ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION - 2025
COMMITTEE STATEMENT
LB83
Hearing Date: Thursday January 30, 2025
Committee On: Health and Human Services
Introducer: Rountree
One Liner: Adopt the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact
Roll Call Vote - Final Committee Action:
Advanced to General File
Vote Results:
Aye: 7 Senators Ballard, Fredrickson, Hansen, Hardin, Meyer, Quick, Riepe
Nay:
Absent:
Present Not Voting:
Testimony:
Proponents: Representing:
Senator Victor Rountree Opening Presenter
Amy Behnke Health Care Association of Nebraska
Jessica Meeske Nebraska Dental Association
Joey Enright Nebraska Dental Hygienists Association
Luke Andreasen self
Amir Farhangpour, DDS UNMC College of Dentistry
Opponents: Representing:
Neutral: Representing:
* ADA Accommodation Written Testimony
Summary of purpose and/or changes:
Summary of purposes and/or changes:
LB 83 proposes the adoption of the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, allowing Nebraska to become a member
state once at least seven states enact the Compact. Upon implementation, dentists and dental hygienists would be
eligible for a multistate license, permitting practice in all Participating States. The bill also amends statutory language
to require all professions mandated to undergo a criminal background check to complete the process as part of their
application.
Sections 1 through 1.13 are new in their entirety.
Section 1: This section establishes and formally adopts the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, incorporating its
provisions into Nebraska law.
Committee Statement: LB83
Health and Human Services Committee
Page 1 fc65235184ee95be0409f5849716cda0 Section 1.1: Title and Purposes.
The Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact facilitates interstate practice by allowing licensed dentists and dental
hygienists to obtain a Compact Privilege to practice in Participating States without additional licensing requirements,
while ensuring public health and safety, promoting workforce mobility, enhancing licensure information sharing, and
supporting military families.
Section 1.2: Definitions.
The Compact provides definitions for: Active Military Member, Adverse Action, Alternative Program, Clinical
Assessment, Commissioner, Compact, Compact Privilege, Continuing Professional Development, Criminal
Background Check, Data System, Dental Hygienist, Dentist, Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact Commission
(Commission), Encumbered License, Executive Board, Jurisprudence Requirement, License, Licensee, Model
Compact, Participating State, Qualifying License, Remote State, Rule, Scope of Practice, Significant Investigative
Information, State, and State Licensing Authority.
Section 1.3: State Participation in the Compact.
To join and maintain participation in the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, a State must enact a substantially
similar compact, fully engage with the Commission’s Data System, establish a complaint and investigation
mechanism, report disciplinary actions, implement criminal background checks, comply with Commission rules,
accept accredited licensure qualifications and examinations, require clinical assessments and continuing professional
development, and pay participation fees, while ensuring that licensing decisions consider background checks and
granting Compact Privileges only to licensees meeting all requirements.
Section 1.4: Compact Privilege.
To obtain and maintain a Compact Privilege under the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, a licensee must hold a
Qualifying License in a Participating State, meet application and examination requirements, comply with jurisprudence
and background check mandates, report any disciplinary actions and address changes, and accept service of
process, while their practice in a Remote State remains subject to that state's regulatory authority, with privileges
subject to suspension or revocation if disciplinary actions, encumbrances, or other disqualifying conditions arise.
Section 1.5: Active Military Members and Their Spouses.
Active military members and their spouses are exempt from Commission fees for a compact privilege, and a remote
State may choose to reduce or waive its own fees for them.
Section 1.6: Adverse Actions.
A Participating State has exclusive authority to impose adverse action against a licensee’s qualifying license, may
take action based on significant investigative information from another state, and may require alternative program
participants to refrain from compact privilege practice without approval; Remote States may investigate violations,
issue subpoenas, recover investigation costs, and take adverse action against compact privileges, while Participating
States may conduct joint investigations and continue inquiries even after a compact privilege is terminated.
Section 1.7: Establishment and Operation of the Commission.
The Compact establishes a joint government agency, the Commission, composed of representatives from
Participating States to oversee the administration, regulation, and enforcement of the compact’s provisions, with
authority to promulgate rules, manage finances, conduct investigations, impose fees, hold public and closed
meetings, and take legal action; the Commission also maintains an Executive Board for operational management,
ensures financial accountability, provides indemnification for its members, and upholds State sovereignty and
immunity protections.
Section 1.8: Data System.
Committee Statement: LB83
Health and Human Services Committee
Page 2 fc65235184ee95be0409f5849716cda0 The Commission shall establish and maintain a centralized data system for Participating States to share licensure,
adverse actions, and significant investigative information regarding licensees and applicants, with data submission
requirements, protections for confidential information, compliance obligations for states, and provisions for
expungement in accordance with federal and state law.
Section 1.9: Rulemaking.
The Commission has the authority to promulgate and enforce rules necessary to implement and administer the
Compact, with such rules having the force of law in all Participating States unless found invalid by a court or
conflicting with a state's scope of practice laws, while providing a structured rulemaking process that includes public
notice, hearings, opportunities for comment, legislative override provisions, emergency rule procedures, and a
mechanism for correcting errors without requiring adherence to individual Participating State rulemaking
requirements.
Section 1.10: Oversight, Dispute Resolution, and Enforcement.
The executive and judicial branches of each Participating State must enforce the Compact, with disputes and
enforcement actions handled exclusively in federal courts where the Commission’s principal office is located, while
the Commission has the authority to address state defaults, impose termination after due process, mediate disputes,
and take legal action to enforce compliance, with prevailing parties in litigation entitled to recover costs and attorney’s
fees.
Section 1.11: Effective Date, Withdrawal, and Amendment.
The Compact takes effect when enacted by the seventh Participating State, remains in force regardless of changes in
state participation, applies existing Commission rules to new members, allows states to withdraw with 180 days’
notice while maintaining reporting obligations and Compact privileges during the transition, permits non-conflicting
licensure agreements with non-Participating States, and requires unanimous enactment by all Participating States for
any amendments to become binding.
Section 1.12: Construction and Severability.
The Compact and the Commission’s rulemaking authority shall be liberally construed to fulfill its purposes, its
provisions shall be severable to preserve validity if any part is deemed unconstitutional, and the Commission may
deny or terminate a state’s participation if its constitutional requirements materially conflict with the Compact, while
the Compact remains binding on all other Participating States.
Section 1.13: Consistent Effect and Conflict with Other State Laws.
The Compact does not prevent enforcement of any consistent state law, supersedes conflicting state laws to the
extent of the conflict, and ensures that all permissible agreements between the Commission and Participating States
are binding.
Section 2: The sole change in this section adds Dental Hygienists to the list of professions approved to apply for an
initial license.
Applicants for initial licensure in various healthcare professions to undergo a criminal background check, including
fingerprinting and a national history record check conducted by the Nebraska State Patrol and the FBI, with applicants
responsible for associated costs; exceptions apply for certain temporary or locum tenens permits, and failure to
complete the background check within a specified timeframe may result in permit suspension or revocation.
Section 3: 38-1101 to 38-1152 and section 4 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the Dentistry Practice
Act.
Section 4: An individual holding a compact privilege under the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact is authorized to
practice dentistry or dental hygiene in Nebraska in accordance with the terms and scope of the compact.
Committee Statement: LB83
Health and Human Services Committee
Page 3 fc65235184ee95be0409f5849716cda0 Section 5: Operative Date – January 1, 2026.
Section 6: Repealer.
Brian Hardin, Chairperson
Committee Statement: LB83
Health and Human Services Committee
Page 4 fc65235184ee95be0409f5849716cda0