No. HB 1235
Filed under Healthcare.
Respiratory Care Interstate Compact; Creates Respiratory Care Interstate Compact; provides purpose & objectives; requires member states to meet certain requirements to join & participate in compact; provides criteria that licensee must satisfy to practice under compact; provides requirements for renewal of equivalent license in member state; authorizes active military member & his or her spouse to be deemed as having home state license; requires member states to report adverse actions taken against license of occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant by other member states; establishes Respiratory Care Interstate Compact Commission; provides for jurisdiction & venue for court proceedings; provides membership, duties, & powers; requires member states to participate in exchange of specified information; authorizes commission to adopt rules & bylaws; provides for development, maintenance, & use of coordinated database & reporting system; requires member states to submit specified information to data system; provides requirements for information in data system; provides rulemaking procedures; provides for state enforcement of compact; provides for termination of compact membership; provides procedures for resolution of certain disputes.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDRespiratory therapists licensed in another compact state gain a 'compact privilege' to practice in Florida without obtaining a separate Florida license, as long as they hold an active home-state license and meet compact conditions.
A new multistate commission writes rules that bind Florida and every other member state, runs a shared database of licensee discipline history, and can subpoena Florida therapists as part of another state's investigation.
Florida's board can discipline an out-of-state therapist's compact privilege the same way it disciplines its own licensees, and losing a home-state license blocks practice in every member state for two years.
Florida also extends its own lawsuit-liability rules to cover the commission's staff and the state's appointed commissioner, treating them as state agents and having the commission pay resulting claims or judgments.
AIA respiratory therapist licensed in one member state can obtain a compact privilege to practice in Florida, or any other member state, without applying for that state's own full license, subject to compact conditions.
AIA therapist licensed in another compact state who is practicing in Florida under the compact privilege does not need to meet Florida's own licensure requirements, as long as the practice stays within the scope the compact allows.
AIThe compact commission, made up of one appointee per member state, can adopt rules that carry the force of law in Florida and every other member state, covering fees, data-sharing, discipline, and compact administration.
AIFlorida's Board of Respiratory Care can take adverse action against the Florida compact privilege of an out-of-state-licensed therapist practicing here, using the same violation standards and penalties that apply to Florida's own licensees.
AIFlorida must submit identifying information, licensure status, adverse actions, license denials, and significant investigative information about respiratory therapists into a commission-run database shared with every other member state.
AIFlorida's appointed commissioner and the compact commission's officers and employees are treated as state agents under Florida's sovereign-immunity statute while acting in Florida, and the commission is made responsible for paying resulting claims or judgments.
AIAn active-duty military member or spouse who is licensed and moves under service orders may keep their existing home-state license designation for compact purposes instead of switching it with each transfer.