LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6630 NOTE PREPARED: Mar 9, 2022
BILL NUMBER: SB 5 BILL AMENDED: Mar 8, 2022
SUBJECT: Reciprocity and Audiology Compact.
FIRST AUTHOR: Sen. Brown L BILL STATUS: Enrolled
FIRST SPONSOR: Rep. Vermilion
FUNDS AFFECTED:XGENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
XDEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: License Reciprocity– This bill establishes a procedure to grant licenses and
certificates to practice certain health care professions in Indiana. It requires the applicant to hold a current
license or certificate from another state or jurisdiction and meet other requirements.
Provisional Licenses– The bill allows the applicant who meets certain requirements to apply for a provisional
license or provisional certificate. It requires the provisional license or provisional certificate to be issued
within 30 days.
Penalties– The bill provides for penalties for submitting false information on an application for a provisional
license or provisional certificate.
Board Decisions– The bill requires a board to make a final decision on a license or certificate application
before the expiration of a provisional license or provisional certificate.
Timely Approval– The bill provides that if a board has a pending application for initial licensure or
certification that requires final approval by the board, the board shall meet not more than 31 days after the
application is ready for approval.
Physicians– The bill provides that the Medical Licensing Board may not issue a physician's license to an
applicant using the reciprocity law beginning July 1, 2026.
Behavioral Health Practitioners– The bill eliminates certain requirements for an applicant seeking licensure
as a clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, mental health counselor, addiction counselor, or
SB 5 1 clinical addiction counselor.
License Issuance Within 30 Days– The bill requires the boards that regulate bachelor's degree social workers,
social workers, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, licensed
addiction counselors, licensed clinical addiction counselors, and respiratory care practitioners to issue a
license by reciprocity within 30 days if certain requirements are met.
Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists– The bill requires the Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology board to, before January 1, 2023, initiate and make every effort to enter into reciprocity
agreements with contiguous states for individuals licensed as:
(1) a speech-language pathologist; and
(2) an audiologist;
to practice the individual's profession under the license from one state in the other state.
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact– The bill adopts the Audiology and Speech-Language
Pathology Interstate Compact. It makes conforming amendments.
Effective Date: Upon passage; July 1, 2022.
Explanation of State Expenditures: License Reciprocity– The Professional Licensing Agency (PLA) will
experience an increase in workload in FY 2022 and FY 2023 to review and amend rules for 17 health
occupations’ licensing boards, commissions, and committees to facilitate the common standards of licensure
reciprocity established by the bill. The PLA will also require an additional workload to establish formal
reciprocity agreements with bordering states for speech-language pathology and audiology licenses. If the
bill results in additional practitioners with out-of-state credentials seeking employment and licensure in
Indiana, the PLA may experience additional ongoing workload and administrative costs to process
applications in accordance with the bill’s standards for reciprocity. Additionally, the State Police Department
may experience additional workload to conduct criminal history checks for license applicants in certain
occupations. Because the bill invokes penalties of perjury, a Level 6 felony, for provisional license applicants
who submit false information in a signed affidavit, the Department of Correction could potentially incur
additional costs for incarcerating an individual convicted for this offense.
If existing staffing and resource levels are insufficient for full implementation, the additional funds and
resources required could be supplied through existing staff and resources currently being used in another
program or with new appropriations. Ultimately, the source of funds and resources required to satisfy the
requirements of this bill will depend on legislative and administrative actions.
Behavioral Health Practitioners– Additionally, the PLA could experience a minor increase in workload to
process license applications, if the bill’s elimination of certain licensure requirements for behavioral health
professionals results in additional license applicants. Any increase in behavioral health license applications
is expected to be minimal.
License Issuance Within 30 Days– This provision may increase the workload on the PLA to process licenses
on a quicker basis for social workers practicing in other states. However, any increase would likely be
minimal.
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact– Joining the compact would require additional
workload and resources for the Professional Licensing Agency (PLA) and Speech-Language Pathology and
SB 5 2 Audiology (SLPA) Board that extend beyond routine administrative functions. Implementation of the
compact is expected to require between $24,800 and $42,200 in staff salary costs in FY 2023. After
implementation, the PLA is expected to incur between $6,800 and $16,300 in ongoing annual operating
expenses related to administering the compact. PLA operating expenses are paid from General Fund
appropriations.
Additionally, the Attorney General’s Office and the SLPA Board could experience an increase in workload
for investigatory and disciplinary procedures to the extent that complaints are made against out-of-state
practitioners practicing in Indiana under the compact or Indiana licensees practicing in distant states. The
SLPA Board would also be required to pay any witness fees and travel expenses necessary to summon
witnesses from other compact states for hearings held by the SLPA Board. The volume of such complaints
and disciplinary actions is expected to be minimal.
Estimated PLA Expenditures for the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact
Expense
FY 2023 Subsequent Years
Low
Estimate
High
Estimate
Low
Estimate
High
Estimate
PLA & SLPA Board Implementation Costs* $24,800 $42,200 - -
PLA & SLPA Board Ongoing Administrative
Costs*
- - $6,800 $10,300
Annual Assessment Fee** - - $0 $6,000
TOTAL $24,800 $42,200 $6,800 $16,300
*Estimated salary cost of existing staff to complete the bill’s requirements.
**Possible assessment fee range based on assessments of similar license compacts.
Additional Information–
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact– The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
Interstate Compact is a multi-state agreement that will allow audiologists and speech-language pathologists
that are licensed in a member state to obtain mutual recognition of their licenses in other member states
through a single platform. The compact has been adopted by the legislatures of 15 states, exceeding the
threshold of member states required by the legislation for the compact to take effect. The Compact
Commission convened in January 2022 to establish rules and bylaws, and is expected to begin issuing
compact privileges to practitioners in member states by early 2023.
PLA Workload: The PLA will likely dedicate a significant amount staff time in FY 2023 toward adopting
rules relating to the compact and the bill’s speech-language pathology support personnel provisions, as well
as facilitating data sharing between the SLPA Board and the Compact Commission, educating license holders
on the compact, and other planning activities. Expected salary costs associated with this workload are
estimated between $24,800 and $42,200 based on current PLA staff salaries for the various employee types
likely to be involved and across a range of total hours that may be spent on compact implementation.
Ongoing workload for functions such as verifying licensure for compact applicants, submitting investigative
SB 5 3 and disciplinary information to the compact database, and providing staff support for Indiana’s Compact
Commissioners is estimated to require between $6,800 and $10,300 in salary cost per year. The funds and
resources required for this work could be supplied through existing staff and resources currently being used
in other programs or with new appropriations. Ultimately, the source of funds and resources required to
satisfy the requirements of this bill will depend on legislative and administrative actions.
Commission Membership: The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Commission
is a body politic made up of two delegates from each compact state. The SLPA Board would appoint two
current SLPA Board members as voting delegates representing Indiana in the Compact Commission. The bill
authorizes the Commission to levy an annual assessment on Indiana as a compact state. Because the compact
rules and bylaws have not yet been adopted, no such fee has been levied. Among other health care licensure
compacts currently established and authorized to levy annual assessments on member states, these fee
amounts range between $0 and $6,000 per year. The bill states that the annual assessment is meant to cover
the cost of the Commission’s operations and activities. Therefore, it is assumed that any travel required of
Indiana’s appointed delegates for Commission business would not result in additional costs to the state
beyond the amount of the annual assessment.
Uniform Data Set: Upon joining the compact, the bill would require the SLPA Board to submit a uniform
data set containing certain identifying, licensure, and disciplinary information to the Commission’s
coordinated database on all participating practitioners. Similar requirements were included in the
authorization of the Nurse Licensure Compact, which was recently implemented by the PLA. The PLA
reported costs of approximately $130,000 for harmonizing its licensure database with the Nurse Licensure
Compact’s national database, an effort that was funded through a grant awarded by the Nurse Licensure
Compact Commission. To the extent that PLA determines that the data sharing requirements of the compact
necessitate similar customization of PLA’s existing licensure database, similar information technology costs
may be incurred. However, the bill states that the Compact Commission is responsible for the development
and maintenance of the coordinated database and does not expressly require the harmonization of states’
databases with the Compact Commission’s database. It is unknown whether the Compact Commission will
offer funding for this type of project.
Adverse Action: The bill grants the SLPA Board and the Attorney General’s Office authority to investigate
and take adverse action against an SLPA practioner’s compact privileges in Indiana. Additionally, the bill
requires the SLPA Board and Attorney General’s Office to give the same priority for taking investigatory
and disciplinary action related to conduct of Indiana licensees reported by other member states as they would
if the conduct had occurred in Indiana. The bill also requires the SLPA Board and the Attorney General’s
Office to complete any pending investigations of SLPA practitioners who change their primary state of
residence during the investigation. The SLPA Board would be required to report to the compact data system
any adverse actions taken against Indiana compact privilege holders or distant state practitioners practicing
in Indiana. The bill allows for member states to recover from the affected SLPA practitioner the costs of
investigations and disposition of cases resulting from adverse actions.
Penalty Provision: A Level 6 felony is punishable by a prison term ranging from 6 to 30 months, with an
advisory sentence of 1 year. The sentence depends on mitigating and aggravating circumstances. Assuming
offenders can be housed in existing facilities with no additional staff, the marginal cost for medical care,
food, and clothing is approximately $4,333 annually, or $11.87 daily, per prisoner. However, any additional
expenditures are likely to be small.
Explanation of State Revenues: License Reciprocity– If the bill results in additional practitioners with out-
SB 5 4 of-state credentials seeking employment and licensure in Indiana, the PLA will collect additional revenue
from license fees. License fees for health professions regulated under the PLA are deposited in the General
Fund and range between $40 and $250, typically paid biennially, depending on the occupation. Additionally,
the State Police Department would collect additional General Fund revenue from the $15 national criminal
history check fee for license applicants in certain occupations. Total additional revenue from new license
seekers is indeterminable but likely to be small, given that many of the licensing boards, commissions, and
committees affected by the bill have already established avenues for licensure by reciprocity.
If any applicants are convicted on Level 6 felony or Class A infraction charges for submitting false
information to a licensing board, there could be a small increase in revenue to the General Fund and Common
School Fund from court fees and criminal fines.
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact– If a significant number of out-of-state SLPA
practitioners who hold Indiana licenses choose to forego license renewal for compact authorization to
practice in Indiana, the bill could result in a reduction in General Fund revenue from license fees estimated
between $17,500 and $52,500 per biennium. However, the bill provides that member states may charge a fee
for granting compact privileges. Therefore, the SLPA Board could potentially recoup some or all of this lost
revenue through compact privilege fees, depending on rules adopted by the Compact Commission relating
to member state fees. Any revenue impact would not be expected until FY 2024 when compact privileges
begin to be granted in Indiana. [Approximately 85% of SLPA license fee revenue is collected in even
numbered years.]
Additional Information– Audiology and Speech-language Pathology Compact– The SLPA Board currently
collects a biennial license fee of $100 for speech-language pathologists and audiologists. In FY 2020 and FY
2021, the SLPA Board collected approximately $538,000 from license fees. As of November 2021, there are
3,382 speech-language pathologists and 405 audiologists physically located in Indiana with active Indiana
licenses. There are 583 speech-language pathologists and 117 audiologists with Indiana licenses that live
outside of Indiana. Estimates of possible revenue reduction assume between 25% and 75% of the out-of-state
licensees would choose not to renew their Indiana licenses upon receiving compact privileges.
Penalty Provision– If additional court cases occur and fines are collected, revenue to both the Common
School Fund and the state General Fund would increase. The maximum fine for a Level 6 felony is $10,000,
deposited in the Common School Fund. The maximum judgment for a Class A infraction is $10,000,
deposited in the General Fund. Revenue from court fees is also deposited in the General Fund. However, any
additional revenues would likely be small.
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Compact– The bill’s
changes to speech-language pathology assistant authority and supervision requirements for speech-language
pathologists could have an impact on hiring decisions of school corporations. Any change in expenditures
for speech-language pathology services would be dependent on the decisions of individual school
corporations.
Penalty Provision– If more defendants are detained in county jails prior to their court hearings, local
expenditures for jail operations may increase. However, any additional expenditures would likely be small.
Explanation of Local Revenues: Penalty Provision– If additional court actions occur and a guilty verdict
is entered, local governments would receive revenue from court fees. However, the amounts would likely
be small.
SB 5 5 State Agencies Affected: Professional Licensing Agency; State Police Department; Department of
Correction; Family & Social Services Administration; Attorney General.
Local Agencies Affected: Trial courts, local law enforcement agencies; school corporations.
Information Sources: Professional Licensing Agency, Search and Verify Tool;
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology website: https://aslpcompact.com/;
Legislative Services Agency, Indiana Handbook of Taxes, Revenues, and Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2021.
Fiscal Analyst: Chris Baker, 317-232-9851.
SB 5 6