South Dakota business community greets new law to recognize out-of-state licenses

A new law to recognize out-of-state licenses for most professions in South Dakota will “do a lot of good” for the state’s economy, according to Ken Amundson, president of Midwestern Mechanical in Sioux Falls.

“There will be more tradespeople coming to the state when they don’t have the red tape to deal with,” Amundson said.

Midwestern Mechanical offers plumbing, heating, air conditioning and fire protection services. Amundson said plumbers with 20 years of experience in one state would be hesitant to move to another state where they would have to re-test and re-license.

Governor Kristi Noem signed the bill into law Wednesday at Midwestern Mechanical. She said the legislation will help tackle South Dakota’s worker shortage by making it easier for employers to hire people from other states.

“Most of the businesses I go into, they say, ‘We could continue to expand, we could continue to explore new opportunities if we just had the workers,’” Noem said.

Noem said there are approximately 900 job openings in the state impacted by the bill, including 200 plumbing jobs and up to 300 electricians.

The Governor’s Office said in a statement the professions with the highest need for workers include accountants and auditors, elementary school teachers, electricians, secondary school teachers and plumbers – all of which the bill addresses.

South Dakota has over 23,000 job openings in the state, but only 11,000 people are unemployed and looking for work, said Department of Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman during an earlier hearing for the bill at the Capitol in Pierre.

The state Department of Education launched a program in 2017 to recognize some out-of-state licenses. The law will put that program into statute. Tamara Carns, a teacher from North Dakota now working in Yankton, took advantage of that program. She said the program saved her the trouble of requalifying to teach the subjects she already could in North Dakota.

“I believe the benefits of reciprocity could make a positive impact on other professionals in South Dakota as well,” Carns testified at an earlier committee hearing on the bill.

The bill’s prime sponsors, Rep. Tyler Tordsen and Sen. Jim Stalzer, both Sioux Falls Republicans, attended the bill signing. Noem praised them for ensuring the bill’s passage.

“It matters who sponsors these bills and stands up and champions them, because if they are respected, if they have integrity, and if they have credibility, their colleagues listen,” Noem said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota business community greets new law to recognize out-of-state licenses