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Committee hears testimony in favor of joining Nurse Licensure Compact to ease staffing shortages
Summary
Supporters said adopting the Nurse Licensure Compact would let Michigan nurses practice across compact states without duplicative licensing and help address workforce shortages; hospice and health employers urged passage while unions and some groups submitted cards opposing or not opposing the bill without speaking.
The Michigan House Rules Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4246, a measure to adopt the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) that would allow nurses licensed in Michigan to practice in other compact states without obtaining separate state licenses.
Representative Phil Green presented the bill and described personal and workforce reasons for supporting the compact, saying Michigan would join the 42 other states and jurisdictions that recognize a multistate nursing license. "This would take what is happening in 42 other states and allow it to happen in Michigan," Green said, adding that the compact would make it easier for nurses to work in other states for short assignments or telehealth work.
Patrick Miller, a registered nurse and CEO of Hospice of Michigan's NorthStar care community, told the committee that Michigan faces a nursing shortage and that the compact would help fill positions. "We care for about 2,700 patients a day in Michigan," Miller said. "Adoption of this nursing licensure compact would allow us to more easily fill that nursing shortage." He described hospice operations that require nurses to be licensed in states where patients live and said the compact would let employers hire more within Michigan rather than recruiting nurses licensed in many other states.
Committee members asked about compact requirements and costs. Representative Green said Michigan meets the general eligibility requirements and that joining the compact would not impose a fee on individual nurses to use a compact privilege, though he did not have figures for board or state assessment fees associated with compact membership. Representative Whitworth asked about an assessment fee levied by the compact’s commission; Green said he did not know the amount and would address funding in the budget process if necessary.
A number of labor and healthcare organizations submitted cards either in support or indicating they did not wish to speak, including Hospice of Michigan (represented in person), Michigan AFL‑CIO, Michigan Nurses Association, Michigan Health & Hospital Association, Trinity Health Michigan, and others. The transcript shows no committee vote on HB 4246 during the hearing.
