THE VALUED VOICE

Legislation initiated by WHA to permanently reauthorize Wisconsin’s participation in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact passed one house of the state Legislature last week, moving through the Wisconsin state Senate on a unanimous voice vote.

In April 2017, Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) became the first licensing agency in the nation to process a Compact license. Since then, nearly 400 physicians residing in other states have used the Compact process to become licensed and serve patients in Wisconsin. Senate Bill 74 and its companion, Assembly Bill 70, would permanently reauthorize the Compact, which under the original enabling legislation enacted in 2015 faced a five-year sunset. The bills were introduced by a bipartisan group of legislators and led by Representatives Nancy VanderMeer (R-Tomah) and Deb Kolste (D-Janesville) and Senators Pat Testin (R-Stevens Point) and Patty Schachtner (D-Somerset).

This Compact reauthorization legislation is expected to have an Assembly Committee hearing sometime in late June or early July. Lawmakers in the Assembly are not expected to return to a general floor session until October, when they would consider the bill for final passage and forward it on to Governor Evers to be enacted into law.