Occupational licensing continues to be an important issue to policymakers, especially in the wake of the pandemic

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) will receive $400,000 from the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration under the WIOA Dislocated Worker National Reserve Technical Assistance and Training program to provide ongoing maintenance and updates to two key occupational licensing databases on its website through September 2025. NCSL will keep its National Occupational Licensing Database and Occupational Licensing Legislative Database current, track new occupational licensing legislation annually, develop new web resources on emerging licensing issues, and provide topical sessions at its annual meetings. NCSL will also offer on-demand technical assistance to states. As the previous recipient of a DOL grant to support states on occupational licensing issues over five years, NCSL has expertise in addressing workforce barriers like licensing requirements, in line with ETA's mission of supporting the U.S. labor market.

Two key resources, the national occupational licensing database and the occupational licensing legislative database, housed on ncsl's website, have been the backbone of efforts over the past five years to supports states and others to better understand the breadth and variability of licensing across the country. This project will keep these two important databases up to date, provide technical assistance to states and produce resources on emerging policy areas. T hese emerging policy areas would include ways states are increasing opportunities for licensure through expanding apprenticeship programs, strategies to ensure licensing policies and regulations in states are inclusive, from continuing education requirements to board training, and ways states can address current labor shortages by reducing barriers to licensed occupations. Activities performed the national conference of state legislatures (ncsl) is a bipartisan organization that provides states with support, ideas, and connections regarding the full range of state legislative topics. Ncsl represents the legislatures in the states, territories and commonwealths of the U.S. Its mission is to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information among legislatures. In addition, ncsl is committed to improving the operations and management of state legislatures, and the effectiveness of legislators and legislative staff. Ncsl also encourages the practice of high standards of conduct by legislators and legislative staff. Deliverables continued maintenance of the national occupational licensing database, including annual updates • continued tracking in the online database of occupational licensing legislation enacted each year • new web resources related to emerging licensing issues, and updating current webpages with recent/current state actions • topical sessions at ncsl's two largest meetings held annual, as well as provision of on-demand technical assistance to states through various modes intended beneficiary under a previous grant award from DOL, ncsl has provided technical assistance to states on occupational licensing for the past five years. They have developed valuable expertise on the many complex aspects of state occupational licensing, particularly with regard to issues that impact the workforce, such as barriers to entry, and barriers to geographic mobility presented by occupational licensing requirements, which supports ETA's mission to "contribute to the more efficient functioning of the U.S. Labor market." subrecipient activities y