told the committee the compact would reduce licensing bureaucracy and help draw more therapists to the state, potentially relieving long waits for services in rural areas. Brianne Oswald, president of the Alaska Occupational Therapy Association, said the association “represents over 170 occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants” and that the bill “will decrease bureaucratic burdens for licensing to improve access to care for Alaskans.” Katie Johnson, vice president of the Alaska Occupational Therapy Association and an occupational therapist on the Kenai Peninsula, told the committee the measure could “decrease the barriers that Alaskans face in providing OT services, especially in the more rural areas,” noting some patients “sit on wait list for over a year at times.”
Committee staff described the compact’s major provisions: adding compact implementation to the duties of the state board that registers physical and occupational therapists; defining compact-specific terms such as “compact privilege” and “member state”; creating procedures for adverse actions and joint investigations across member states; establishing an Occupational Therapy Compact Commission with a shared data system; and setting terms for joining, withdrawing from, and amending the compact. Churchill said the compact “outlines procedures for obtaining a new home state license” when a licensee’s primary state of residence changes and provides special provisions for active-duty military personnel and spouses.
State licensing officials explained a notable difference from the physical therapy compact the Legislature joined last year: Sylvain Raab, director of the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (CBPL), and Glenn Saviors, CBPL deputy director, said the occupational therapy compact’s fingerprinting and background-check rules are stricter for some applicants. Raab said individuals who obtained initial licenses before fingerprint-based background checks were required must obtain those checks in their home state before seeking compact privileges in other states.
No public testimony opposed the bill; the committee heard supportive testimony from two Alaska occupational therapists who represented the Alaska Occupational Therapy Association. After committee discussion concluded, a motion to report the bill with individual recommendations and an attached zero fiscal note passed with no objection.
What’s next: SB172 was moved to a joint session of the Legislature for consideration. The committee record notes that signing the committee report does not bind a member’s vote in the future joint session.
