Texas Medical Laboratory Professional Licensure Bill: SB 1383
Texas Medical Laboratory Professional Registry Bill: SB 1662

WHY
  • Certification (i.e., ASCP or AMT) is voluntary and not required by Texas or federal law.  Licensure would help ensure persons performing moderate and high complexity tests on patient specimens are at least minimally qualified. 
  • A 2007 survey of Texas laboratory managers found that more than 1-in-4 MT’s and MLT’s were 55 or older.  This survey also found vacancies for MT’s and MLT’s take 6 to 12 months to fill on average.  As older lab professionals retire, more managers and directors will be pressured to hire non-certified staff.  Since Texas is a non-licensure state, this is perfectly legal under CLIA alone.
  • Persons fired for negligence or criminal behavior and individuals using aliases – there is no mechanism to keep such a person from being employed by Texas laboratories because we are not a licensed profession in the state of Texas.
  • Federal and state dollars provided for recruitment and retention initiatives, loan forgiveness, and scholarships/stipends for LICENSED healthcare professionals increases the number of graduates. This action also triggers visibility for high school students and undergraduates to choose MLT/MLS as a career option.
HOW
  • The TACLS Government Action Committee (GAC) has worked to draft licensure and registry bills that serve the interest of the laboratory AND the public through continued quality laboratory testing. The GAC has integrated key components from opposition via prior bills to provide a fair, yet effective bill(s).
  • Contact a member of the Government Action Committee to get answers not found in the FAQ section, more statistics, or voice concerns.
  • To get legislator support, we need a grass-roots movement of laboratorians, lab managers, physicians, and educators. 

This is what YOU can do:

  1. Show your support by signing the petition
  2. "Like" our Facebook Page Laboratory Professional Licensure in Texas
  3. Share our recent publication highlighting the need for licensure on all social media outlets
  4. With Texas legislative sponsors we hope to get the bills heard in  the Health and Human Services Senate Committee. Call, email or snail mail each one of these members to tell them you SUPPORT SB 1383 and SB 1662. Find a sample letter in Resources.
  5. Check this website  https://texaslabquality.org/ often for updates on when your action will help the most.