House panel debates naming PANCE exam in PA licensure rules; substitute motion fails 8–7

The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee spent an extended portion of its Feb. 26 hearing debating whether to keep the national physician‑assistant certifying exam named in the state licensure rule. The committee recorded a roll call 8–7 against a substitute motion that would have left the PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination) named in rule; the committee then approved the physician‑assistant docket with the subsection that named the exam excepted.

For the record, Nikki Chopsky, Bureau Chief for the Health Professions Bureau at the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses and Executive Officer for the State Board of Medicine, told the committee the PANCE is the exam used to test physician assistants for licensure and that statute requires an exam to be named in rule. “PANCE — that is the exam that we use,” Chopsky said, adding that licensing and testing would continue even if the committee removed the named reference from the rule.

Representative McCann offered a substitute motion to approve the physician‑assistant docket without the carved‑out exception (i.e., leave the exam named). McCann said that because PANCE was currently the only available test, removing it from rule would not alter licensure practice and that keeping it named helps the board comply with statute. Representative Redmond opposed the substitute, saying the commission that administers the exam has public materials referencing DEI principles and that leaving the commission named in rule amounted to an endorsement.

The substitute motion was defeated on a roll call, 8–7. After the substitute failed, the committee adopted the original motion to accept the docket with exception of the subsection naming the acceptable exam.

Committee members also asked administrative questions about the advisory committee’s cash balance and future fee changes. Ms. Chopsky told representatives the Physician Assistant advisory committee’s FY24 cash balance was $215,356.11, about 146% of its operating expenses, and that the advisory committee had voted to recommend a 15.5% fee reduction to the Board of Medicine; any fee change is expected to take effect at the July renewal.

What was at issue The explicit question before members was whether to leave the national certifying examination named in state rule. Opponents framed the objection as a policy statement about an external certifying body; supporters argued the statute requires an exam be named and that, practically, PANCE is the only national test available to applicants.

Procedure and outcome - Substitute motion (Representative McCann) to approve docket 243302–2401 without exception (i.e., keep the named exam): roll‑call vote — 8 yes, 7 no — motion failed. - Final motion (Representative Redmond) to approve docket 243302–2401 with the exception of subsection 100.01 (the named exam): approved by the committee.

Why it matters Naming a national certifying body in state rules can be interpreted as formal recognition of that body’s standards. Committee members said the debate centered on statutory compliance and the practical reality that only one exam is currently available to licensees. Ms. Chopsky told the committee that, even if committee members voted to remove the named exam from rule, the division would continue to license PAs using the existing exam because there is no alternate, commercially available certifying exam.

Source attribution Direct quotations and attributions here come from the Feb. 26 committee transcript, including comments by Nikki Chopsky and Representatives McCann and Redmond.