SPONSOR: Peters
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Economic Development by a vote of 13 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules-Administrative by a vote of 10 to 0.
This bill establishes the "Dietitian Licensure Compact", which is an interstate agreement that allows the practice of dietetics across state lines within other states that are a part of the Compact. The bill outlines the licensing requirements, education requirements for the dietitians, and the duties of the member states.
The bill further proposes to establish a joint government agency known as the "Dietitian Licensure Compact Commission", which will administer and enforce the Compact, adopt rules and bylaws, maintain a data system, investigate complaints, report complaints to home states of dietitians, and perform other functions necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of the Compact.
Provisions of the bill ensure the Compact will not affect Missouri's license reciprocity laws.
This bill specifies that, a first time applicant who has not previously taken or passed an examination may obtain without examination a nonrenewable temporary license by paying a temporary license fee and submitting an agreement-to-supervise form that is signed by a licensed dietitian who has agreed to supervise the applicant. Such temporary licensee may practice dietetics, but any such practice must be under the supervision of a dietitian licensed in this State.
The supervising dietitian must have an unencumbered license to practice and he or she cannot be an immediate family member of the temporary licensee.
The temporary license obtained by an applicant will expire the date the licensee's employment with the supervising dietitian has ceased or within 180 days of its issuance, whichever occurs first.
This bill is the same as HB 397 (2025) and HB 1666 (2024). PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this bill would allow students who have their master's degree to acquire more hands-on experience while being employed before taking the final certification examination. The bill would also allow dietitians to offer services in multiple states mainly through telehealth. Currently, if a patient moves out of the state of Missouri, the dietitian has to either transfer the patient's care or get additional licensure to continue offering services. This would allow patients to stay with the dietitians they have built a relationship with. This bill will also allow Missouri to be competitive with other states for clients and jobs. This will save dietitians money and time by not taking additional certification examinations to treat patients in nearby states.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Peters; Amy Bollam, DiningRD; Chance Hepola, Cox Health; Jean Howard, Mo Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics; Amy Bollam, Health Technologies D/b/a DiningRD; Carolyn Skelton, Wellness 4 Prevention LLC, Brenda Roling, Missouri Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; and Arnie Dienoff.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: