Republican lawmakers are poised to order an audit of a Wisconsin agency that has taken weeks to issue professional licenses, causing lengthy delays for thousands of workers across the state, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The Department of Safety and Professional Services oversees licensing for hundreds of occupations including doctors, nurses, construction and trade workers, accountants, and tattoo artists. It reported an average wait time of 45 days for professional licenses last August, down from nearly 80 days in 2021.
The Republican-controlled Legislature’s Joint Audit Committee was scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider a proposed audit of the department’s license processing.
Ahead of the meeting, Democrats sent a letter to the committee’s Republican co-chairs saying the proposed audit would only further burden the staff responsible for issuing licenses.
Republican lawmakers have rejected Evers’ requests to fund staff positions to address delays. The department is funded almost entirely by fees it collects from licensing and inspections, but it is unable to use its budget surplus of more than $47 million to hire more staff without legislative approval.
In a related announcement, DSPS Secretary-designee Dan Hereth said the agency has contracted with CE Broker to offer a cloud-based continuing education management platform to Wisconsin credential holders. Wisconsin joins states including Texas, Wyoming, and New Mexico in offering CE Broker services to individuals who must satisfy continuing education requirements to maintain their occupational licenses.
“I am pleased to offer this user-friendly, cloud-based tool to the thousands of individuals who fulfill and track their statutory continuing education requirements,” Hereth said. “This will make it easier for our customers to maintain their records and find relevant continuing education courses.”
Hereth says the agency is working with the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board to offer the service first to the occupations licensed by the MEB. These include physicians, dietitians, physician assistants, respiratory care practitioners, and others. Eventually, Hereth says, the agency plans to offer the service to other professions with CE requirements.
The service is free to the state and to license holders, although individual users can upgrade to fee-based subscription options that offer more customized and personal service. Currently 85 percent of CE Broker users choose the free service option, which includes free customer service provided by CE Broker employees trained to consult on Wisconsin continuing education requirements.
The service will be available later this month, and enrollment instructions will be posted on the DSPS website.
