Potential PA licensed state with house bill 2386?
Pa has been an unlicensed state and bill 2386 was introduced in April requiring opticians to be licensed. I fully support this bill, just not in its current form. I know this was just introduced and may take months or years to be passed but I have a few questions.
The bill states opticians must be licensed within 60 days of the bill passing but the requirements in that timeframe are outrageous. An abo or ncle which is a nonissue for me(I wish more of my coworkers were certified, then I wouldn’t be the go to for issues). An associates degree which would take up to 2 years. A vocational program which would be fine but we are mostly working full time jobs which would be impossible to complete in the timeframe. The last option is 2,400 hours of apprenticeship. How can you get over a years worth of apprenticeship in that timeframe? The only leeway is if you have been an optician for over 10 years, then you have 2 years in order to get your license.
I am left wondering what the state of opticianry in Pa will look like if this bill passes in its current form. Did they consult anyone in the optical field on this? I would start working on an associates degree if they had any information on what would be acceptable.
I would like any honest thoughts on this matter. Has anyone been in a state that has gone through this type of situation?
Thank you all in advance.