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Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and inserting the following:
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‘Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas,  Maine is experiencing a critical shortage of licensed dentists, especially in rural areas of the State; and
Whereas,  this legislation removes a statutory barrier that currently prevents or delays certain dental hygienists from obtaining authority to open independent practices in this State; and
Whereas,  in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §18345, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 429, §21, is amended to read:
 
A. For independent practice dental hygienist authority:, verification of 2,000 work hours of clinical practice.
 
(1) If the applicant has a bachelor's degree or higher in dental hygiene from a dental hygiene program accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, verification of 2,000 work hours of clinical practice during the 4 years preceding the application; or
 
(2) If the applicant has an associate degree in dental hygiene from a dental hygiene program accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, verification of 5,000 work hours of clinical practice during the 6 years preceding the application.
 
For purposes of meeting the clinical practice requirements of this paragraph, the applicant's hours in a private dental practice or nonprofit setting under the supervision of a dentist may be included as well as the applicant's hours as a public health dental hygienist or, prior to the effective date of this ActJuly 29, 2016, as a dental hygienist with public health supervision status;
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment adds an emergency preamble and emergency clause to the bill and requires all applicants for independent practice dental hygienist authority to complete 2,000 hours of clinical practice. This amendment also removes the timeframe in which those clinical practice hours must be obtained and removes the distinction in current law between applicants with a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene and applicants with an associate degree in dental hygiene.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)