A state review panel signed off June 20 on rules designed to make it easier for people with criminal records to earn professional licenses. The approval is one of the final steps needed before the rules take effect.
The Department of State, which oversees professional licensing in Pennsylvania, first proposed the rules in 2022. They lay out specific offenses that are seen as directly related to the professions people want to pursue, from accounting and real estate to nursing and barbering.
The initial version drew pushback from people concerned the lists were too broad and did not do enough to reduce the barriers to licensure.
State officials revised the rules only to see them rejected earlier this year by the regulatory review panel, which worried they were not adequately protective of the public welfare.
The rules were modified slightly and sent back to the five-member panel, which approved them on a 4-1 vote.
“Under these regulations, people with prior criminal convictions will have greater opportunity to enter professional fields,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said in a statement. “At the same time, Pennsylvanians can rest assured that the Commonwealth’s professional licensing boards and commissions continue to individually assess each applicant and determine whether they are qualified to be licensed in their chosen field.”
Why is this happening: The rules implement a 2020 state law that seeks to ease the path for people whose criminal records might have once been an obstacle to professional licensure.
They would replace rules that make it difficult for people with any kind of prior conviction to be licensed.
What’s next: Because the rules were rejected once by the review panel, state lawmakers automatically have 14 days to review the rules and potentially block them, according to David Sumner, executive director of the review panel.
If lawmakers take no action, the rules then go to the attorney general for final review, Sumner said.
In comments to the review panel, lawmakers who sponsored the 20202 law have been supportive of the regulatory proposal and the changes it has undergone.