On March 20th, the Minnesota legislature introduced Senate File 4746, sponsored by Senator Koran. On March 24th, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard Senate File 4746. The legislation was received positively by the committee.
On March 23rd, the Minnesota legislature introduced House File 4595, sponsored by Representatives Schomacker, Backer, Franson, Schwartz, Nadeau, Repinski, Curran, Bahner, Carroll, and Bierman. House File 4595 was heard by the Health Finance and Policy Committee on March 25th. HF 4595 passed the Health Finance Committee with no opposition.
These important pieces of legislation will improve the licensure by endorsement process for MFTs seeking licensure in Minnesota after obtaining initial licensure in another state. Under the current law, MFTs applying for licensure by endorsement would need to meet substantially equivalent requirements. Under the introduced legislation, the process is streamlined by removing substantially equivalent language that allows applications to be interpreted on a case-by-case basis and by setting clear expectations for the requirements for the licensure by endorsement process.
Continue to check back for more updates on the Access MFTs initiative in Minnesota as the bills continue to progress through the legislative process. If you have any questions or stories about portability in Minnesota, please reach out to portability@aamft.org!