AN ACT to create and enact chapter 43-41.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to adoption of the social work licensure compact.
HB 1035 creates a new chapter in the North Dakota Century Code to join the Social Work Licensure Compact. The compact is designed to let qualified social workers obtain a multistate license through their home state and practice in other member states without having to secure separate licenses in each state. It applies to clinical, master’s, and bachelor’s social workers and is intended to improve interstate mobility, expand access to services, reduce duplicative licensing burdens, and support telehealth and military families.
The bill sets out detailed eligibility standards for both states and individual licensees. Participating states must license and regulate social work at the relevant levels, require accredited education, supervised practice for clinical licensure, criminal history checks, complaint-handling systems, and participation in a shared data system. Individual applicants must hold an active, unencumbered home-state license, meet exam and education requirements, submit fingerprints or biometric data, and comply with the laws and standards of the state where the client is located. The compact also creates a Social Work Licensure Compact Commission to adopt rules, manage the data system, coordinate investigations, and oversee compliance among member states.
The bill’s impact on state law is to authorize North Dakota to participate in a multistate licensing framework that partially supersedes conflicting state requirements for compact-covered practice. While North Dakota retains authority over single-state licenses and discipline within the state, the compact requires recognition of multistate licenses from other member states and establishes rules for adverse actions, reissuance when a licensee moves, and reporting of disciplinary and investigative information. It also gives remote states authority to regulate practice occurring within their borders and allows the compact commission to issue binding rules and maintain a centralized information-sharing system.
Overall sentiment appears strongly favorable. The House passed the bill 89-1 and the Senate passed it unanimously 47-0, indicating broad bipartisan support and little recorded opposition. The bill’s stated goals—workforce mobility, public access to services, and support for military families—align with the kind of interstate licensure compacts that typically receive wide support from professional and workforce policymakers.
No committee transcript was provided, so specific objections are not documented in the available record. The main areas where concerns could arise, based on the bill text, are the breadth of the commission’s rulemaking authority, the sharing of licensure and investigative data across states, and the extent to which compact rules supersede conflicting state law. However, the voting record suggests these issues did not generate significant opposition in the Legislature.
HB 1035 adds chapter 43-41.1 to state law and places North Dakota into the Social Work Licensure Compact framework, changing how social workers may be licensed and authorized to practice across state lines. It preserves North Dakota’s authority over in-state licensure and discipline while requiring the state to recognize multistate licenses issued under the compact, share disciplinary and investigative information, and comply with compact rules and data-system reporting obligations. The bill affects social workers, licensing authorities, employers, clients, and military families, and it may improve interstate practice access while standardizing oversight among member states.
The bill appears to have enjoyed broad support and little controversy. It passed the House overwhelmingly, 89-1, and the Senate unanimously, 47-0. That voting pattern suggests legislators viewed the compact as a practical workforce and access-to-care measure rather than a contentious policy change. The absence of committee transcript material also means there is no recorded debate in the provided materials showing organized opposition.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Based on the bill text, the most likely areas of concern would be the compact commission’s authority to adopt rules with the force of law, the sharing of sensitive licensure and investigative information through a centralized data system, and the extent to which compact provisions override conflicting state requirements. Any such concerns were not reflected in the recorded votes, which were overwhelmingly favorable.