Washington County - Property Tax Credit - Platoon 22, Incorporated
HB0783 revises Maryland’s health occupation licensure renewal requirements to require applicants for renewal of certain licenses and certificates to attest that they completed an approved implicit bias and structural racism training program. The bill updates the Cultural and Linguistic Health Care Professional Competency Program’s role so it may identify and approve training programs that address both implicit bias and structural racism, rather than implicit bias alone, for use by health occupation boards.
The bill also authorizes health occupations boards to adopt regulations allowing applicants to receive continuing education credit for completing an approved implicit bias and structural racism training program. It applies the new attestation requirement to an applicant’s first renewal after April 1, 2026, while preserving the prior implicit bias-only requirement for renewals occurring before that date. The act takes effect October 1, 2025, and includes an intent statement that the structural racism training be developed and offered using grant funding associated with the Maryland Nurses Association and American Nurses Association antiracism efforts.
The bill amends provisions in the Health – General and Health Occupations articles, expanding the state’s training framework for health professionals by adding structural racism to the existing implicit bias training structure. It affects applicants renewing licenses or certificates issued by Maryland health occupations boards, the Cultural and Linguistic Health Care Professional Competency Program, and any boards that choose to recognize the training for continuing education credit. The law also clarifies that approved programs may be recognized by health occupations boards or accredited by specified continuing medical education or pharmacy education bodies.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded vote breakdown, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the provided materials. Based on the enacted text, the bill appears to reflect a policy preference for expanding cultural competency training in health care and aligning licensure renewal requirements with antiracism and structural racism education. The absence of recorded controversy in the supplied context suggests the measure moved without documented public dispute in the materials provided.
The main policy issue embedded in the bill is the expansion from implicit bias training to implicit bias and structural racism training, which may be viewed by supporters as a necessary update to health professional education and by critics as a broader ideological requirement. Another possible point of contention is the delayed implementation date and transition rule: renewals before April 1, 2026, still use the older implicit bias-only standard, while later renewals must satisfy the new combined training requirement. The bill also leaves discretion to health occupations boards to decide whether to award continuing education credit, which could create variation across professions.