Joining the NLC (through passage of SB 67 or HB 83) is a win-win, maintaining our current licensure options while increasing access to quality health care across Alaska’s communities, helping fill the hundreds of nursing vacancies across the state. This legislation is strongly supported by health care facilities and nurses across Alaska, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense.

Access to Care

Expands access to nursing services across the country quickly and efficiently, which is essential for the health of many rural and underserved communities.

Telehealth

Enables nurses to practice in person or provide telehealth nursing services to patients located across the country without having to obtain additional licenses.

Disaster Relief

Allows nurses to immediately cross state borders and provide vital services in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency, without the need to wait for a declaration of emergency.

Military Families

Allows military spouse nurses to seamlessly continue working without having to obtain a new license each time they relocate.

Online Education

Facilitates online nursing education by reducing educators’ need for multiple licenses.

Cost Effective

For Nurses: Nurses do not have to obtain additional nursing licenses, making practicing across state borders affordable and convenient.
For Employers: The NLC also removes a burdensome expense for organizations that employ nurses and may share the expenditure of multiple licenses.

Greater Efficiency

Eliminates redundancy, duplicative regulatory processes and unnecessary fees.

Flexible Licensure

Allows nurses who do not wish to have a multi-state license or those who are ineligible for a multistate license to still obtain a single state license based on their state’s requirements and statutes.

Since Governor Dunleavy last introduced legislation to allow Alaska to adopt the NLC in early 2020, we have faced one of the greatest public health emergencies in recent history – and our healthcare workforce was in short supply. Had the NLC been in effect last year, the cost to healthcare facilities, individual health care providers, and state government could have been reduced, and treatment could have been provided more quickly to the areas in greatest need.

The NLC will allow registered and practical nurses in any of the 34 participating states to practice in Alaska without having to go through a time-consuming, redundant licensing process. It would reciprocate the privilege, providing Alaska nurses with a multistate license to practice in any participating state as well. This legislation will not affect certified nurse aides, advanced practice registered nurses, or any nurse who wishes to practice under an Alaska-only nursing license.

Alaska would become a member of the compact commission with rulemaking, enforcement, and financial assessment provisions. However, the commission does not in any way dilute or detract from the Alaska Board of Nursing’s ability to oversee and enforce nursing practice in Alaska.

The single-state and multi-state nurse licensing programs would have separate receipt support funding, which means the multistate licensing program will not impact the costs for the single-state licensees.

• The Alaska State Board of Nursing
• The U.S. Department of Defense
• Eleventh Air Force, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER)
• The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA)
• The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
• The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
• The American Telemedicine Association (ATA)
• Alliance for Connected Care
• Fresenius Kidney Care
• U.S. Renal Care
• Foundation Health Partners
• Alaska Regional Hospital
• Bartlett Regional Hospital
• Providence Alaska Medical Center
• The Alaska Chamber
• The Fairbanks North Star Borough
• The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
• The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
• Alaska Board of Pharmacy
• The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)

Yes! A December 2019 survey issued to all Alaska-licensed nurses by the Board of Nursing and National Council of State Boards of Nursing showed that 92% of Alaska-licensed nurses want Alaska to join the NLC, including 89% of nurses with primary residency in Alaska, and 87% of nurses that are members of a union.

Click here to see the full survey results.

On February 3, 2020, Governor Dunleavy introduced identical bills: SB 67: NURSING: LICENSURE; MULTISTATE COMPACT and HB 83: NURSING: LICENSURE; MULTISTATE COMPACT. This legislation will codify the NLC as a new chapter in state law and would make conforming changes to the existing nursing statute (AS 08.68) to accommodate the compact’s requirements. The compact’s requirements for multi-state licensure are rigorous, exceeding current standards under Alaska law and supporting high quality care for all Alaskans.

The best way to voice your support for adopting the NLC in Alaska is to write a letter in support of SB 67 and HB 83 and send it to the Representative and Senator assigned to your district. You can determine which legislators represent you by entering your address into the “Who Represents Me?” box at the bottom left-hand side of the Alaska State Legislature’s website: akleg.gov.

Then forward that same letter to the chair of the committee where the bill is currently being heard: Senate Health and Social Services Committee: SHSS@akleg.gov.

• SB 67 is currently in the Senate Health and Social Services Committee: SHSS@akleg.gov.
• HB 83 is currently in the House Health and Social Services Committee: House.HSS@akleg.gov.

For additional guidance on identifying, contacting, or addressing a letter to your legislators, visit the Alaska State Legislature’s Frequently Asked Questions.

You also have the option to call in to provide public testimony during the hearings on SB 67 and/or HB 83. To do this, you will need to monitor the bill, so you know when it’s being scheduled. You can track a bill by using the Bill Tracking Management Facility (BTMF) to receive email alerts, or by texting the bill number (SB 67 or HB 83) to (559) 245-2529 to enroll in text alerts. To obtain the telephone number to call to testify during a hearing, please contact your local Legislative Information Office.

• General Information on the NLC:
  • SB 67 Bill Summary and Sectional Analysis (identical to the summary and sectional analysis for HB 83.)
  • Alaska Nurse Licensure Compact one-page summary document
  • 2019 Survey of Alaska Nurses’ View on the NLC
  • NLC Fast Facts
  • Facts about the NLC
  • Map or List of NLC Member States
  • NLC Frequently Asked Questions
  • NLC Uniform Licensure Requirements for a Multistate License
  • What Nurse Employers Need to Know About the NLC
  • Article from the Washington State Hospital Association: Joining the Nurse Licensure Compact Would Enable Hospitals to Add Needed Nurses Quickly to Staff Beds to Better Serve Patients
  • NLC Stories on the NCSBN website
  • Article from RegisteredNursing.org: The States with the Largest Nursing Shortages
• How the NLC Supports the Military & Military Spouses:
  • Federal/Military Nurses and Spouses: What You Need to Know
  • U.S. Air Force Support of Military Veterans: Professional Licensure Portability in Basing Decisions
  • U.S. Department of Defense – Military Spouse Licensure: State Best Practices and Strategies for Achieving Reciprocity Report
  • Council of State Governments: U.S. Air Force to Evaluate State Occupational Licensing Policies for Future Basing Decisions
  • Professional Licensing Report: U.S. Partially Bases Choice of Sites for Military Bases on States’ Success in Improving Reciprocity
  • MilitaryTimes: Here’s What DoD Wants States To Do To Help Military Spouses with Their Occupational Licenses
• Websites with More Information on SB 67, HB 83, and the NLC:
  • SB 67 Legislative Bill History/Action
  • HB 83 Legislative Bill History/Action
  • NLC Legislative Bill History/Action from 2020 (This bill is no longer active as it was introduced but did not pass during the 2019-2020 session. However, this page includes supporting documents, letters of support, recordings of the hearings that took place in 2020, and more.)
  • The Nurse Licensure Compact Website
  • The NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact Webpage