Public Act 103-1004
 
SB3467 EnrolledLRB103 37460 RTM 67582 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Speech-Language Pathology and 
Audiology Practice Act is amended by changing Sections 3.5, 
8.5, and 8.6 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 110/3.5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 3.5. Exemptions. This Act does not prohibit:
        (a) The practice of speech-language pathology or 
    audiology by students in their course of study in programs 
    approved by the Department, or the performance of 
    speech-language pathology assistant services by graduates 
    who have obtained degrees as set forth in paragraph (2) of 
    Section 8.5 of the Act, when acting under the direction 
    and supervision of licensed speech-language pathologists 
    or audiologists.
        (b) The performance of any speech-language pathology 
    service by a speech-language pathology assistant or 
    candidate for licensure as a speech-language pathology 
    assistant, if such service is performed under the 
    supervision and full responsibility of a licensed 
    speech-language pathologist. A speech language pathology 
    assistant or candidate for speech-language pathology 
    assistant licensure may perform only those duties 
    authorized by Section 8.7 under the supervision of a 
    speech-language pathologist as provided in Section 8.8.
        (b-5) The performance of an audiology service by an 
    appropriately trained person if that service is performed 
    under the supervision and full responsibility of a 
    licensed audiologist.
        (c) The performance of audiometric testing for the 
    purpose of industrial hearing conservation by an 
    audiometric technician certified by the Council of 
    Accreditation for Occupational Hearing Conservation 
    (CAOHC).
        (d) The performance of an audiometric screening by an 
    audiometric screenings technician certified by the 
    Department of Public Health.
        (e) The selling or practice of fitting, dispensing, or 
    servicing hearing instruments by a hearing instrument 
    dispenser licensed under the Hearing Instrument Consumer 
    Protection Act.
        (f) A person licensed in this State under any other 
    Act from engaging in the practice for which he or she is 
    licensed.
        (g) The performance of vestibular function testing by 
    an appropriately trained person under the supervision of a 
    physician licensed to practice medicine in all its 
    branches.
        (h) The performance of neurophysiologic intraoperative 
    monitoring of the seventh and eighth cranial nerve by an 
    individual certified by the American Board of Registration 
    of Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential 
    Technologists as Certified in Neurophysiologic 
    Intraoperative Monitoring only if authorized and 
    supervised by the physician performing the surgical 
    procedure. 
(Source: P.A. 100-530, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
    (225 ILCS 110/8.5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 8.5. Qualifications for licenses as a speech-language 
pathology assistant. A person is qualified to be licensed as a 
speech-language pathology assistant if that person has applied 
in writing or electronically on forms prescribed by the 
Department, has paid the required fees, and meets both of the 
following criteria:
        (1) Is of good moral character. In determining moral 
    character, the Department may take into consideration any 
    felony conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere of 
    the applicant, but such a conviction or plea shall not 
    operate automatically as a complete bar to licensure. 
        (2) Has either:
            (A) received an associate degree from a 
        speech-language pathology assistant program that has 
        been approved by the Department and that meets the 
        minimum requirements set forth in Section 8.6; or
            (B)(i) received a bachelor's degree in 
        speech-language pathology, communication sciences and 
        disorders, or other content area from an accredited 
        college or university that has been approved by the 
        Department and meets the minimum requirements set 
        forth in Section 8.6, and (ii) completed the 
        requirements for certification as a speech-language 
        pathology assistant or completed an equivalent program 
        as determined by the Department by rule. 
        (2) Has received either (i) an associate degree from a 
    speech-language pathology assistant program that has been 
    approved by the Department and that meets the minimum 
    requirements set forth in Section 8.6, (ii) a bachelor's 
    degree and has completed course work from an accredited 
    college or university that meets the minimum requirements 
    set forth in Section 8.6, or (iii) a bachelor's degree in 
    speech-language pathology or communication sciences and 
    disorders from a regionally or nationally accredited 
    institution approved by the Department, and evidence of 
    completion of at least 100 hours of documented field work 
    supervised by a licensed speech-language pathologist that 
    is comparable to that completed in a speech-language 
    pathology assistant program in this State.
(Source: P.A. 103-302, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
    (225 ILCS 110/8.6)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 8.6. Minimum requirements for speech-language 
pathology assistant programs.
    (a) An applicant for licensure as a speech-language 
pathology assistant must have earned 60 semester credit hours 
in a program of study that includes general education and the 
specific knowledge and skills for a speech-language pathology 
assistant. The curriculum of a speech-language pathology 
assistant program must include all of the following content, 
as further provided by rule promulgated by the Department:
        (1) Twenty-four semester credit hours in general 
    education.
        (2) Thirty-six semester credit hours in technical 
    content areas designed to provide students with knowledge 
    and skills required for speech-language pathology 
    assistants, which must include (i) an introductory or 
    overview course in of normal processes of communication 
    disorders; (ii) phonetics an overview of communication 
    disorders; (iii) speech sound disorders instruction in 
    speech-language pathology assistant-level service 
    delivery practices; (iv) language development instruction 
    in workplace behaviors; (v) language disorders cultural 
    and linguistic factors in communication; and (vi) anatomy 
    and physiology of speech and hearing mechanisms 
    observation.
        (3) Completion of at least 100 hours of supervised 
    field work experiences supervised by a licensed 
    speech-language pathologist at least 50% of the time when 
    the student is engaged in contact with the patient or 
    client. An applicant must obtain written verification 
    demonstrating successful completion of the required field 
    work experience, including a description of the setting in 
    which the training was received and an assessment of the 
    student's technical proficiency.
    (b) The Department may promulgate rules that change the 
curriculum requirements of subsection (a) in order to reflect 
the guidelines for speech-language pathology assistant 
programs recommended by the American Speech-Language Hearing 
Association.
    (c) Any applicant for licensure as a speech-language 
pathology assistant who applies to the Department prior to the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General 
Assembly or any person who holds a valid license as a 
speech-language pathology assistant on the effective date of 
this amendatory Act shall not be required to meet the new 
minimum requirements for a speech language pathology assistant 
program under subsection (a) of this Section 8.6 that are 
established by this amendatory Act. 
(Source: P.A. 96-1315, eff. 7-27-10.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 
1, 2025.