Shortages of licensed professionals in a number of critical fields have become increasingly problematic in recent years. In an attempt to battle this issue, Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere has teamed up with Greenville Representative Dave Murphy to introduce a bill aiming to help fill those gaps.
Under this bill, licensing boards will recognize out-of-state occupational licenses for people who have been licensed in their profession for at least one year, are in good standing in all states where they are licensed, do not have any past or pending investigations, complaints, or license revocations, establish residency in Wisconsin, pay applicable fees, and meet all testing and background check requirements per law.
There is a bit of a caveat to this bill, as the fees will be waived for the next 12 months to deal with the current health crisis.
In a news release, the duo explained that it is important to note that this law does not automatically recognize other states’ occupational licenses.
This means that workers licensed in other states will still need to apply for a license through the appropriate Wisconsin State licensing board.
