1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to health-related licensing; establishing licensure requirements for 
1.3 	foreign trained professional counselors; adding professional counselors as a 
1.4 	professional service; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 319B.02, 
1.5 	subdivision 19; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.6 	148B.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. [148B.532] DEGREES FROM FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS.
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Scope and documentation. In addition to meeting all other licensure 
1.10 	requirements, an applicant for licensure whose degree was received from a foreign degree 
1.11 	program that is not recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related 
1.12 	Education Programs (CACREP) or from a foreign institution of higher education that is 
1.13 	not accredited by a regional accrediting organization recognized by the Council for Higher 
1.14 	Education Accreditation (CHEA) must fulfill the requirements of this section, providing 
1.15 	certified English translations of board-required relevant documentation.
1.16 		Subd. 2.Education evaluation. An applicant for licensure as a licensed 
1.17 	professional counselor must present evidence of completion of a degree equivalent to 
1.18 	that required in section 148B.53, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (3), and paragraph 
1.19 	(b). An applicant for licensure as licensed professional clinical counselor must present 
1.20 	evidence of completion of a degree equivalent to that required in section 148B.5301, 
1.21 	subdivision 1, clause (3). This evidence will be evaluated by the board with the assistance 
1.22 	of a credentials evaluation service familiar with educational standards and professional 
1.23 	qualification. The evaluation must be sent directly to the board from the evaluating 
1.24 	agency. Agencies providing evaluation services must be accepted by the National Board 
2.1 	for Certified Counselors, Inc. The applicant shall be responsible for the expenses incurred 
2.2 	as a result of the evaluation.

2.3 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 319B.02, subdivision 19, is amended to read:
2.4 		Subd. 19.Professional services. "Professional services" means services of the type 
2.5 	required or permitted to be furnished by a professional under a license, registration, or 
2.6 	certificate issued by the state of Minnesota to practice medicine and surgery under sections 
2.7 	147.01 to 147.22, as a physician assistant pursuant to sections 147A.01 to 147A.27, 
2.8 	chiropractic under sections 148.01 to 148.105, registered nursing under sections 148.171
2.9 	to 148.285, optometry under sections 148.52 to 148.62, psychology under sections 148.88
2.10 	to 148.98, social work under chapter 148D, marriage and family therapy under sections 
2.11 	148B.29 to 148B.39, professional counseling under sections 148B.50 to 148B.593, 
2.12 	dentistry and dental hygiene under sections 150A.01 to 150A.12, pharmacy under sections 
2.13 	151.01 to 151.40, podiatric medicine under sections 153.01 to 153.25, veterinary medicine 
2.14 	under sections 156.001 to 156.14, architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape 
2.15 	architecture, geoscience, and certified interior design under sections 326.02 to 326.15, 
2.16 	accountancy under chapter 326A, or law under sections 481.01 to 481.17, or under a 
2.17 	license or certificate issued by another state under similar laws. Professional services 
2.18 	includes services of the type required to be furnished by a professional pursuant to a 
2.19 	license or other authority to practice law under the laws of a foreign nation.