43-17.5-07. Establishment of the physician assistant licensure compact commission
1. The participating states hereby create and establish a joint government agency and
national administrative body known as the physician assistant licensure compact
commission. The commission is an instrumentality of the compact states acting jointly
and not an instrumentality of any one state. The commission comes into existence on
or after the effective date of the compact as set forth in section 43-17.5-11.
2. Membership, voting, and meetings.
a. Each participating state must have and be limited to one delegate selected by
that participating state's licensing board or, if the state has more than one
licensing board, selected collectively by the participating state's licensing boards.
b. The delegate must be either:
(1) A current physician assistant, physician, public member of a licensing board,
or physician assistant council or committee; or
(2) An administrator of a licensing board.
c. Any delegate may be removed or suspended from office as provided by the laws
of the state from which the delegate is appointed.
d. The participating state licensing board shall fill any vacancy occurring in the
commission within sixty days.
e. Each delegate is entitled to one vote on all matters voted on by the commission
and shall otherwise have an opportunity to participate in the business and affairs
of the commission. A delegate may vote in person or by such other means as
provided in the bylaws. The bylaws may provide for delegates' participation in
meetings by telecommunications, video conference, or other means of
communication.
f. The commission shall meet at least once during each calendar year. Additional
meetings must be held as set forth in this compact and the bylaws.
g. The commission shall establish by rule a term of office for delegates.
3. The commission shall have the following powers and duties:
a. Establish a code of ethics for the commission;
b. Establish the fiscal year of the commission;
c. Establish fees;
d. Establish bylaws;
e. Maintain its financial records in accordance with the bylaws;
f. Meet and take such actions as are consistent with the provisions of this compact
and the bylaws;
g. Promulgate rules, which have the force and effect of law and are binding in all
participating states, to facilitate and coordinate implementation and administration
of this compact;
h. Bring and prosecute legal proceedings or actions in the name of the commission,
provided the standing of any state licensing board to sue or be sued under
applicable law is not affected;
i. Purchase and maintain insurance and bonds;
j. Borrow, accept, or contract for services of personnel, including employees of a
participating state;
k. Hire employees and engage contractors, elect or appoint officers, fix
compensation, define duties, grant such individuals appropriate authority to carry
out the purposes of this compact, and establish the commission's personnel
policies and programs relating to conflicts of interest, qualifications of personnel,
and other related personnel matters;
l. Accept any appropriate donations and grants of money, equipment, supplies,
materials and services, and receive, utilize and dispose of the same; provided at
all times the commission avoids any appearance of impropriety or conflict of
interest;
m. Lease, purchase, accept appropriate gifts or donations of, or otherwise own, hold,
improve or use, any property, real, personal or mixed; provided the commission
avoids any appearance of impropriety;
n. Sell, convey, mortgage, pledge, lease, exchange, abandon, or otherwise dispose
of any property real, personal, or mixed;
o. Establish a budget and make expenditures;
p. Borrow money;
q. Appoint committees, including standing committees composed of members, state
regulators, state legislators or their representatives, consumer representatives,
and such other interested persons as may be designated in this compact and the
bylaws;
r. Provide and receive information from, and cooperate with, law enforcement
agencies;
s. Elect a chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and such other officers of the
commission as provided in the commission's bylaws;
t. Reserve for itself, in addition to those reserved exclusively to the commission
under the compact, powers that the executive committee may not exercise;
u. Approve or disapprove a state's participation in the compact based on its
determination as to whether the state's compact legislation departs in a material
manner from the model compact language;
v. Prepare and provide to the participating states an annual report; and
w. Perform such other functions as may be necessary or appropriate to achieve the
purposes of this compact consistent with the state regulation of physician
assistant licensure and practice.
4. Meetings of the commission.
a. All meetings of the commission that are not closed pursuant to this subsection
must be open to the public. Notice of public meetings must be posted on the
commission's website at least thirty days prior to the public meeting.
b. Notwithstanding subdivision a, the commission may convene a public meeting by
providing at least twenty-four hours prior notice on the commission's website, and
any other means as provided in the commission's rules, for any of the reasons it
may dispense with notice of proposed rulemaking under section 43-17.5-09.
c. The commission may convene in a closed, nonpublic meeting or nonpublic part of
a public meeting to receive legal advice or to discuss:
(1) Noncompliance of a participating state with its obligations under this
compact;
(2) The employment, compensation, discipline or other matters, practices or
procedures related to specific employees or other matters related to the
commission's internal personnel practices and procedures;
(3) Current, threatened, or reasonably anticipated litigation;
(4) Negotiation of contracts for the purchase, lease, or sale of goods, services,
or real estate;
(5) Accusing any person of a crime or formally censuring any person;
(6) Disclosure of trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is
privileged or confidential;
(7) Disclosure of information of a personal nature where disclosure would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
(8) Disclosure of investigative records compiled for law enforcement purposes;
(9) Disclosure of information related to any investigative reports prepared by or
on behalf of or for use of the commission or other committee charged with
responsibility of investigation or determination of compliance issues
pursuant to this compact;
(10) Legal advice; or
(11) Matters specifically exempted from disclosure by federal or participating
states' statutes.
d. If a meeting, or portion of a meeting, is closed pursuant to this section, the chair
of the meeting or the chair's designee shall certify the meeting or portion of the
meeting may be closed and shall reference each relevant exempting provision.
e. The commission shall keep minutes that fully and clearly describe all matters
discussed in a meeting and provide a full and accurate summary of actions taken,
including a description of the views expressed. All documents considered in
connection with an action must be identified in such minutes. All minutes and
documents of a closed meeting must remain under seal, subject to release by a
majority vote of the commission or order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
5. Financing of the commission.
a. The commission shall pay, or provide for the payment of, the reasonable
expenses of its establishment, organization, and ongoing activities.
b. The commission may accept any appropriate revenue sources, donations, and
grants of money, equipment, supplies, materials, and services.
c. The commission may levy on and collect an annual assessment from each
participating state and may impose compact privilege fees on licensees of
participating states to whom a compact privilege is granted to cover the cost of
the operations and activities of the commission and its staff, which must be in a
total amount sufficient to cover its annual budget as approved by the commission
each year for which revenue is not provided by other sources. The aggregate
annual assessment amount levied on participating states must be allocated
based upon a formula to be determined by commission rule.
(1) A compact privilege expires when the licensee's qualifying license in the
participating state from which the licensee applied for the compact privilege
expires.
(2) If the licensee terminates the qualifying license through which the licensee
applied for the compact privilege before its scheduled expiration, and the
licensee has a qualifying license in another participating state, the licensee
shall inform the commission that it is changing to that participating state the
participating state through which it applies for a compact privilege and pay
to the commission any compact privilege fee required by commission rule.
d. The commission may not incur obligations of any kind prior to securing the funds
adequate to meet the same; nor may the commission pledge the credit of any of
the participating states, except by and with the authority of the participating state.
e. The commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements.
The receipts and disbursements of the commission are subject to the financial
review and accounting procedures established under its bylaws. All receipts and
disbursements of funds handled by the commission are subject to an annual
financial review by a certified or licensed public accountant, and the report of the
financial review must be included in and become part of the annual report of the
commission.
6. The executive committee.
a. The executive committee may act on behalf of the commission according to the
terms of this compact and commission rules.
b. The executive committee must be composed of nine members:
(1) Seven voting members who are elected by the commission from the current
membership of the commission;
(2) One ex officio, nonvoting member from a recognized national physician
assistant professional association; and
(3) One ex officio, nonvoting member from a recognized national physician
assistant certification organization.
c. The ex officio members will be selected by their respective organizations.
d. The commission may remove any member of the executive committee as
provided in its bylaws.
e. The executive committee shall:
(1) Meet at least annually;
(2) Recommend to the commission changes to the commission's rules or
bylaws, changes to this compact legislation, fees to be paid by compact
participating states including annual dues and any commission compact fee
charged to licensees for the compact privilege;
(3) Ensure compact administration services are appropriately provided,
contractual or otherwise;
(4) Prepare and recommend the budget;
(5) Maintain financial records on behalf of the commission;
(6) Monitor compact compliance of participating states and provide compliance
reports to the commission;
(7) Establish additional committees as necessary;
(8) Exercise the powers and duties of the commission during the interim
between commission meetings, except for issuing proposed rulemaking or
adopting commission rules or bylaws, or exercising any other powers and
duties exclusively reserved to the commission by the commission's rules;
and
(9) Perform other duties as provided in the commission's rules or bylaws.
f. All meetings of the executive committee at which it votes or plans to vote on
matters in exercising the powers and duties of the commission must be open to
the public and public notice of such meetings must be given as public meetings of
the commission are given.
g. The executive committee may convene in a closed, nonpublic meeting for the
same reasons the commission may convene in a nonpublic meeting under
subsection 4, and shall announce the closed meeting and keep minutes of the
closed meeting as the commission is required to do under subsection 4.
7. Qualified immunity, defense, and indemnification.
a. The members, officers, executive director, employees, and representatives of the
commission are immune from suit and liability, both personally and in their official
capacity, for any claim for damage to or loss of property or personal injury or
other civil liability caused by or arising out of any actual or alleged act, error, or
omission that occurred, or that the person against whom the claim is made had a
reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of commission
employment, duties or responsibilities; provided that nothing in this paragraph is
construed to protect any such person from suit or liability for any damage, loss,
injury, or liability caused by the intentional or willful or wanton misconduct of that
person. The procurement of insurance of any type by the commission does not in
any way compromise or limit the immunity granted under this section.
b. The commission shall defend any member, officer, executive director, employee,
and representative of the commission in any civil action seeking to impose liability
arising out of any actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred within the
scope of commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, or as determined by
the commission that the person against whom the claim is made had a
reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of commission
employment, duties, or responsibilities; provided that nothing herein is construed
to prohibit that person from retaining their own counsel at their own expense; and
provided further, that the actual or alleged act, error, or omission did not result
from that person's intentional or willful or wanton misconduct.
c. The commission shall indemnify and hold harmless any member, officer,
executive director, employee, and representative of the commission for the
amount of any settlement or judgment obtained against that person arising out of
any actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred within the scope of
commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, or that such person had a
reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of commission
employment, duties, or responsibilities, provided the actual or alleged act, error,
or omission did not result from the intentional or willful or wanton misconduct of
that person.
d. Venue is proper and judicial proceedings by or against the commission must be
brought solely and exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction where the
principal office of the commission is located. The commission may waive venue
and jurisdictional defenses in any proceedings as authorized by commission
rules.
e. This compact may not be construed as a limitation on the liability of any licensee
for professional malpractice or misconduct, which must be governed solely by
any other applicable state laws.
f. This compact may not be construed to designate the venue or jurisdiction to bring
actions for alleged acts of malpractice, professional misconduct, negligence, or
other such civil action pertaining to the practice of a physician assistant. All such
matters must be determined exclusively by state law other than this compact.
g. This compact may not be interpreted to waive or otherwise abrogate a
participating state's state action immunity or state action affirmative defense with
respect to antitrust claims under the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, or any other state
or federal antitrust or anticompetitive law or regulation.
h. This compact may not be construed to be a waiver of sovereign immunity by the
participating states or by the commission.
