Senate File 163 - Introduced SENATE FILE 163 BY BROWN A BILL FOR An Act relating to continuing education requirements for 1 persons holding certain professional and occupational 2 licenses. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1203XS (6) 89 ss/rh
S.F. 163 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 272C.2D Continuing education 1 requirements —— extensions. 2 1. Each licensing board may extend the deadline for 3 completing continuing education requirements pursuant to 4 section 272C.2 by up to ninety days if a licensing board finds 5 that a licensee is experiencing an unforeseen financial or 6 medical hardship and the licensee submits all of the following: 7 a. A request that a deadline be extended due to an 8 unforeseen financial or medical hardship experienced by the 9 licensee or a member of the licensee’s family, including an 10 explanation and evidence of the hardship. 11 b. Proof of enrollment in a program that will satisfy the 12 licensee’s continuing education requirements prior to the 13 expiration of the extension. 14 2. A request for an extension of a continuing education 15 requirement deadline shall be submitted to a licensing board no 16 later than sixty days before the date the continuing education 17 requirement must be completed. 18 3. For the purposes of this section, “unforeseen financial 19 or medical hardship” means an unforeseeable emergency as defined 20 in 26 C.F.R. §1.457-6(c)(2)(i). 21 4. A licensing board shall not adopt rules to interpret or 22 implement this section. 23 EXPLANATION 24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 25 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 26 This bill relates to continuing education requirements 27 for persons holding professional licenses pursuant to Code 28 chapter 272C (regulation of certain licensed professions and 29 occupations). The bill authorizes a licensing board to extend 30 the deadline to satisfy continuing education requirements by 31 up to 90 days if a board finds that a licensee is experiencing 32 an unforeseen financial or medical hardship and the licensee 33 submits a request to a licensing board to extend the deadline 34 due to the financial or medical hardship accompanied by 35 -1- LSB 1203XS (6) 89 ss/rh 1/ 2
S.F. 163 evidence that the licensee or a member of the licensee’s family 1 is experiencing a financial or medical hardship. A request 2 for a deadline extension must be submitted no later than 60 3 days before the date the continuing education requirement 4 must be completed and must include proof of enrollment in a 5 program that will satisfy the continuing education requirement 6 prior to the expiration of the extension. The bill defines 7 an unforeseen medical or financial hardship the same as an 8 unforeseeable emergency in the Code of Federal Regulations. 9 An unforeseeable emergency is defined as a severe financial 10 hardship resulting from illness, accident, loss of property due 11 to casualty, or other similar extraordinary circumstance beyond 12 the licensee’s control. 13 The bill prohibits licensing boards from adopting rules to 14 interpret or implement the bill. 15 -2- LSB 1203XS (6) 89 ss/rh 2/ 2