AN ACT ALLOWING SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVES TO HIRE UNLICENSED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; LIMITING THE LENGTH OF TIME AN UNLICENSED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST MAY BE EMPLOYED; AMENDING SECTIONS 37-15-103, 37-15-301, AND 37-15-313, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE, A RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY DATE, AND A TERMINATION DATE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 37-15-103, MCA, is amended to read:

"37-15-103. Exemptions. (1) Nothing in this chapter prevents a person licensed in this state under any other law from engaging in the profession or business for which the person is licensed.

(2) (a) Nothing in this chapter restricts or prevents activities of a speech-language pathology or audiology nature or the use of the official title of the position for which they were employed on the part of a speech-language pathologist or audiologist employed by federal agencies.

(b) Nothing in this chapter restricts an elementary or high school district or a special education cooperative organized under the provisions of Title 20 from hiring on an annual basis a person to provide to students speech-language pathology-related services who does not meet the licensing requirements of this chapter if the elementary or high school district or the special education cooperative has:

(i) made an ongoing, good faith effort to recruit and hire appropriately and adequately trained personnel to provide services to students with disabilities and has not received an application that resulted in the offer and acceptance of employment from any licensed person in the course of attempting to fill a position requiring a licensed person;

(ii) hired the most qualified unlicensed applicant, who must have completed at least a 4-year program in speech-language pathology or communication disorders and who can show written proof of ongoing enrollment in a program of study that would meet the licensing requirements of this chapter within 3 years of the date of hire; and

(iii) contracted with a licensed person to provide the person hired consultation and training in the subjects and in the manner that the licensed person considers necessary or appropriate for not less than 20 hours within the first 6 months of the unlicensed person's period of service.

(c) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), an ongoing, good faith effort to recruit and hire appropriately and adequately trained personnel is presumed to be met if the school district or special education cooperative has advertised its vacant position in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the district or cooperative is located at least once each week for 3 consecutive weeks and has also advertised the vacancy during that same period with the state job service, the Montana university system placement service, the American speech-language-hearing association employment placement service, and the Montana speech-language-hearing association employment placement service.	(d) A school district or special education cooperative hiring an unlicensed person under subsection (2)(b) shall readvertise the vacancy upon the completion of each school fiscal year and may continue to employ the unlicensed person only upon compliance with the requirements of subsection (2) each year. The maximum length of time that an unlicensed individual may be employed in the state under subsection (2)(b) is 3 years from the date of initial hire.

(3) Those persons performing activities described in subsection (2) who are not licensed under this chapter must do so solely within the confines of or under the jurisdiction of the organization in which they are employed and may not offer speech-language pathology or audiology services to the public for compensation over and above the salary that they receive for performance of their official duties with organizations by which they are employed. However, without obtaining a license under this chapter, these persons may consult or disseminate their research findings and scientific information to other accredited academic institutions or governmental agencies. They also may offer lectures to the public for a fee without being licensed under this chapter.

(4) Nothing in this chapter restricts activities and services of a student in speech-language pathology or audiology from pursuing a course of study in speech-language pathology or audiology at an accredited or approved college or university or an approved clinical training facility. However, these activities and services must constitute a part of the student's supervised course of study, and a fee may not accrue directly or indirectly to the student. These persons must be designated by the title "speech-language pathology (or audiology) intern", "speech-language pathology (or audiology) trainee", or a title clearly indicating the training status appropriate to the person's level of training.

(5) Nothing in this chapter restricts a person from another state from offering speech-language pathology or audiology services in this state if these services are performed for no more than 5 days in any calendar year and if the services are performed in cooperation with a speech-language pathologist or audiologist licensed under this chapter. However, by securing a temporary license from the board subject to limitations that the board may impose, a person not a resident of this state who is not licensed under this chapter but who is licensed under the law of another state that has established licensure requirements at least equivalent to those established by this chapter or who is the holder of the ASHA certificate of clinical competency in speech-language pathology or audiology or its equivalent may offer speech-language pathology or audiology services in this state for no more than 30 days in any calendar year if the services are performed in cooperation with a speech-language pathologist or audiologist licensed under this chapter.

(6) Nothing in this chapter restricts any person holding a class A certificate issued by the conference of executives of American schools of the deaf from performing the functions for which the person's qualifies.

(7) Nothing in this chapter restricts any person who holds a certificate of registration in this state as a hearing aid dealer from performing those functions for which the person's qualifies and that are described in Title 37, chapter 16.

(8) Nothing in this chapter exempts an audiologist who sells, dispenses, or fits hearing aids from the licensing requirements or other provisions of Title 37, chapter 16."

Section 2. Section 37-15-301, MCA, is amended to read:

"37-15-301. License required. (1) A license must be issued to qualified persons either in speech-language pathology or audiology. A person may be licensed in both areas if the person meets the respective qualifications, and in these instances, the license fee must be as though for one license.

(2) Except as provided in 37-15-103, a person may not practice or purport to be a speech-language pathologist or audiologist in this state unless the person is licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter."

Section 3. Section 37-15-313, MCA, is amended to read:

"37-15-313. Registration of aides -- unlicensed persons in schools. (1) Each licensed speech-language pathologist and audiologist shall annually, on or before October 31, register with the board on forms provided by the board all speech-language pathology aides and audiology aides working directly under the supervision of the licensee.

(2) The superintendent of an elementary or high school district or the chief administrative officer of a special education cooperative organized under Title 20 shall register with the board on forms provided by the board all unlicensed persons working as speech-language pathologists."

Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

Section 5. Termination. [This act] terminates June 30, 2003.

Section 6. Retroactive applicability. [This act] applies retroactively, within the meaning of 1-2-109, to January 1, 1998.

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I hereby certify that the within bill,

HB 0301, originated in the House.

Chief Clerk of the House

Speaker of the House

Signed this	day

of	, .

President of the Senate

Signed this	day

of	, .

HOUSE BILL NO. 301

INTRODUCED BY M. MCCANN, R. PECK, J. HERTEL, B. LAWSON, B. REHBEIN, S. STANG, B. STORY, J. TESTER, F. THOMAS, D. TOEWS

AN ACT ALLOWING SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVES TO HIRE UNLICENSED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; LIMITING THE LENGTH OF TIME AN UNLICENSED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST MAY BE EMPLOYED; AMENDING SECTIONS 37-15-103, 37-15-301, AND 37-15-313, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE, A RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY DATE, AND A TERMINATION DATE.