Committee advances Dietitian Licensure Compact, adds amendment clarifying qualification and severability

A state legislative committee voted to adopt an amendment and issued a favorable report on the Dietitian Licensure Compact Act, a bill that would allow licensed dietitians to seek practice privileges across compact states and explicitly cover both in-person practice and telehealth services.

The measure, introduced in subcommittee and summarized by Senator Davis and Mr. Hogan, "covers both physical practice and telehealth," Mr. Hogan said, and is intended in part "to facilitate military families" by reducing the three- to six-month waits often faced by military spouses seeking new licenses. The bill also expands the statutory definition of dietetics to include medical nutrition therapy.

Committee members discussed a proposed amendment that clarifies qualifying standards and inserts a severability clause. "There's a phrase 'successful completion of either' added, in Section 140," one senator explained, to make clear that listed requirements are disjunctive rather than conjunctive. Mr. Hogan said the amendment implements suggestions from the organization that drafts many interstate compacts and incorporates changes recommended by SLED related to background checks and fingerprints; SLED raised the issue after communications "with the FBI," he said.

The committee adopted the amendment and then moved for a favorable report of the bill as amended. The chair called for a voice vote; the ayes were recorded and the bill was carried forward to the next stage.

The measure would let dietitians licensed elsewhere apply to practice under South Carolina standards and allow South Carolina dietitians to petition for privileges in other compact states, subject to each state’s decision to participate and the compact’s entry conditions. The committee record does not specify the number of votes or individual vote tallies in its roll call.

Next steps: the bill was carried to the floor as amended for further consideration.