2009 General Assembly
KPA Psychology Licensure Revision Bill - House Adjourns Without Passing SB 175
Despite KPA Member advocacy efforts and those of other mental health professionals, SB 175, the revision of the Psychology Licensing Law, failed to be considered by the House (see CJ article below). The House voted to adjourn without taking up any further legislation, thus ending the 2009 Regular Session of the KY General Assembly.
The House members had good reasons for their decision and the lack of passage of our bill was not reflective of any problems with it or opposition to it. In fact, we did not have a single “no” vote cast in either the Senate or in the House. We were simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. We appreciate the help and support that KPA members and others gave to the effort and we are confident that in the 2010 legislative session we will be able to achieve passage of this KRS 319 revision to allow for a change in the sequence of training and licensure.
Please stay in touch with your legislators – always the key to successful advocacy – and thank them for their time and interest. Please do not consider their vote to adjourn – a unanimous vote of the House members – as a vote against our bill, but rather as a vote to stick to their rules.
HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME? www.vote-smart.org or call 1-888-VoteSmart (1-888-868-3762) with your home address. If you know your State Representative and feel comfortable calling him/her at home, go to www.lrc.ky.gov and click on "Who's My Legislator?" to get home and office phone numbers.
CourierJournal.com
March 26, 2009
House to adjourn without considering legislation
By Tom Loftus and Gregory A. Hall
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The House will consider no more bills and adjourn the 2009 legislative session today, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said.
Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, spoke to reporters after a closed meeting of the House’s Democratic majority caucus.
Members of the caucus decided to abide by a House rule that states that the final two days of the session be used only to consider whether to override vetoes by Gov. Steve Beshear, Stumbo said.
Because Beshear has issued only one veto, which the House leaders have said will stand, Stumbo said the House will adjourn today.
“The caucus was of the opinion that we should adhere to the rules,” he said as he left the meeting. “There are some issues still out there, but nothing that can’t be dealt with at a later date.”
Bills still pending include one that would create new economic development incentives, including tax credits intended to attract a NASCAR Sprint Cup race to the Kentucky Speedway.
Also hanging is the bill to establish an authority to oversee any tolls or other financing that will be used to pay for the Louisville bridges project.
Senate leaders wanted to use today and tomorrow to negotiate final details on those bills and a few others. Stumbo said if the Senate felt those matters needed immediate attention, it still could pass the versions of those bills approved by the House earlier in the session.
Stumbo said he would keep to the House floor open until midnight tonight if the Senate wanted him to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly of Springfield declined to offer an assessment of the House’s action.
“We’re going to take care of what we can do on this side,” Kelly said.
Beshear said the House majority caucus’ decision “disappointed” him, but added,
“I respect it. That’s certainly their right to do and I don’t think that that decision should overshadow what’s gone on this session. This has been one of the most productive sessions I believe in anybody’s memory.”
Meanwhile, Beshear said today that the state remains committed to education reform as he signed a bill that eliminates the statewide testing system put in place after enactment of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act.
Beshear’s bill signing was attended by many legislators, including Senate leadership, who had sought to eliminate the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, or CATS.
“KERA was never meant to be a one-time fix,” Beshear said.
Senate Bill 1 provides three years to develop a new testing system and “get it right,” Beshear said.
Critics of the current tests complained that school systems taught to the test and said it was unwieldy.
1. Senate Bill (SB) 175 – REVISION OF PSYCHOLOGY LICENSING LAW – 2009 General Assembly
www.lrc.ky.gov SB 175
2. Psychologists have been recognized in Kentucky statute since 1948, the third-oldest psychology licensing law in the nation! This bill (SB 175) seeks to make changes in the current law (KRS 319):
- The primary change is in moving forward the point at which doctoral-level psychologists can be fully licensed, while maintaining the same high level of requirements for education and supervised experience. This change will make it easier for agencies like the Community Mental Health Centers and the Departments of Corrections and Juvenile Justice to hire doctoral-level psychologists, addressing the shortage of professional psychologists in the public sector.
- This change also allows students who have completed their education and clinical internship to be hired and to have the capacity to earn money to pay back student loans at an earlier point in time. This revision is responsive to action taken by the American Psychological Association (APA) in formally recommending that states make this change in the sequence of licensure.
- The bill clarifies that psychologists who do not provide direct psychological services to clients may teach, do research and provide consultation to organizations and may call themselves “psychologists” without being licensed.
- The scope of practice of psychologists will include the term “psychological testing”, while the definition in statute remains unchanged. The practice of school psychologists and school guidance counselors remains unchanged. These professionals will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education, not the Board of Psychology. There is clarification of the exemption of other professions in using symptomatic and behavioral assessments and interpretations of testing.
- The continuing education (CE) requirement is raised – from the current requirement of 30 CEs per 3-year renewal period – to a requirement of 39 CEs per 3-year period. This is the first increase since the CE requirement was set in 1986. This increase is less than was proposed in the 2008 legislation as a result of input from KPA members who supported an increase with additional flexibility. The new level is more consistent with requirements for other mental health professions in Kentucky (average CE requirement: 16.1 hrs/yr). CE is a requirement of licensure for psychologists in 48 of 60 states and provinces. Of these, 42 have a higher requirement than ours (average CE requirement: 19.94 hrs/yr). The increased requirement will not go into effect until July 1, 2012, to give licensees ample notification and to give the licensure board time to implement regulations allowing greater flexibility in earning CE’s through distance learning and home study.
- The “Health Service Provider (HSP)” designation will be awarded to those doctorally-trained psychologists who have an internship in a health services delivery field and who have an additional year of supervision beyond that required for licensure. The HSP designation will be required for the psychologist to be a Board-approved supervisor. Work under supervision during the period of temporary licensure may be counted as part of this required supervised experience.
- The use of the Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate (IPC) developed by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Board (ASPPB) is authorized, giving greater uniformity to credentialing of psychologists temporarily practicing in Kentucky.
- The bill also puts more specificity into the content of the examination for licensure and allows the Board to define in regulation how the examination will be conducted for both doctorally-trained psychologists and Master’s-trained psychological practitioners.
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