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Subcommittee approves update to Dietetics Practice Act, supports joining interstate licensure compact
Summary
The Regulated Industries Subcommittee voted to advance House Bill 185, which updates Georgia’s Dietetics Practice Act to clarify medical nutrition therapy, create clearer licensure pathways and authorize participation in an interstate licensure compact for dietitians, supporters said.
The Regulated Industries Subcommittee approved House Bill 185, a measure to modernize Georgia’s Dietetics Practice Act and authorize the state to join an interstate licensure compact for dietitians, supporters said at the meeting.
Supporters said the bill narrows licensure to clinical work defined as medical nutrition therapy, updates antiquated language in the 1994 statute and would expand licensure portability among compact states to ease workforce mobility, including for military spouses.
Robin Stegall, a registered dietitian in private practice and chair of the government affairs committee for the Georgia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said the group spent three years revising the statute and that “over half of the language in the bill is specific to joining the interstate licensure compact.” She told the committee the goal of the licensure law is “to keep the public safe… make our communities healthier and… make it easier for folks to access the right level of nutrition care.”
The bill clarifies the definition of medical nutrition therapy in the statute to include nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention and nutrition monitoring and evaluation “for the treatment or management of a disease or medical condition,” language supporters read to the committee.
Supporters said the compact is not yet operational; several states are considering it and the first cohort of participating states would help set the compact’s rules. A committee member asked whether reciprocity would apply to all states; supporters clarified reciprocity would apply only among states that join the compact.
Jett Toney of the Georgia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said the organization had committed to returning a revised bill after concerns with a prior measure (House Bill 996) and that the current proposal reflects extensive stakeholder work to address access and safety concerns.
After brief questions, the subcommittee approved a motion to advance the bill by voice vote; the transcript records no roll‑call tally.
