88R21208 SCP-D
	By: Buckley, Raney, Plesa, Burns, et al.	H.B. No. 2557

Statutes affected:
Introduced: ()
House Committee Report: ()
Engrossed: ()

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the Licensed Professional Counselors Compact;
	authorizing fees.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 503, Occupations Code, is amended by
	adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER K. LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS COMPACT
	Sec. 503.501.  LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS COMPACT.
	The Licensed Professional Counselors Compact is enacted and entered
	into with all other jurisdictions that legally join in the compact,
	which reads as follows:
	LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS COMPACT
	SECTION 1:  PURPOSE
	The purpose of this Compact is to facilitate interstate practice of
	Licensed Professional Counselors with the goal of improving public
	access to Professional Counseling services. The practice of
	Professional Counseling occurs in the State where the client is
	located at the time of the counseling services. The Compact
	preserves the regulatory authority of States to protect public
	health and safety through the current system of State licensure.
	This Compact is designed to achieve the following objectives:
	A.  Increase public access to Professional Counseling
	services by providing for the mutual recognition of other Member
	State licenses;
	B.  Enhance the States' ability to protect the public's
	health and safety;
	C.  Encourage the cooperation of Member States in regulating
	multistate practice for Licensed Professional Counselors;
	D.  Support spouses of relocating Active Duty Military
	personnel;
	E.  Enhance the exchange of licensure, investigative, and
	disciplinary information among Member States;
	F.  Allow for the use of Telehealth technology to facilitate
	increased access to Professional Counseling services;
	G.  Support the uniformity of Professional Counseling
	licensure requirements throughout the States to promote public
	safety and public health benefits;
	H.  Invest all Member States with the authority to hold a
	Licensed Professional Counselor accountable for meeting all State
	practice laws in the State in which the client is located at the
	time care is rendered through the mutual recognition of Member
	State licenses;
	I.  Eliminate the necessity for licenses in multiple States;
	and
	J.  Provide opportunities for interstate practice by
	Licensed Professional Counselors who meet uniform licensure
	requirements.
	SECTION 2.  DEFINITIONS
	As used in this Compact, and except as otherwise provided, the
	following definitions shall apply:
	A.  "Active Duty Military" means full-time duty status in the
	active uniformed service of the United States, including members of
	the National Guard and Reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10
	U.S.C. Chapters 1209 and 1211.
	B.  "Adverse Action" means any administrative, civil, equitable or
	criminal action permitted by a State's laws which is imposed by a
	licensing board or other authority against a Licensed Professional
	Counselor, including actions against an individual's license or
	Privilege to Practice such as revocation, suspension, probation,
	monitoring of the licensee, limitation on the licensee's practice,
	or any other Encumbrance on licensure affecting a Licensed
	Professional Counselor's authorization to practice, including
	issuance of a cease and desist action.
	C.  "Alternative Program" means a non-disciplinary monitoring or
	practice remediation process approved by a Professional Counseling
	Licensing Board to address Impaired Practitioners.
	D.  "Continuing Competence/Education" means a requirement, as a
	condition of license renewal, to provide evidence of participation
	in, and/or completion of, educational and professional activities
	relevant to practice or area of work.
	E.  "Counseling Compact Commission" or "Commission" means the
	national administrative body whose membership consists of all
	States that have enacted the Compact.
	F.  "Current Significant Investigative Information" means:
	1.  Investigative Information that a Licensing Board, after