We will be seeking confirmation that this bill (at least as it pertains to Certified Peer Specialists) is no longer alive and will update as possible!

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For the second legislative season in a row, legislation has been proposed to create a Licensure Board for both Recovery Coaches and Certified Peer Specialists (CPS).

This legislation is hugely problematic for multiple reasons including:

1. It was developed without the involvement of people actually working in these fields.

2. It ignores the fact that Recovery Coaching and CPS work are substantively different from one another.

3. The make-up of the proposed board is blatantly discriminatory in its make up and how it is different than any other similar oversight board (particularly in majority representation of people actually working in that field).

Additionally, the powers that this Board will have are significant and include dictating a requirement of at least "two years of recovery" for any candidate for licensure (without even clarity on the definition), as well as who is fined, who has access to an appeals process and so on.

This bill made it all the way to the Senate Ways and Means committee (typically the last stop before something is passed into law) without us being aware.

We need to act quickly and loudly enough to not only stop this bill from passing, but also send the clear message that they can't keep proposing bills about our work without us being involved right from the start and consistently all the way through.