GOP lawmakers are seeking cosponsors for a bill to standardize the process for granting reciprocal credentials to those with professional licenses from outside Wisconsin.
According to a cosponsorship memo from Sen. Rob Stafsholt of New Richmond and Rep. Nate Gustafson of Neenah, the legislation would replace existing credential-specific standards with a “universal licensure recognition standard” in Wisconsin.
This would allow the state to provide reciprocal credentials to a profession that’s certified in another state or jurisdiction under a single standard for various jobs, with some restrictions.
The lawmakers say the bill came out of the Legislative Council Study Committee on Occupational Licenses, which worked on various solutions for licensing delays at the state Department of Safety and Professional Services.
“Throughout the study committee, there were many ideas that came forward that were discussed by the group and turned into legislation,” they wrote in the memo. “There were also some ideas that we didn’t have enough time to fully discuss and get drafted into legislation before our final hearing, and LRB-2742/1 is one of those ideas.”
The bill aims to expand an existing universal standard for credential recognition that currently only applies to service members, veterans and their spouses, the memo shows. It would apply to anyone “who is credentialed in good standing” elsewhere, though the bill would also end a requirement that applicants reside in Wisconsin.
The memo includes analysis from the Legislative Reference Bureau, showing the bill would repeal existing reciprocal credential provisions in state law specific to various professions. And among other limitations, recipients can’t have any “limitation, restriction, or other encumbrance on a credential” or be under investigation by a credentialing authority in another state.
The cosponsorship deadline is noon Friday.
See the memo: https://www.wisconsinlobbyists.com/resources/Co-Sponsorship%20Memos/5.5.2023/LRB-2742%20reciprocal%20credentials%20Memo.pdf
