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Subcommittee backs interstate licensure compact for school psychologists

K-12 Education Subcommittee, Ways and Means Committee · February 19, 2026

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Summary

The K-12 Education Subcommittee gave a favorable recommendation to House Bill 340, an interstate compact to streamline licensure for school psychologists; members noted regional adoption already under way and said Maryland law largely meets compact requirements.

The K-12 Education Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee advanced House Bill 340, an interstate licensure compact for school psychologists, by unanimous voice vote.

Chair introduced the bill and said he supported it, calling it “worthy of our consideration.” Alastair, who explained the measure to the panel, said the compact would allow member states to recognize one another’s school psychologist licenses and require applicants to hold a home-state license, meet any state-specific conditions, complete an application and fulfill renewal requirements. Alastair said member states must likewise establish a home-state license with at least 1,200 hours of supervised internship, of which up to 600 hours may be completed in a school program — a requirement he said Maryland already meets.

The chair and Alastair noted the compact has achieved the minimum number of member states needed to establish it and that neighboring states including Delaware and several others have taken steps that make regional portability more likely. The chair cautioned that states must adopt the compact “as is” because amendments would put them outside the compact framework.

Delegate Delia Miller moved approval; the chair announced a second from Delegate Patterson, and the committee voted in favor. The chair said the motion “carried unanimously.”

The committee’s favorable recommendation sends the bill on with the endorsement that the compact’s standards largely match Maryland’s current licensure requirements, a factor members said would ease mobility for school psychologists across state lines. The bill’s next procedural step is consideration by the full committee or the committee of referral.