photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

Dr. Bill Klenk, president of the West Virginia Board of Dentistry, is sworn for Monday morning’s Senate Government Organization Committee meeting.

CHARLESTON — A bill supported by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to lift hurdles on new residents transferring their occupational license from other states received a review from a West Virginia Senate committee Monday.

The Senate Government Organization Committee took testimony on Senate Bill 458 — the Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act — Monday morning before laying over further action on the bill until a future meeting.

SB 458 would create the Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act of 2025, allowing for universal licensing reciprocity in West Virginia for professions governed by Chapter 30 of State Code. The bill seeks to streamline the licensing process for qualified professionals moving to West Virginia.

The bill mandates that professional boards grant licenses to individuals who have been licensed in another state they are coming from for at least a year. Licensees would need to show they are in good standing in their original state and show that they meet the minimum education, work experience, and clinical supervision requirements in the state they are coming from.

The bill would also apply to any new resident who previously passed any required examination for the out-of-state license. The applicant would need to have a clean disciplinary record, with no rescinding of licenses or voluntary surrenders in other states due to unprofessional conduct, as well as no criminal history. The licensee would still need to pay any applicable state fees for licensure.

The Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act includes stipulations for military spouses traveling with their partner to West Virginia and wishing to transfer their occupational license with them. The bill allows professional boards to require an exam on West Virginia-specific laws, while explicitly excluding licenses to practice law and certain background checks. The bill does not apply to transfer of law licenses from other states, or to background checks.

Supporters of occupational licensing reciprocity believe that SB 458 will promote workforce mobility and could address labor shortages in West Virginia, which ranks second in the nation for lowest labor force participation rate at 55.4%.

SB 458 was introduced on behalf of Morrisey, who made universal occupational licensing reciprocity a part of his State of the State address on Feb. 12 on the first day of the 2025 legislative session.

“…We need universal licensing reciprocity,” Morrisey said. “We need to ensure that folks such as contractors, electricians, or nurses who are licensed in another state, can move to West Virginia and get to work right away. When other states passed universal licensing reciprocity, it helped increase their workforce population by thousands.

Edward Timmons, director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, told the committee that West Virginia ranked 33rd out of all 50 states in its most recent Snapshot of Occupational Licensing report.

“Occupational licenses do not work like driver’s licenses do,” Timmons said. “if you’re licensed as a doctor, if you’re licensed as an engineer, if you’re licensed as a barber, it is generally not easy for an individual to move from Ohio or Kentucky and begin working in West Virginia. Workers that move and are credentialed will oftentimes face significant delays in getting their license process.”

According to Timmons, West Virginia licenses 173 different occupations, or 37 more occupations that Kansas does, which licenses 136 occupations. Timmons said 26 states have some sort of occupational and professional licensing reciprocity, with 17 of those states having the version being considered by West Virginia.

Dr. Bill Klenk, president of the West Virginia Board of Dentistry, said the state’s licensure of dentists is already near universal, but West Virginia requires potential dentists in the state to pass a hand skills test before being approved for a license, with only eight states not requiring such a test. Klenk said the bill should be amended to require the hand skills examination for dentists from other states.

“Now over 80% of the U.S. states require this clinical hand skill examination for licensure just like we do here in West Virginia which is part of our statute,” Klenk said. “Therefore, we ask that the licensure of dentists and dental hygienists be exempted in this legislation.”

Mark Spangler, executive director of the West Virginia Board of Medicine, said his organization supports a form of universal occupational licensing reciprocity. However, he said SB 458 was too broad, requiring the state to accept licenses from physicians from other states who might not have completed their training but were able to be licensed in their former states.

“Our concern is that a physician from another state could complete enough clinical postgraduate training to be eligible for a license, and in most states that’s one year…although they had completed enough of the training to get the license, they hadn’t completed all of their clinical skills training, and that person would immediately be licensed under this bill in the State of West Virginia, which lowers the standard and exposes the patients of West Virginia to a standard that is lower than our current standard,” Spangler said.

Spangler said there is already an expedited interstate compact for allowing physicians to transfer their licenses to another state. According to Spangler, 42 states are part of this expedited compact, including West Virginia.

“We think there’s another process specifically for physicians that’s a safer process, that’s a tried process, and it’s a growing process through the interstate medical licensure compact,” Spangler said.