SESSION WATCH
Died SENATE · SESSION 2026

No. SB 1312

Interstate Podiatric Medical Licensure Compact
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SPONSOR
Rodriguez
FILED BY
Ana Maria Rodriguez — District 40, Republican [search donations]
EFFECTIVE
7/1/2026
DIED IN
Health Policy

Filed under Healthcare.

PROVIDED SUMMARY

Interstate Podiatric Medical Licensure Compact; Creating the Interstate Podiatric Medical Licensure Compact; providing purpose of the compact; specifying requirements for a podiatric physician to apply for and receive an expedited license in a member state; creating the Interstate Podiatric Medical Licensure Compact Commission; providing powers and duties, including financial powers, of the commission, etc.

Full bill text →

Plain English Summary

AI-GENERATED
Lets qualifying podiatrists obtain expedited licenses to practice in other states.

Creates a new interstate compact letting a podiatric physician licensed in one member state obtain an expedited, full license to practice in any other member state without repeating exams or verified credentials.

Only podiatrists with a clean record qualify: no prior criminal conviction, no license discipline in any jurisdiction, and no open investigation. Those who don't qualify can still apply for a license the ordinary way.

Discipline follows the physician across state lines. If any member board suspends or revokes a compact license, the physician's licenses in every other member state are automatically suspended for 90 days.

A new multistate commission runs the system, funded by mandatory yearly assessments on member states, and its rules get strong court deference: a challenger must show the rule is not a reasonable use of its authority.

KEY PROVISIONS
§ 1 Creates an expedited multistate license for podiatrists majors. 461.0181

AIThe compact adds a new, faster licensing route on top of each state's existing one. A podiatrist who qualifies gets a full, unrestricted license recognized in every other member state without repeating primary-source verification the home state already did.

“means a full unrestricted podiatric medical license granted by a member state to an eligible podiatric physician” bill text, line 104 →
§ 2 Sets a strict, clean-record eligibility standard majors. 461.0181

AITo use the expedited pathway a podiatrist must never have been convicted of any offense, never had a license disciplined in any jurisdiction (apart from nonpayment of fees), never had a controlled-substance license pulled, and not be under active investigation.

“Has never been convicted of or received adjudication, deferred adjudication, community supervision, or deferred disposition for any offense” bill text, line 139 →
§ 3 Any member state's discipline auto-suspends licenses everywhere majors. 461.0181

AIIf one member board revokes, suspends, or accepts surrender of a podiatrist's license, every other license that podiatrist holds through the compact is automatically suspended for 90 days while the other boards investigate, with no separate hearing or vote required first.

“must be suspended, automatically and immediately without further action necessary by the other member boards, for 90 days upon entry of the order” bill text, line 407 →
§ 4 Principal-state discipline places all other licenses on the same status majors. 461.0181

AIIf the state where a podiatrist designated their principal license revokes, suspends, or accepts a surrender of that license, all the podiatrist's other compact licenses are automatically moved to the same status, with no independent action by those other boards.

“must automatically be placed, without further action necessary by any member board, on the same status” bill text, line 385 →
§ 5 Existing state licensing law and routes stay in place moderates. 461.0181

AIThe compact is an additional option, not a replacement. A podiatrist who doesn't meet the compact's eligibility standard can still get licensed the ordinary way under a state's own practice act, and each state's practice act is otherwise untouched.

“does not otherwise change a state's existing Podiatric Medical Practice Act” bill text, line 70 →
§ 6 Commission can levy mandatory yearly dues on member states moderates. 461.0181

AIThe new compact commission is funded by an annual assessment it charges each member state, sized to cover its approved budget, with the split between states set by a formula the commission adopts as a rule.

“may levy and collect an annual assessment from each member state to cover the cost of the operations and activities of the commission” bill text, line 560 →
§ 7 Courts must defer to the commission's rules moderates. 461.0181

AIA person challenging a commission rule in federal court faces a deferential standard: the court must defer to the commission and cannot strike a rule down if it is a reasonable exercise of the authority the compact grants.

“The court shall give deference to the actions of the commission consistent with applicable law and may not find the rule to be unlawful” bill text, line 661 →
TIMELINE
3/13/2026
Died in Health Policy
1/22/2026
Introduced
1/16/2026
Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Committee on Health and...
1/7/2026
Filed
STATUTES IT CHANGES
s. 461.0181
+6202 / −0