Interim study recommends 7‑day routine licensure, tech upgrades to speed occupational licensing

Nathan Zvijovic presented a December 2024 study on occupational licensure to the North Dakota Senate Workforce Development Committee, outlining recommendations intended to speed licensing for professionals licensed in other states and to modernize continuing‑education rules.

Zvijovic, who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, told the committee the study grew from Senate Bill 2249 and covered all Title 43 licensing boards plus the Education Standards and Practices Board and the Board of Law Examiners. He described a research process that included a 53‑question questionnaire, meetings with all 42 boards, stakeholder surveys, and a review of 26 states’ “universal licensure” laws. “I feel like we produced one of the best, most comprehensive studies on this to date,” Zvijovic said.

The report documents variation across boards: an average of 6.3 board members and 2.6 staff members per board, four boards with no staff, and roughly 149 unrestricted license types among the boards studied. Sixteen of 42 boards require criminal‑history record checks;…