Threats to Professional Licensure: State List

Ohio

» Threat Type: Legislation requiring the review and analysis of licensing requirements, resulting in recommendations to remove any unnecessary or overly burdensome licensing requirements. This piece of legislation does not specifically target professional engineers.
» Threat Status:  Enacted
Legislative/Executive Order/Regulatory: Legislative
Bill Number: SB 255
Status:
1/11/2019 – Signed into law by Governor Kasich
Summary:

The measure is a massive overhaul to reform occupational licensing in Ohio and appears to be a major threat to occupational licensure in Ohio. It states that Ohio will use the least restrictive regulation to protect public health and safety. The policy of employing the least restrictive regulation presumes that market competition and private remedies are sufficient to protect consumers.

NSPE alerted the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers to the bill and collaborated on efforts to defeat the legislation. In May 2018, NSPE submitted letters in opposition to this bill to state legislators.

» Threat Type: “Right to Engage in a Lawful Occupation Act.” Seeks to establish the least restrictive means of regulating an occupation. Often proposes the elimination of licensure requirements for certain professions. Professional engineers aren’t specifically targeted, but are included.
» Threat Status:  Potential Threat
Legislative/Executive Order/Regulatory: Legislative
Bill Number: HB 289
Status:
1/30/2018 - Heard in the House Government Accountability Committee on 1/30/2018. Died on adjournment
Summary:

If passed, H.B. 289 would have required occupational licensing boards to expire on December 31, 2023 or five years after the board’s creation, whichever is later. This emancipates a person to engage in the profession without an occupational license, notwithstanding any law that requires a person to possess a license to lawfully engage in that profession. An occupational licensing board could be renewed by enactment of a law that continues the statutes creating, empowering, governing, or regulating the board.

NSPE alerted the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers to the bill and collaborated on efforts to defeat the legislation.

» Threat Type: Legislation that increases state oversight of occupational regulatory boards.
» Threat Status:  Potential Threat
Legislative/Executive Order/Regulatory: Legislative
Bill Number: SB 366
Status:
Died in Committee in 2016.
Summary:

This measure sought to review compliance with antitrust requirements.