State review recommends ‘mandatory certification’ for speech and hearing professions to streamline oversight

The Office of Professional Licensure Review recommended that the Legislature convert licensure to a one‑time mandatory certification for some speech and hearing professions, saying that the change would streamline state oversight while preserving public safety. "We operate through a series of statutory criteria that were given to us by you all," the office's director, Jeff Shumway, told the Health and Human Services Interim Committee. Shumway described mandatory certification as a "licensure lite" approach: applicants would demonstrate credentials and pass a background check at the point of entry but would not be subject to annual licensing renewals administered by the state board. The office proposed eliminating the existing board for these occupations because it said the board has had limited ongoing work in recent years and that investigation expertise could be contracted from professional associations when needed. The office also proposed a statutory unprofessional‑conduct provision for a narrow set of invasive procedures performed by some speech‑language pathologists so that those activities would require supervision or specific additional training. Shumway characterized the overall risk profile for audiology, speech‑language pathology and hearing‑instrument specialists as low for patient harm and said consumer‑protection concerns were the more frequent issues reported to state investigators. He described mandatory certification as paired with statutory requirements that professionals maintain national certification, continuing education or active practice so that the state could require practitioners to stay current even without routine state renewals. The committee asked clarifying questions about how continuing obligations would be enforced; Shumway said the obligation would remain in statute and lack of compliance could be an aggravating factor if a complaint arose but that licensees would not be required to prove ongoing compliance to the licensing office on a routine basis. The Office of Professional Licensure Review said it had shared its data and draft recommendations with stakeholders including educators, employers and other regulators before presenting them to the committee. No formal statutory changes were enacted during the meeting; the presentation was advisory and framed as recommendations for legislative consideration.