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Subcommittee advances Dietitian Licensure Compact (S.160)
Summary
The House 3M subcommittee voted 4‑1 to send S.160, creating a Dietitian Licensure Compact, to the full committee. Supporters said it expands telehealth access and reduces licensing burdens; one member voiced concerns about interstate commission rulemaking authority.
The House 3M subcommittee on medical voted to report Senate Bill 160 favorably to the full committee after testimony supporting a compact to allow licensed dietitians to practice across member states.
Supporter Olivia Trapp, a registered dietitian licensed in South Carolina and Oregon and a board member of the South Carolina Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told the subcommittee the compact would expand access to medical nutrition therapy delivered by telehealth and reduce administrative burdens for practitioners. "The Dietitian Licensure Compact improves the working status for dietitians by expanding our employment and income opportunities in South Carolina," Trapp said. She added South Carolina currently has about 1,400 registered dietitians practicing.
The compact would create a commission to administer rules, data sharing and disciplinary coordination among member states and would allow dietitians to practice under a compact privilege while maintaining their home‑state license in good standing. Trey, the committee staff member who summarized the bill, said it aligns state dietetics law with the compact and requires criminal background checks for certain applicants.
Representative Beach voiced concern about ceding state sovereignty to a multi‑state commission and said he would vote against the bill unless he was more fully educated on the commission's authority. Chair Heath Sessions responded that a member of South Carolina would sit on the commission if the state entered the compact, giving the state a voice in any rulemaking.
The subcommittee approved S.160 by a 4‑1 roll call vote and sent it to the full committee for further consideration.
The subcommittee does not yet set a full‑committee hearing date.
