Committee hears bill to allow temporary dietitian licenses and to join an interstate compact for dietitians

Representative Tara Peters presented House Bill 397, explaining the bill would create a nonrenewable temporary license for newly credentialed dietitians who have completed required education and supervised practice but are waiting to take or receive results from the registration exam. Peters said the measure began as a narrowly targeted fix for a rural hospital but expanded to include language to adopt an interstate licensure compact for dietitians.

Jordan Mize, a registered dietitian and public policy coordinator for the Missouri Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, testified in support and said the temporary license would be available only to applicants who have completed a graduate degree and the required 1,000 hours of supervised practice; she said…