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NCSBN briefs Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians on compacts, legislative tracking and member resources
Summary
Representatives from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing outlined member resources, interstate compact activity and policy tools for state boards during a May 15 presentation to the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians in Sacramento.
SACRAMENTO — Representatives of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) on May 15 told the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians about tools the national organization offers to state boards, how NCSBN supports interstate licensure compacts and where staff can get help tracking legislation and federal rulemaking.
The presentation, delivered in person and by Webex at the Department of Consumer Affairs hearing room, was given by Alicia Byrd, Nicole Bolanos, Jim Cleghorn and Ashley Shelton of NCSBN. Board President Carol Mountain and Executive Officer Elaine Yamaguchi introduced the session and asked questions about specific California concerns.
NCSBN officials described several member services intended to help boards with education, policy and enforcement work. Alicia Byrd explained Passport, NCSBN’s identity-management system, and advised members to maintain accounts: "Passport is the identity management system. It is basically where you can obtain a member password account," she said, and noted members should sign in at least every 90 days to keep access active.
Nicole Bolanos, director of government affairs, reviewed NCSBN’s government and state‑level work, including a weekly legislative-tracking update and a searchable bill database called iTrack. Bolanos said NCSBN produces staff summaries of tracked bills and distributes an update each Friday. She also outlined the organization’s policy- and grassroots resources (including nursecompact.com and tools such as VoterVoice) that campaign states can use when NCSBN takes an active role on legislation.
A major part of the briefing described the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). Bolanos said the compact allows nurses who hold a compact license to practice across participating jurisdictions without maintaining multiple state licenses and that, as of the presentation, 43 jurisdictions participate. She told the board that California did not have active NLC legislation in 2025 but that legislation had been introduced in 2024.
Bolanos explained that when NCSBN is more actively engaged in a state (a "campaign state") the organization may hire local lobbyists, organize coalitions of diversified stakeholders and run local communications or grassroots efforts to support compact or related legislation.
On federal engagement, Bolanos and Ashley Shelton described examples of NCSBN’s advocacy and comment work. They cited recent activity including NCSBN’s comments to CMS on minimum staffing rules and NCSBN’s support of federal measures tied to background checks for interstate compacts (the SHARE Act) and other bills affecting APRN practice (the I CAN Act).
Jim Cleghorn, deputy chief officer for policy, research and education, described two resource projects for boards: an update to NCSBN’s analysis of military health‑occupation curricula to assess comparability with civilian vocational nursing programs, and an ongoing review of NCSBN substance-use-disorder (SUD) resources. Cleghorn said preliminary military-program reviews concluded that some military programs are comparable to state‑approved VN programs and that NCSBN expects to publish updated analysis and possibly build transition pathways for military personnel. On SUD materials, he said the board of directors is expected to appoint a committee in July to help refresh guidance and identify gaps.
Board members asked questions about Title 4 regulations on program hours and about whether NCSBN contracts with California lobbying firms. Bolanos said NCSBN hires local lobbyists only when a state is a campaign state and that California had not been a campaign state for NCSBN’s recent campaigns. On Title 4 rules, Bolanos offered to follow up with staff and report back if NCSBN has new information.
No formal board votes or policy actions resulted from the presentation; the session concluded and the board recessed for lunch and planned to reconvene the following morning.
The briefing provided board members with contacts and concrete resources — Passport accounts, the policy Knowledge Network, iTrack, weekly legislative summaries and NCSBN assistance for bill briefings — that staff and board members may use when monitoring or responding to state and federal proposals affecting vocational nursing and psychiatric‑technical regulation.
