The Louisiana Senate Commerce Committee has briefly delayed consideration of Louisiana House Bill 748, the Occupational Licensing Review Act, which would severely restrict the use of professional credentials in the state. The committee is scheduled to take up the bill on May 9.

The measure was moving quickly through the legislature last week before ASAE and many other associations with members in Louisiana expressed concern over the bill’s text. As originally drafted, the bill would prohibit use of the terms “certification” and “registration” for nongovernmental professional credentialing unless state law requires certification or registration to work in the profession (as in the medical field, for example).

ASAE has spoken with the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Julie Emerson (R), and is hopeful that HB 748 will be amended to allow the use of professional certifications or accreditations in the state, said ASAE Senior Vice President for Public Policy Jim Clarke, CAE. The organization’s general counsel firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, concluded in a memo last week that, without changes, the legislation “could be disastrous” for nongovernmental certification boards.

ASAE is part of a coalition led by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence that is working to change the bill.

“This legislation does not seem like a forward-thinking approach,” ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE, said last week. “We believe strongly in professional certification, much like our Certified Association Executive (CAE) program. We know many other organizations feel the same. We have been getting the word out and will continue to make our case known to the Louisiana State Senate.”

(omersukrugoksu/iStock/Getty Images Plus)