For years now, the use of artificial intelligence has been ingrained into the everyday lives of Americans through iPhones, social media and even email platforms. A 2018 study by OpenAI revealed the amount of computational power used for AI training has doubled every year since 2012. Due to AI’s rapid advancement, state policymakers must determine how their states must address the significant regulatory challenges posed by AI.
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As AI systems advance, concerns grow regarding the safety and effectiveness of these tools as well as the potential impacts of these systems on the workforce and the economy. Although private sector uses of AI garner much attention, these systems are also used by the public sector to streamline service provision and support public officials in fields such as law enforcement, elections, transportation, public finance and government administration.
Continue readingBy Maggie Mixer and Abeer Sikder
From classrooms to Capitols, a nationwide community of state leaders serve as educational advocates on their chamber floors. They drew inspiration from real-world experiences and outstanding students that left lasting impacts during their previous — and even ongoing — careers as teachers, professors and school administrators.
Despite having a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences, the policy work of nine state legislators is rooted in one common cause: students.
Kentucky Rep. Kim Banta, a former teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, noted that educators are deeply in touch with their communities and the day-to-day challenges faced by students and their families.
“Teaching is an amazing boot camp for most other things that you can do in life that might be stressful or difficult,” Banta said. “[Educators] have their fingers on the pulse of what the struggles are, what problems people are having … because you see every single segment of society [in schools].”
The 17-year teaching career of California Sen. Susan Rubio went beyond the classroom, as she helped students and their families navigate housing and food insecurity, language barriers and more.
“As an educator, I was exposed to so many of the issues our community members were facing,” Rubio said. “Early on, a few families came to me for support and help outside the classroom, letting me know they didn’t have funding for supplies … and I would try to connect them with [other] resources [too].”
Rubio said soon after she learned the true scale of the problem “and, as a teacher, [she] could only do so much.” Rubio decided she wanted to help her community from a broader platform. With access to more resources, she launched her first political campaign. Prior to joining the California Senate, she served Baldwin Park, California, for 13 years as a city clerk and city council member.
Other state leaders, such as Virginia Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, were driven to run for office due to specific challenges experienced in the classroom as an educator. Hashmi, who was professor at Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia, also founded the college’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. After teaching for nearly 30 years, she put her name on the ballot because she “saw the state government pulling funding and resources away from students and families, and [she] knew that we could do better for thousands of deserving students.”
Current and former students have been a continuous source of inspiration for these elected officials. While most gave up being full time educators to hold elected office, many still teach part time or make guest appearances at their district’s schools and agree that it remains one of the best parts of their jobs.
Indiana Sen. Andrea Hunley, who taught high school English before her 10 years as a principal, recounted being inspired by students organizing against gun violence, high schoolers’ talented navigation of artificial intelligence programs and a third-grade class’s sit-in protest for more recess time. According to Hunley, students’ creativity and enterprise are “leaps and bounds ahead of us” and ahead of the legislation currently in place.
Hunley’s experiences drove her not only to serve as an elected official but to also always focus on creating broad and innovative policy because “we’re legislating for the future and for future generations.”
“It’s like our legislation never caught up to where our kids are,” Hunley said. “If we legislate in a way that we think like teachers … we plant seeds for today so that they can bloom tomorrow. We would legislate very differently as we think about generational impact, which is what teachers do every single day.”
Once elected, many of these legislators continued to draw substantive lessons, as well as inspiration, from their time as educators. Among the most important skills, though, was interacting and communicating with others in an effective manner.
Hashmi compared serving constituents and students, discussing the importance of being “timely, responsive and informed about how to resolve constituent concerns.” She added that it has improved her ability to engage with colleagues as she strives to “focus on the nuances of arguments” and “bring as much background and information as [she] can to influence the understanding of others.”
Pennsylvania Sen. Dave Argall took a unique path compared to most other legislators, entering elected office before becoming an educator. While serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and later in the Senate, he took night classes for 13 years to earn his master’s degree and doctorate in public administration.
As an instructor, Argall returned to teach night classes as a state and community college instructor. It was there he acquired the ability to concisely present complicated issues to his constituents.
“When you’re meeting with college students one night a week for 15 weeks, you learn how to condense a lot of information.” Argall said. “I think that practice has been really helpful to me [when] meeting with constituents at town hall meetings.”
Listening respectfully is another side of communication legislators learned from their classroom experiences. Indiana Sen. Fady Qaddoura teaches courses on civic engagement and executive leadership as an adjunct faculty member in Indianapolis. In his experience, receiving critique on projects in academia as a doctoral student and researcher taught him the important role that diverse perspectives play in the process of creating high-quality work.
“[This perspective] helps us build bridges of trust among legislators to understand that when we raise a question or concern, it is not politically motivated,” Qaddoura said. “It comes from a genuine concern about the policy that is being debated or discussed.”
Qaddoura’s approach helped shape how he interacts with other senators and last year contributed to colleagues nominating him for the Indiana Senate’s annual civility award.
Similarly, Iowa Sen. Jeff Taylor — even as a member of a majority caucus — said he works to listen to everyone on the Senate floor. After many years as a professor, academic and author, he believes that there is always more to be learned from others.
“I make it clear [to students] that they’re free to disagree if they don’t see things the way I see it; I’m not going to hold it against them,” Taylor said. “I think I borrow that approach of fairness and objectivity from the classroom while on the Senate floor and in committee meetings.”
Rubio found that her experiences listening to and balancing the different perspectives of 30 students in a classroom greatly informed her ability to “create policy that’s sensitive to everyone’s needs.” In a large, diverse state like California, this crucial skill has helped her understand where her community fits in massive, statewide bills.
Many legislators who held administrative positions, like principals and superintendents, reflected on how listening was one of many skills they learned as educators that improved their ability to collaborate, especially with colleagues across the aisle. Banta and several of her colleagues with backgrounds in education work hard to build consensus, which she attributed to their experiences in education environments where “it was never my way or the highway.”
“We [educators] tend to listen a little bit better and we tend to be problem solvers and we try to get everybody on board,” Banta said. “You always have to work with people and come to some kind of consensus [as a principal] and I think that transfers right into this job.”
Wisconsin Rep. Dave Considine described how the goal of educational environments and improvement, not perfection, informed his approach to collaboration. Considine, a special education teacher for nearly 30 years, credits the patience he has brought to the Legislature for enabling him to stay focused on moving forward — no matter how slowly.
“[Politics can be] a step forward, then maybe a step or two back, and then another big step forward, and then maybe half a step back,” Considine said, drawing parallels to his teaching tenure. “You don’t change behaviors overnight. That was my specialty, and so I’m used to that.”
For many legislators, education offered an avenue to acquire strategies now utilized for policy development. Curriculum development is among those strategies. Often data driven, this specific process is one that helped prepare many of the nine legislators for life in office.
According to Delaware Rep. Sherae’a Moore, a former English teacher, data-driven curriculum development “translates well into the legislative process.”
“Evidence-based policymaking is crucial for achieving effective and equitable outcomes and [limiting] unintended consequences,” Moore said. “By being on the front lines, we understand that the educational systems are intricate, involving multiple stakeholders and layers of governance. This experience prepares us to navigate complex policy landscapes as we are the ones witnessing the impact of policies directly in the classroom.”
Moore has integrated this approach into her work in the statehouse by using “data to drive any type of decision making, before [she] even drafts legislation,” to ensure that the policies she proposes fit the needs of her constituents.
Educational experiences can also form legislators’ outlooks on the connections between different issues. Argall described sharing the view of his predecessor — another long-time educator — on the “spaghetti bowl theory of government” that “everything is related to everything.”
For Argall, the perspective of his predecessor impacted his approach to identifying and creatively addressing problems. In 2003, After seeing the “very tight correlation” between the availability of good jobs and a community’s education level as a community college instructor, he organized the conversion of an abandoned junior high school into a community college center.
“The building had been around since, I think, the 1920s, and was just sitting kind of sad, empty and beginning to deteriorate,” Argall said. “Sometimes in this job, you just need to bring the right people to the table.”
Through the combined efforts of the community college, the local government, Argall’s office and a private foundation, they not only converted the building into a new education center but also funded the incoming class’s tuition.
“I can still see the faces of the parents when [former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker] made the announcement about free tuition for two years,” Argall said. “The parents understood the power of that moment and we literally changed lives that day.”
The project helped “breathe new life” into local students’ futures and the surrounding community, a central goal of Argall’s efforts around Pennsylvania, which have also included a series of anti-blight laws.
The transition from education to elected office was not necessarily a career switch for these nine legislators. Rather, it presented a new side of the same path of service that they were already walking. Education placed them on the front lines of their communities and helped teach them how to effectively work with and for others — lessons that they have brought into elected office to continue to serve current and future generations.
“We give that level of support to our kids because we genuinely, and in a loving and compassionate way, want our kids to be better than us,” Qaddoura said. “Imagine if you can extend that feeling — to give them the best of who you are so that they can live better lives — to the rest of the population and to your fellow citizens.”
By Morgan Thomas
The Overseas Voting Initiative continues to conduct research, analyze Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act voter data, and cultivate dialogue surrounding innovative strategies to enhance voter accessibility through the act.
The OVI is a collaboration between The Council of State Governments and the Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program focused on improving voting access for U.S. military and overseas voters.
Service members, their families and other U.S. citizens residing overseas face many challenges when trying to obtain and cast their ballots in U.S. elections. Service members deployed to remote areas, students studying abroad or government workers working abroad in difficult-to-access locations must overcome hurdles to exercise their right to vote. Mail operations can be intermittent or even nonexistent in some locations. Power, and therefore access to electronic communications, can also be unreliable.
Voters facing any of these challenges are protected under the Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which is also commonly referred to as UOCAVA. UOCAVA was enacted by Congress in 1986 and provides U.S. citizens and their eligible family members a legal basis for absentee voting requirements. Each U.S. citizen abroad faces unique challenges, making it difficult for both the voter and election officials.
The Overseas Voting Initiative works with local and state election officials who comprise its OVI Working Group. The Working Group is divided into subgroups that focus on specific areas of interest centered on improving voting accessibility for UOCAVA voters. Through these subgroups, the OVI has conducted research, promoted technology and policies, informed state policymakers about overseas voting issues, and shared best practices with state and local election officials and other stakeholders. Some critical areas of research include:
UOCAVA balloting solutions.
Improving communications and connections between UOCAVA citizens and their election offices.
Making voter registration easier for UOCAVA citizens.
Considering how DOD digital signature capabilities can facilitate document signing by certain UOCAVA voters.
Examining how the ballot duplication process can be improved through transparent standard operating procedures and new technologies.
In addition to these areas of research, the OVI has also created a data standard for the Election Administration and Voting Survey, or EAVS, Section B Data. This standard allows election officials and the Federal Voting Assistance Program to conduct a deeper analysis of UOCAVA voter behavior. The Working Group analyzes and makes recommendations for changes to EAVS Section B Data to improve the survey to serve the voters and election officials better.
Now in its 10th year, the OVI has conducted more than 27 Working Group meetings in 14 states and U.S. territories, one U.S. Embassy, and visited 11 military installations. In early spring 2024, the OVI will be releasing a series of modules identifying best practices for communicating with military service members, their families and citizens living abroad.
By Jessica Thomas and Kaitlyn Bison
A recent uptick in the number of newly enacted licensure compacts has come as result of support from both sides of the aisle. The rise in these compacts, which establish mutual agreement between member states for professional licensure, offer state legislatures an opportunity to safeguard state sovereignty while also ensuring the quality and safety of services.
Since 2016, 290 pieces of licensure compact legislation have been enacted and, to date, 46 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories have enacted licensure compact legislation. A total of 15 professions currently have a compact available to states for enactment. In 2023, 57 pieces of compact legislation were enacted, with six new compacts becoming available for states to enact.
The National Center for Interstate Compacts, housed within The Council of State Governments, played a role in the development of all active licensure compacts. Through the work of NCIC, as well as policymakers sponsoring compact-related legislation, licensees in compact member states can more quickly obtain authorization to practice and get to work in other member states.
Compact legislation has experienced success in states with majorities from both sides of the aisle, while also having been sponsored by legislators from both parties. Support for state workforces proved to be a unifying theme among sponsors of 2023 compact legislation.
Rep. Michelle Caldier, a Washington Republican elected into the House in 2014, was grateful for the bipartisan support she received when sponsoring the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, which is recognized in Washington as HB 1576. Resolving workforce issues in the state, especially within health care, has been a priority.
“I think trying to resolve Washington’s workforce issues is one of those things — across the board — that we acknowledge as one of the state’s goals,” Caldier said. “Breaking down the borders and allowing people from other states to come in and practice easily was one we could get a win on, so that was one of my focuses.”
Bipartisan support led to the enactment of the Cosmetology Compact bill in Arizona, where the successful HB 2049 was sponsored by Republican Rep. Tim Dunn.
“This is a bipartisan bill that promotes the flexibility for stylists to move between states,” Dunn said. “Arizona has a lot of winter visitors, and this could provide work for them when they visit.”
In Indiana, Democratic Sen. J.D. Ford coauthored both SB 251 ‚ the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, and SB 160, the Counseling Compact. In addition to highlighting the bipartisan sponsorship of these bills, he explained ways in which he collaborated with his counterparts in the Indiana General Assembly to learn about and address community health needs.
“Access to care isn’t a partisan issue, it impacts all communities,” Ford said. “I think we were able to really come together well in that common goal with these compact bills.”
Legislators often mention how compacts break down barriers for military families who move frequently and face challenges working in a licensed profession. Without a licensure compact, both military members and their spouses must navigate each state’s process for licensure.
Nebraska Sen. Carol Blood, a Democrat motivated to sponsor several compacts, believes they offer many benefits and opportunities to military families.
“Interstate compacts benefit others in specific licensure areas, but the reason I started working with these compacts is because of our military families,” Blood said. “Military families tend to move every two to three years, which means new schools, new doctors, new homes and more. This is one less headache for these families to deal with.”
Due to the increased military support, the Department of Defense facilitated the development of interstate compacts as a mechanism for ensuring the portability of professional licenses for military spouses. In September 2020, the Department of Defense entered into a cooperative agreement with CSG to fund the creation of new interstate compacts designed to strengthen licensure portability.
“[Compacts] are very positive for military partners who move to our state and people who are moving out of active service but want to continue working in a field where they are already licensed in another compact state,” said Colorado Rep. Mary Young.
Many sponsors of compact legislation were licensed professionals themselves. The sponsors of Colorado HB 23-1064, the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, worked in the field of education and understand the barriers teachers face.
Young, a Democrat and former special education teacher and school psychologist, noted having her own experience with barriers to licensure as a teacher upon moving to Colorado. She admired efficiency and ease that compacts brought to licensure and wanted teachers moving to Colorado to remain in the profession.
“With the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, we can ensure that teachers who want to come to Colorado can do so,” said Colorado Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Democrat and former social studies teacher. “Giving teachers
the flexibility to live and work in any state in the compact benefits everyone. This compact will help incentivize teachers to stay teachers because of the flexibility that is provided to move to other states.”
As a former dentist, Caldier, like Lukens and Young, was also familiar with the compact profession she sponsored. She also recognized the need for license mobility and the need to address the shortage of dental hygienists in Washington. Although she continues to support the field of dentistry, Caldier’s support of compacts extends to other professions as a cosponsor on the Counseling Compact, the Nurse Licensure Compact and the Occupational Therapy Compact.
Licensure compacts for health care professions can bring an added benefit to states: access to telehealth services. Ford said that compacts can “provide us with the opportunity to have more providers move to Indiana, but also greatly expand telehealth opportunities when you can meet with specialists in other states.”
Much of the general population can benefit from the increase in telehealth that compacts present. Communities that do not have access to health care providers, as well as people with low mobility due to a lack of public transportation or low accessibility, can all benefit from a rise in telehealth.
Of the 15 available licensure compacts, Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, Counseling, Occupational Therapy and Social Work include provisions specific to telehealth.
Blood offered the example of Nebraska LB 1034, the Psychology Compact, as psychology is a licensed profession. If a patient moves or travels to a different state than where their psychologist is licensed, their care can be stalled or halted.
“Prior to that compact, Nebraska psychologists could not legally counsel someone over the phone if they were to have a mental health crisis in another state because that psychologist would not be licensed in that state,” Blood said. “With the compact, if the psychologist belongs [to the compact] as well as the state the patient is calling from, that psychologist can provide care for their patient.”
With the rise of telehealth and telemedicine, compacts are an important tool to meet the needs of patients. As more states join compacts, the pool of providers grows, and patients access to care expands.
Legislators developed key takeaways throughout the process of introducing and enacting compact legislation. Attending informative events, involving key stakeholders, and working with colleagues from all parties enabled success.
Several legislators noted how collaborative convenings, such as the CSG National Conference, are useful for learning from other leaders who have sponsored compact legislation. At the 2022 CSG National Conference, Caldier learned about the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact while Kansas Sen. Pat Pettey was impressed by discussion on the Teacher Compact.
Pettey, a Democrat, and Washington Republican Sen. Ron Muzzall both suggest involving others, including other legislators and members of boards and professional associations.
“Engage stakeholders on an individual basis and engage with Department of Defense and organizations dedicated to supporting military spouses,” said Muzzall, who introduced Washington SB 5219, the Counseling Compact.
As the sponsor for Kansas SB 66, the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, Pettey recommended looking at compacts with an open mind.
“Take note of compacts your state may already be involved in,” Pettey said. “Make sure that you talk to other legislators on either side of the aisle about the legislation that you are considering introducing, as well as talking to your state board of education and your teachers’ associations. Doing early work to make contact with other parties will be helpful for when they actually introduce [legislation].”
More information on compacts can be found at the following website: compacts.csg.org. Policymakers interested in sponsoring a licensure compact can reach the National Center for Interstate Compacts via email at [email protected].
By Trey Delida
Last week, CSG staff and members attended the 2023 Transatlantic Apprenticeship Study Trip in Germany. From Stuttgart to Munich, Bayreuth to Berlin, attendees saw firsthand how well-developed apprenticeship programs impact communities.
Hosted by DIAG USA, a nonprofit that gathers stakeholders based on the example of German apprenticeship programming, the goal was to show how one country successfully implements apprenticeships.
Other organizations from the United States included the Urban Institute, the Colorado Office of Apprenticeship, the Workforce Development Board system in California, members of the Pennsylvania Senate and more.
As states face workforce shortages across sectors, apprenticeships could be a viable solution in expanding work-based learning and upskilling workers.
“As rapidly changing technology is revolutionizing the way we work, we are on the forefront of preparing our partners for this transformation,” DAIG USA posted on its LinkedIn. “Many companies are looking for a sustainable pipeline of talent that more effectively supports their goals for growth and profitability. We believe that Apprenticeship programs offer an innovative and win/win solution.”
The trip included visits to German businesses, government offices, schools and the German Chamber of Commerce, all of which utilize apprenticeships as a career pathway.
CSG has partnered with DIAG USA for several years. Center of Innovation Deputy Director of National Programs Sydney Blodgett shared that the trip allowed attendees to learn about the established German apprenticeship system firsthand.
“We visited the different stakeholders involved in workforce development and learned how they encourage folks to get into different career pathways and all the different entry and exit points,” Blodgett said. “We’ve worked with them for a couple of years now, and as apprenticeships are growing in the US, people are looking at alternative pathways to careers as the student debt crisis grows in the U.S., people are really looking at other ways to get into careers.”
CSG works extensively with several organizations and stakeholders on the expansion of apprenticeships in the United States.
For more information on CSG’s work to improve access to apprenticeships, click here.
Shawn Jurgensen, a 2022 Toll Fellow and former CSG National Executive Committee member, officially joined CSG as its new chief public policy officer and director of the CSG Center of Innovation.
“I was pleased that the search for this position generated a pool of exceptional candidates,” said David Adkins, CSG executive director and CEO. “Shawn rose to the top of the list because of his demonstrated expertise in strategically crafting three branch solutions to public policy challenges, his considerable interpersonal skills, his passion for public service and a management style that will help advance the best qualities of our workplace culture.”
Since 2016, Jurgensen has served in the judicial branch. In 2017, he started his role as special counsel to Kansas Chief Justice Marla Luckert. His work allowed him to serve as a liaison for the chief justice, the Kansas Supreme Court and the judicial branch. Before serving as special counsel, Jurgensen served as a staff attorney in the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration and in the private sector as partner at a Kansas law firm.
“I’m thankful for the partnerships I helped build, but there are many others including Chief Justice Luckert and the Supreme Court, our Court of Appeals and district courts, legislative leadership, innumerable legislators and staff colleagues, and the governor’s office who helped with these historic achievements. Serving in this position has been the privilege of a lifetime. I hold our judges and employees in the highest regard for their commitment to delivering justice fairly and impartially.”
— Shawn Jurgensen,
CSG Chief Public Policy Officer/Center of Innovation Director
In a press release, Luckert said Jurgensen played a critical role in the work of the Kansas judicial branch during his tenure.
“Shawn has been a highly valued member of the judicial branch team, and he’s done exceptional work representing the interests of our judges and employees before the Legislature,” Luckert said. “Personally, I’m thankful for and proud of Shawn’s work to build stronger partnerships with our sister branches of government. He has played a critical role in positioning the judicial branch so it can better serve the people of Kansas.”
In his role as special counsel, Jurgensen diverted the state court system funding source to provide more stability as well as raising pay for judicial employees equivalent to market rates and increasing judicial staffing to meet department needs.
Jurgensen is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas, where he was the recipient of the John K. Kleinheksel Prize in Oral Advocacy. He was awarded the Pro Bono Legal Services Award in 2010 by the Topeka Bar Association.
By Trey Delida
Since 2005, the “Guideposts for Success” have equipped state leaders with up-to-date, innovative practices that increase the opportunities for youth and young adults with disabilities to transition into the workforce.
The latest brief, “Guideposts for Success: States Engaging Employers through Policy,” serves as a model for policymakers by providing them with the tools necessary to educate and support employers in their states in hiring or providing learning opportunities for youth and young adults with disabilities.
According to Andrew Karhan, project director at San Diego State University’s Interwork Institute, the brief draws on state examples and actual conversations with employers who have experience in this process. As part of the project, Karhan collaborated with the Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth).
“The brief was compiled through a deep dive into research, the current best practices related to employer engagement and the comparable employer practices towards enhanced inclusion,” Karhan said. “Some previous policies in this space have not had the intended impact. Therefore, this brief was approached through a lens of improvement science, where we asked how we can introduce change ideas leading to improvement? The ideas presented here were born out of this research and conversations with employers and experts in the field to ultimately lead to these improvement ideas.”
The “Guideposts for Success: States Engaging Employers through Policy” is founded on six policy considerations, including:
The policy framework provides lawmakers and state leaders with evidence-based practices to aid youth and young adults with disabilities when obtaining employment through improved education.
“As youth transition into postsecondary environments or employment, it is critical for us to lay the necessary groundwork for them to move into employment in their field of interest and skill,” Karhan said. “The low employment outcomes of youth and young with disabilities have been well documented and, as a result, this brief offers new approaches and policy levers to help change this narrative.”
The development of “Guideposts for Success: States Engaging Employers through Policy” was led by CAPE-Youth, and is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy, The Council of State Governments, the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University, and the Interwork Institute at San Diego State University.
By Mary Wurtz and Jackson Beauregard
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are approximately 9.5 million job openings in the U.S., but only 5.6 million unemployed workers to potentially fill those roles. Considering these workforce shortages, many states pursue opportunities to expand work-based learning and to invest in upskilling existing workers through registered apprenticeship.
A registered apprenticeship is a high-quality, industry-driven career pathway that combines paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction to prepare workers for skilled careers in a variety of occupations. Historically, apprenticeships have been associated with trade professions, but now more than 1,000 occupations have been approved for registered apprenticeship by the U.S. Department of Labor, including roles in nursing, information technology, cybersecurity, human resources and more.
Registered apprenticeship programs can help states to address workforce shortages by empowering employers to grow their own talent pipelines. Through apprenticeship, employers invest directly in employees by providing training both on the job and in the classroom and mentorship by pairing apprentices with skilled mentors who support them throughout the program. Because apprentices learn while they work, programs typically have few to no minimum experience requirements. This makes apprenticeship programs a great tool for recruiting individuals who have traditionally faced barriers to employment and postsecondary training, like formerly incarcerated individuals or individuals with disabilities.
Throughout the 2023 legislative session, several states adopted strategies to expand registered apprenticeships, such as establishing apprenticeship grant programs, promoting the use of apprenticeships in previously non-apprenticeable occupations and providing additional benefits to individuals in apprenticeship programs.
Texas introduced HB 3723 (2023), which would establish a Rural Workforce Training Grant Program providing targeted funding for job-specific training, including apprenticeship programs, in counties with a population of less than 200,000. Grant money may be used to cover “costs associated with training materials, instructors’ fees, participant wraparound expenses, facility fees, administrative costs, and outreach, mentoring, and recruiting costs” for apprenticeships and other training programs.
Kansas enacted HB 2292 (2023), which establishes multiple grant funds and tax credits for employers offering apprenticeships in a variety of fields, including:
Idaho enacted SB 1069 (2023), which amends existing law to enable the State Board of Education to issue a certificate to a teacher who completed an approved registered apprenticeship program. These amendments create the possibility of state developed apprenticeship programs that meet the same standards as traditional teacher preparation programs and will be targeted toward individuals who have not earned bachelor’s degrees. Education degrees are often costly, and requirements of traditional programs, like unpaid student teaching, dissuade many individuals from pursuing their teaching certifications. Idaho is now one of more than a dozen states utilizing paid teacher apprenticeships to address these challenges.
Additionally, Idaho passed HB 16 (2023), which removes barriers for state agencies when hiring apprentices to fill public workforce shortages. Under new legislation, state agencies will be able to hire apprentices to fill shortages without counting them toward their annual budgeted full-time equivalent caps.
Washington enacted HB 1525 (2023), which expands the state’s existing child care subsidies to include individuals participating in a state registered apprenticeship program. Previous bill language included those in a registered apprenticeship, but the individual also needed to be a full-time student. Now, those who are in an apprenticeship program but are not students may receive the child care benefit. Apprentices are eligible to receive child care benefits for the care of one or more eligible children for the first 12 months of their enrollment in a registered apprenticeship program, if the individual’s annual adjusted household income does not exceed 75% of the state median income.
Minnesota enacted HF 1937 (2023), which increases the reimbursement amount that eligible service members and their family members are entitled to receive for costs associated with apprenticeship programs and other on-the-job training programs. The new law increases the aggregate amount of reimbursement from $10,000 to $15,000 over the eligible person’s lifetime, or a total of $3,000 per fiscal year. This reimbursement is in addition to benefits provided under the federal G.I. Bill, which provides funding for books, supplies and housing to veterans in approved apprenticeship programs.
These pieces of legislation build on the work accomplished by states in previous years to expand their apprenticeship systems. For example, in 2019, Alabama passed HB 570, which eliminated barriers to obtaining an occupational license by completing an apprenticeship program. Under the 2019 legislation, individuals who complete an apprenticeship may be granted an occupational license in that trade if the individual also completes all necessary examinations and meets other statutory requirements. The law also states that individuals who complete apprenticeship programs may not be required to complete additional testing requirements, affirming apprenticeships as high-quality preparatory programs for occupational licensure examinations.
Additionally, in 2022, Alaska passed HB 114, which directs the Department of Education and Early Development to “provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational education and training and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who are no longer attending school.” This includes encouraging engagement with “businesses and labor unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that will lead to employment opportunities.”
As states continue to expand their apprenticeship systems to build new career pathways, The Council of State Governments education and workforce team is available as a resource for policymakers. CSG provides states with no-cost technical assistance on registered apprenticeship, work-based learning and other topics related to workforce development. CSG can also help states to develop registered apprenticeship programs in state and local government to address their own public sector workforce needs.
For more information, contact CSG Policy Analyst Mary Wurtz via email at [email protected].
Licensing for the roughly 3.7 million teachers in the country has historically been a system with unclear barriers between states, making it difficult for educators to relocate and attain a teaching license in another state. Military spouses are particularly impacted by these limitations — they move residences between states frequently as their spouses are relocated to various posts and are often met with licensing barriers.
Recognizing these obstacles, in 2020 the Department of Defense entered into a cooperative agreement with The National Center for Interstate Compacts at The Council of State Governments. Authorized by Congress in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the cooperative agreement provides funding for the development of up to ten new occupational licensure compacts. A compact for teachers was a priority for the Department of Defense.
Model legislation to join the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact was released to states in November 2022 after more than a year of development, public comment and stakeholder review. In June, Oregon joined nine other states — Colorado, Utah, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida, Alabama, Nebraska and Nevada — in fully enacting the compact legislation. With the addition of this tenth state, the compact became active — the fastest occupational licensure compact to do so.
“A military spouse shouldn’t have to choose between supporting their family and pursuing their profession. Thankfully, states are working together to ensure they won’t have to,” said David Adkins, executive director/CEO of The Council of State Governments.
“The ten states that have already enacted the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact are reducing barriers to mobility for licensed teachers, and that’s good news to the many teachers in military families who will move to those states. CSG is proud to work with state officials and honored to partner with the U.S. Department of Defense to help create new tools to support military families. We look forward to continuing to be a resource for the ITMC Commission and its member states.”
Maintaining state sovereignty is one of the cornerstones of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. The compact does not alter member states’ ability to regulate the teaching profession or teacher licensure. Member states take on some responsibility to grant licenses to out-of-state teachers, but any standing pathways to teacher licensure within the state will remain in place.
Addressing Teacher Shortages
While districts across the country are facing widespread teacher shortages, the Teacher Mobility Compact streamlines the systems of licensure mobility in member states.
“Teachers who relocated can find it difficult to navigate the waters of license issuance in a new state,” said Jimmy Adams, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. “Many of these are professionals with years of experience who decide to leave the profession because of the barriers they confront.”
The teaching compact utilizes a different model than other interstate occupational licensure compacts. Compact member states submit licenses that are eligible for the compact and meet a set of criteria outlined in the legislation. To be eligible, a license must require a bachelor’s degree and completion of a state-approved program for teacher licensure like a teacher preparation program at a college or university. Teachers holding a compact-eligible license can apply for licensure in another member state and receive the closest equivalent license without submitting additional materials, taking state-specific exams or completing additional coursework.
This compact maintains each member state’s standards while recognizing the professional who holds this high-level license,” Adams said. “This compact will keep many teachers in the profession who may otherwise leave.”
Next Steps
Later this year, the compact member states will nominate their commissioners and the first meeting of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact Commission will be held to draft the bylaws and rules of the compact.
Currently, several states are still considering legislation to join the teaching compact. Those who join will also be included in this meeting if the legislation is passed before the first convening.
For more information about the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact or to view the model legislation, visit teachercompact.org. To learn more about the National Center for Interstate Compacts and other occupational licensure compacts, visit compacts.csg.org.
About Occupational Licensure Interstate Compacts
Occupational licensure compacts create reciprocity between states while maintaining the quality and safety of services and protecting state sovereignty. Compacts result in a more efficient distribution of licensed workers by supporting practitioner mobility.
In addition to its work with the Department of Defense, the CSG National Center for Interstate Compacts led the development of interstate compacts for physicians, nurses, emergency medical services personnel, physical therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, licensed professional counselors and audiologists/speech-language pathologists. More than 40 states and territories have adopted at least one of the compacts and over half have adopted three or more.
About CSG and the National Center for Interstate Compacts
Founded in 1933, The Council of State Governments is the nation’s only organization serving all three branches of state government. CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. This offers unparalleled regional, national and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate and create problem-solving partnerships. Learn more at csg.org.
CSG has more than 75 years of experience promoting multi-state problem solving and advocating the role of the states in determining their respective futures. The National Center for Interstate Compacts is a policy program developed by CSG to assist states in developing interstate compacts, which have proved to be an effective mechanism for states to jointly problem solve. Learn more at compacts.csg.org.
