AN ACT PROVIDING FOR PROVISIONAL LICENSURE FOR SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 144A the following section:-
Section 144B. (a) The board may issue a provisional license to an applicant who meets the requirements of provisional licensure as a speech-language pathologist under this section; provided, however, that any provisional license issued shall be in the area in which the applicant will apply for licensure under section 144.
(b) To be eligible for provisional licensure as a speech-language pathologist, an applicant shall:
(i) be of good moral character; and
(ii) possess at a minimum: (A) a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent; and (B) a master’s degree or its equivalent in the area of speech-language pathology granted by an educational institution that incorporates academic course work and the minimum hours of supervised training required by a national certifying body for speech-language pathology.
(c) An applicant for provisional licensure as a speech-language pathologist shall apply to the board in writing on an application form prescribed by the board. At the time of filing the application, an applicant for provisional licensure shall pay to the board a fee, which shall be set by the secretary of administration and finance.
(d) The provisional license shall be valid for not longer than the period of supervised professional practice required by a national certifying body for speech-language pathology.
SECTION 2. Section 146 of said chapter 112, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “144”, in line 3, the following words:- or section 144B.
SECTION 3. Said section 146 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the figure “144”, in line 11, the following words:- or section 144B.
SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, insurance companies shall accept a provisional license of a speech-language pathologist issued pursuant to section 144B of chapter 112 of the General Laws as a full license for the purpose of credentialing clinicians.
Approved, November 10, 2022.