HB 85-PROFESSIONAL LICENSING; TEMP PERMITS  3:55:51 PM CHAIR SUMNER announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 85, "An Act relating to professional licensing; relating to temporary licenses for some professions; and providing for an effective date." 3:56:31 PM SYLVAN ROB, Director, Division Of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing, Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic Development, gave a PowerPoint presentation [hard copy included in committee packet] to introduced HB 85. On slides 2 and 3, she gave a brief overview of what universal temporary licensure (UTL) is and what is needed to qualify for it. The bill would allow the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development to issue temporary licenses to individuals with a license from another United States or Canada jurisdiction that has similar requirements to those in the State of Alaska. It would also allow the department to issue a temporary license to an individual from a jurisdiction that does not require licensure for a certain occupation, if that person demonstrates that they are able to meet Alaska's licensure requirements, or if they have military service or training in that area of expertise. An individual still would need any relevant background checks and could not have received any disciplinary action related to their license. 4:00:35 PM MS. ROBB continued to slide 4 and stated that temporary licenses would be valid for 180 days, with a possible 180 extension at the discretion of the department. Temporary licenses would not be available for professions requiring Alaska-specific knowledge, such as marine pilots, big game guides, and occupations relating to engineering and architecture. MS. ROBB continued to slide 5 and stated that temporary licensure would help people in the state of Alaska get to work faster and help reduce the workforce shortage. There has been a 64 percent increase in the number of professional licenses needed in the last 10 years. She said that the Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing has faced a workforce shortage that has increased the challenges regarding issuing licenses in a timely manner, although the number of vacancies in the division is decreasing. She stated that temporary licenses would be issued automatically to those who meet the basic qualifications as the division processes their licensure application in order to prevent a scenario in which two applications are received by each person. 4:05:53 PM MS. ROBB continued to slides 6 through 8 and gave an overview of how UTL will help and the difference between UTL and interstate licensure compacts. She stated that the Alaska State Medical Board and Alaska Board of Nursing already have made temporary licensure a part of the licensure process in Alaska. She said that the primary difference between UTL and compacts is that the former requires an individual to meet the requirements that Alaska currently has, whereas the latter would streamline Alaska's requirements with all other states that are a part of the compact. There are currently 18 states that have enacted temporary licensure legislation. 4:10:16 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked why there are many different licensing boards instead of having the division process all licenses. MS. ROBB answered that the licensing boards help provide expertise to the division for that profession. The temporary licenses allow an individual to continue working while the permanent license is reviewed by the respective board of their profession. In response to a follow-up question, she said that the biggest time-saving element in the bill is that the division would no longer receive two different applications from every person. 4:15:17 PM REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS commented that he prefers UTL to licensure compacts because he believes it encourages people to come to Alaska but not to leave. [HB 85 was held over.]