Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Established After 10th State Signed

Tenth State Signed! Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Established   April 25, 2017

Washington became the tenth state to enact the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact after Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill No. 1278 into law today, triggering the formation of the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Commission.

Now that ten states have enacted the Compact legislation, the Compact Commission, established within the Compact legislation, will meet later this year to write the rules and by-laws governing the compact as well as discuss the management and administration. The member states appoint one current physical therapy board member or board administrator to serve on the Commission as Delegate. 

The Commission will administer the streamlined process for qualified physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to obtain a Compact Privilege, the authority to practice or work in multiple jurisdictions participating in the Compact, rather than a license.  Once the Commission has established its rules and the data system required to administer the Compact are in place, the Compact will become operational. Licensees will begin to see the benefit of the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact in the first half of 2018. 

Washington joins Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah as states that have formally enacted the Compact.  For more information about the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact, visit: www.ptcompact.org.  To read the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact legislation, click here.