SB 171 North Carolina Senate · 2025-2026 Session

Pract. Transparency/Reagan's Law/Sam's Law.

SB 171 allows licensed psychological associates in North Carolina to practice independently without direct supervision after completing 3,000 hours of supervised experience over 24-60 months. This directly affects psychological associates who meet the experience requirement, reducing regulatory barriers to their practice. The bill amends licensing rules to establish this pathway, requiring an application with proof of experience and granting certification as a "health services provider psychological associate." It also updates board composition rules to ensure balanced representation. The changes take effect October 1, 2025.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Jun 2025

Governor

Introduced Feb 25, 2025 Last action Jun 16, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 2 → Edition 3 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten from a mental health regulation reform focused on psychologists to a healthcare transparency law covering multiple medical professions. The original bill aimed to reduce regulatory burdens on master's level psychologists by allowing independent practice after 4,000 hours of supervised experience. The new version focuses on requiring healthcare practitioners to identify their license type in advertisements and prohibits misleading representations about medical credentials.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from exclusively covering psychological associates to covering all healthcare practitioners including medical, nursing, pharmacy, and dental professionals. The focus shifted from practitioner autonomy to consumer protection and advertising transparency.

SCOPE

Removed all provisions related to master's level psychologists and their supervision requirements, including the 4,000-hour post-licensure experience requirement for independent practice

Expanded scope from psychology-specific regulations to cover all healthcare practitioners including medical, nursing, pharmacy, and dental professionals

REQUIREMENT

Added requirements for healthcare practitioners to identify their license type in all advertisements and communications to the public

Added prohibition against unlicensed individuals holding themselves out as physicians or using specific medical titles like 'surgeon,' 'cardiologist,' 'psychiatrist,' etc.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'Advertisement' and 'Deceptive or misleading' to establish what constitutes prohibited communications

ENFORCEMENT

Added enforcement provisions that classify violations as unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary action, with each day of noncompliance counting as a separate violation

Floor votes · Senate Apr 8, 2025 · House Jun 11, 2025

How they voted

46–1

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 50

Apr 8, 2025

D Democratic20

17 Yea 1 Nay 2

85% Yea

R Republican30

29 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 16, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Jun 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Jun 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Jun 10, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jun 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

May 29, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Com Substitute Adopted

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to Health Care. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Feb 25, 2025

Introduced

Filed

upper

0 primary · 4 co-sponsors