Louisiana House Bill 748 originally posed a major threat to certification holders and certification organizations like NICET. The legislation in Louisiana would have effectively placed Louisiana off-limits to most certification organizations and, for the few certifications recognized by Louisiana’s licensing laws, would lay the groundwork for eliminating those certification requirements.
When NICET found out about the bill we quickly notified about 600 certificate holders in Louisiana and requested their help in amending or defeating it. In response, NICET received dozens of telephone calls and over 50 e-mails from certificate holders expressing their willingness to jump into action. NICET representatives also worked with the state fire marshal to explain to legislators the bill’s potentially detrimental effect.
Thanks to this strong, coordinated response from NICET Certifications holders and supporters, LA HB 748, was dramatically changed in committee hearing. The certification language has been removed and most of the other language has been removed as well. It’s now essentially a Governor-mandated review of boards.
We will continue to follow the bill, but it currently does no harm to certification programs or certified persons and it is unlikely to be substantively changed.
Here is the amendment which replaces all of the text: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1094793