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S 1494

Relates to penalties for striking a pedestrian crossing a street while operating a motor vehicle

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Pat Fahy

The bill creates the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, allowing licensed practitioners to practice across participating states under a compact privilege with shared regulation

REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
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Bill Summary · S 1494

Summary — S.1494 (Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact)

Note on conflicting metadata: The bill header/text provided establishes a Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. The docket/metadata in your prompt also includes other, inconsistent titles (e.g., “penalties for striking a pedestrian”) and mixed committee actions. This summary is based on the bill text included (Senate No. 1494 / “An Act establishing the dentist and dental hygienist compact”).

Purpose and intent

The bill creates a Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact to facilitate interstate practice by dentists and dental hygienists, increase public access to care, improve workforce mobility (including for military members and their spouses), and strengthen cooperating state regulation and public protection across participating states.

Key provisions

  • Establishes a new Chapter 112B (Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact) in state law and adopts the compact model for interstate coordination.
  • Compact privilege: creates a mechanism by which a licensee in one participating state can obtain a “compact privilege” to practice in another participating (remote) state without obtaining a separate state license.
  • Eligibility and standards: defines terms such as “qualifying license” (unencumbered), “clinical assessment,” “jurisprudence requirement,” “continuing professional development,” and “criminal background check.” (Full eligibility criteria are set by the compact and commission rules.)
  • State authority and scope: participating states retain authority to regulate practice within their borders; licensees practicing under a compact privilege must practice only within the remote state’s authorized scope.
  • Discipline and information-sharing: requires sharing of licensure, disciplinary, and investigative data among participating states; adverse actions and encumbrances can affect compact privileges.
  • Alternative programs: allows for non-disciplinary monitoring/remediation (e.g., substance-abuse programs) recognized by state licensing authorities.
  • Administrative body: creates the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact Commission — a joint governmental body made up of commissioners appointed by each participating state. The Commission will maintain a data system (repository of license, discipline, and compact-privilege records), adopt rules, and manage compact implementation.
  • Military provisions: includes facilitation for active military members and their spouses to obtain privileges when relocating.

Who is affected

  • Dentists and dental hygienists: licensed practitioners in participating states seeking to practice in additional states.
  • State licensing boards: will participate in the Commission, share data, accept compact privileges, and retain regulatory/jurisdictional authority.
  • Patients and health systems: may gain increased access to licensed dental providers across state lines.
  • Military members/spouses: simplified mobility for licensure/privileges.

Procedural status and timeline (as provided)

  • Filed: 01/14/2025 (Senate Docket No. 738)
  • Introduced in Senate / Read twice and referred: 04/10/2025
  • Status (as provided): REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION (note: some records also show referral to Public Health and hearings scheduled in July 2025)
  • Hearings: dates in July 2025 were scheduled/updated per docket entries.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Likely to improve interstate access to dental services and help address provider shortages.
  • Requires coordination, data-sharing systems, and administrative resources for the Commission and participating states.
  • Raises regulatory questions (due process, territorial jurisdiction, data privacy) that are typically addressed in compact rules and state enabling legislation.
  • Exact practitioner eligibility and disciplinary consequences depend on compact rules and the full text of the model compact; consult the complete bill and Commission rules for detailed requirements.

For implementation or legal analysis, review the full bill text and model compact language and monitor committee actions/hearings for amendments.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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