COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
Washington, D.C. 20004
Statement of Introduction on the Health Professional Licensing Boards Residency
Requirement Amendment Act of 2023
June 2, 2023
Today, along with Councilmember Zachary Parker, I am proud to introduce the “Health
Professional Licensing Boards Residency Requirement Amendment Act of 2023.” This
legislation would amend the District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 1985 to
require that at least 50% of Health Professional Licensing Board positions designated for
professional members be filled by District residents at the time of their appointments and while
they are members of the board, and to require that the professional members of each Board be
licensed for the health occupation regulated by the Board on which they sit and engaged in the
practice of that health occupation in the District for at least 3 years preceding their appointment.
The bill also requires that members who are not District residents be engaged in the practice of
the health occupation regulated by the Board in the District while they are members of the
Board.
Currently, the D.C. Code requires that all members of Health Professional Licensing Boards
administered by DC Health be District residents. This requirement, while laudable in spirit, has
created challenges for the District to fill all Board seats, particularly for Boards where a
significant percentage of health professionals under their jurisdiction do not live in the District.
To illustrate how common this problem is, I am including below a table from DC Health’s Fiscal
Year 2022 Performance Oversight Post-Hearing Responses on the percentage of health
professionals under the Health Professional Licensing Boards who live in the District. As seen in
the table, none of these Boards have more than 40% District residents, with one Board where
only 8% of its health professionals are District residents. On average, only 19% of health
professionals licensed under these Boards are District residents.
Percent of Licensees who are District Residents:
Health Professional Licensing Board Percentage living in DC
Board of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology 31%
Board of Chiropractic 23%
Board of Dentistry 26%
Board of Dietetics and Nutrition 20%
Board of Long-Term Care Administration 13%
Board of Marriage and Family Therapy 21%
Board of Massage Therapy 39%
Board of Medicine 24%
Christina Henderson Committee Member
Councilmember, At-Large Hospital and Health Equity
Chairperson, Committee on Health Judiciary and Public Safety
Transportation and the Environment
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
Washington, D.C. 20004
Board of Nursing 14%
Board of Occupational Therapy 20%
Board of Optometry 14%
Board of Pharmacy 15%
Board of Physical Therapy 30%
Board of Podiatry 8%
Board of Professional Counseling 29%
Board of Psychology 32%
Board of Respiratory Care 11%
Board of Social Work 26%
Board of Veterinary Medicine 31%
Average 19%
This has led to persistently high vacancy rates for many of the Boards. For example, the Board of
Medicine has 15 seats and 7 vacancies; the Board of Nursing has 11 seats and 5 vacancies; and
the Board of Psychology has 5 seats and 2 vacancies. Board vacancies not only mean that less
perspectives are considered for key licensing decisions; they also mean that sometimes Boards
cannot establish quorum to conduct business before the Board, which in turn can slow down the
issuance of health professional licenses.
To address this persistent problem, this legislation would change the requirement to only require
that 50% of seats held by professional members of Health Professional Licensing Boards be held
by District residents. The bill would not change the current requirement that all consumer
members of these Boards be District residents and would still require that the chairperson of the
Board be a District resident. The legislation would also require that all professional members be
licensed for the health occupation regulated by the Board on which they serve and engaged in the
practice of the health occupation in the District for at least 3 years preceding appointment.
Members who are not District residents will also be required to continue practicing the health
occupation covered by the Board in the District while they are members of the Board.
This change will strike the right balance of increasing the District’s ability to recruit qualified
health professionals serving District residents for our Health Professional Licensing Boards,
while still ensuring that the majority of Board members are District residents and that all
residents can illustrate their commitment to the health care services provided to District
residents.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this legislation forward and improve
health and safety for District of Columbia students. 1
_____________________________ ____________________________ 1
Councilmember Zachary Parker Councilmember Christina Henderson 2
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A BILL 6
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 11
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To amend the District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 1985 to require that at 16
least 50% of board positions designated for professional members be filled by District 17
residents at the time of their appointments and while they are members of the board; to 18
require that the professional members of each board be licensed for the health occupation 19
regulated by the board on which they sit and engaged in the practice of that health 20
occupation in the District for at least 3 years preceding their appointment; to require that 21
members who are not District residents be engaged in the practice of that health 22
occupation in the District while they are members of the Board; and to require that the 23
consumer members of each board and the chairperson of the Board be District residents. 24
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 26
act may be cited as the “Health Professional Licensing Boards Residency Requirement 27
Amendment Act of 2023.” 28
Sec. 2. Section 401 of the District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 29
1985, effective March 25, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-99; D.C. Official Code § 3-1204.01), is amended as 30
follows: 31
(a) Subsection (a) is amended to read as follows: 32
“(a)(1) The consumer members of each board shall be residents of the District at the time 33
of their appointments and while they are members of the board. 34 2
“(2) At least 50% of board positions designated for professional members shall be 35
filled by residents of the District at the time of their appointments and while they are members of 36
the board. 37
“(3) The chairperson of each board must be a District resident.”. 38
(b) Subsection (b)(1) is amended to read as follows: 39
“(b)(1) Each professional member of a board, in addition to the requirements of 40
subsection (a) of this section, shall: 41
“(A) Have been licensed for the health occupation regulated by the board and 42
engaged in the practice of the health occupation regulated by the board in the District for at least 43
3 years preceding appointment; and 44
“(B) For members who are not District residents, be engaged in the practice of 45
that health occupation in the District while they are members of the board.”. 46
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 47
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 48
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 49
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 50
Sec. 4. Effective date. 51
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 52
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 53
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 54
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 55
Columbia Register. 56