Pennsylvania Department of State: licensure compacts approved, awaiting FBI connectivity for background checks

Secretary Al Schmidt told the House Appropriations Committee on day six of the Department of State budget hearings that Pennsylvania has secured federal approvals for several interstate professional-licensure compacts but remains “waiting for…final approval from the FBI on the connectivity aspect” needed to transmit criminal-history checks.

That connectivity is the last technical step the department identified before broader implementation, Schmidt said, and the department has already taken partial steps that allow limited portability of licenses while the connectivity is concluded. The compacts named during questioning included the nursing licensure compact and a social-work compact that lawmakers said has growing national adoption.

The department described the effort as long-running: staff have worked on the compacts for years, and Schmidt said the administration expedited outreach to federal partners after taking office. “Right now, the only thing we’re waiting for is sort of final approval from the FBI on the connectivity aspect of it,” Schmidt said.

Committee members said faster interstate licensure would help workforce shortages — especially for nurses who might come to Pennsylvania to work short-term (for example, at summer camps) — and urged continued engagement with federal and state law-enforcement partners. Representatives offered to contact Pennsylvania State Police leadership and members of Congress to press the FBI and Department of Justice for a timely connection; Schmidt said the department and the governor’s office have already reached out to federal partners and would welcome additional contact.

The department also told the committee that processing times for professional licenses have fallen sharply since internal reforms and staffing changes: Schmidt cited examples such as barber licenses moving from roughly 12 days to one day and medical licenses from roughly 43 days to nine days after reforms in intake and performance management. Staff said those improvements apply across licensing boards and that the replacement licensure platform now under procurement will include support for compact-enabled workflows.

Lawmakers pressed for periodic updates to the committee as the FBI connectivity step progresses. The department said it would continue to provide status reports and requested legislative assistance in outreach to federal partners when appropriate.

Ending: The department asked lawmakers for patience on the remaining federal connectivity step while emphasizing that the state has completed the internal and interstate-compact approvals required to proceed once the FBI connection is enabled.