Saturday, April 14, 2012

GA Music Therapy Licensure Bill Still Awaits Signature

The Governor of Georgia, Nathan Deal, still has not signed the bill into law regarding state licensure for music therapy.  Here are the details as provided by Nelson Mullins:


SB 414 was authored by Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and deals with licensing individuals who are engaging in the practice of music therapy.  There are currently about 125 individuals in Georgia who are "music therapists."  The legislation creates this new licensure under the Secretary of State in Chapter 25A of Title 43.  


The Bill, as it passed the House, is the negotiated agreement worked out by the various groups who had raised concerns (including speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists and others) about the Bill because it lacked a true scope of practice for these folks.  It is still viewed as an unfunded mandate to the Secretary of State which has the responsibility of licensing this new group.  It passed the House by a vote of 116 to 49.  The Senate, upon a motion made by Sen. Unterman, agreed to the House version of SB 414 by a vote of 45 to five and that action now moves the legislation to the Governor's desk.


Governor Deal has 40 days in which to take action on Bills passed this Session; that time expires on May 8, 2012.  The Governor's office keeps an updated webpage for signed bills here.

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