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Committee hears from providers and stakeholders on licensure compacts for PAs and dental professionals
Summary
The committee considered bills to join interstate compacts for physician assistants and for dentists/dental hygienists. Supporters said compacts improve workforce mobility; licensing boards and others raised administrative and oversight questions.
The House committee received testimony Feb. 20 on measures that would allow Oregon to join interstate licensure compacts for health professionals, including physician assistants (PA compact) and dental professionals (dentist/dental hygienist compact).
Tom Holt, representing employers including Zoom Care and the Oregon Health Leadership Council, urged support for the PA compact as a workforce tool to ease interstate licensing for PAs and to allow clinicians to begin work more quickly when they move across state lines. “The PA compact is not a magic bullet,” Holt said, but he described the compact as a bridge that lets clinicians start working while completing local licensing paperwork.
The Oregon Dental Association and other dental stakeholders testified in favor of joining the dentist and dental hygienist compact to reduce administrative burdens and facilitate practice on both sides of the Oregon–Washington border. The Council of State Governments, which helps administer compacts, said participation has not increased costs for other states and that the compact commission is a government entity composed of state regulators.
Licensing-board representatives and some opponents raised questions about whether compacts shift administrative burdens or fees, how state boards retain authority over scope of practice and discipline, and whether compact participation will require additional staff. Witnesses contended compact commissions do not override state regulatory authority, but several speakers asked the committee to preserve state oversight and to clarify implementation details such as possible membership fees and board workloads.
Lawmakers and stakeholders described participation as an opportunity to shape compact rules early. Committee members asked for additional data about current application backlogs and licensing timelines; a licensing director told the committee the office processes complete applications within a few business days but that applicant timelines vary when applicants delay submission of required documents.
