Full Text of SB0462 99th General Assembly
SB0462eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act | 5 | | is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
| 6 | | (225 ILCS 50/8) (from Ch. 111, par. 7408)
| 7 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)
| 8 | | Sec. 8. Applicant qualifications; examination.
| 9 | | (a) In order to protect persons who are deaf or hard of | 10 | | hearing, the Department
shall authorize or shall conduct an | 11 | | appropriate examination, which may be the International | 12 | | Hearing Society's licensure examination, for persons
who | 13 | | dispense, test, select, recommend, fit, or service hearing
| 14 | | instruments. The frequency of holding these examinations shall
| 15 | | be determined by the Department by rule. Those
who successfully | 16 | | pass such an examination shall be issued a license
as a hearing | 17 | | instrument dispenser, which shall be effective for
a 2-year | 18 | | period.
| 19 | | (b) Applicants shall be:
| 20 | | (1) at least 18 years of age;
| 21 | | (2) of good moral character;
| 22 | | (3) the holder of an associate's degree or the | 23 | | equivalent;
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| 1 | | (4) free of contagious or infectious disease; and
| 2 | | (5) a citizen or person who has the status as a legal | 3 | | alien.
| 4 | | Felony convictions of the applicant and findings against | 5 | | the applicant
involving matters set forth in Sections 17 and 18 | 6 | | shall be considered in
determining moral character, but such a | 7 | | conviction or finding shall not make an
applicant ineligible to | 8 | | register for examination.
| 9 | | (c) Prior to engaging in the practice of fitting, | 10 | | dispensing, or servicing
hearing instruments, an applicant
| 11 | | shall demonstrate, by means of written
and practical | 12 | | examinations, that such person is qualified to
practice the | 13 | | testing, selecting, recommending, fitting, selling, or
| 14 | | servicing of hearing instruments as defined in this
Act. An | 15 | | applicant must obtain a license within 12
months after passing | 16 | | either the written or practical examination, whichever is | 17 | | passed first, or must take and
pass those examinations again in | 18 | | order to be eligible to receive a license.
| 19 | | The Department shall, by rule, determine the conditions | 20 | | under which an
individual is examined.
| 21 | | (d) Proof of having met the minimum requirements of | 22 | | continuing education
as determined by the Board shall be | 23 | | required of all license renewals.
Pursuant to rule, the | 24 | | continuing education requirements may, upon petition to
the | 25 | | Board,
be waived in whole or in part if the hearing instrument | 26 | | dispenser
can demonstrate
that he or she served in the Coast |
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| 1 | | Guard or Armed Forces, had an extreme
hardship, or obtained his | 2 | | or her license by examination or
endorsement within
the | 3 | | preceding renewal period.
| 4 | | (e) Persons applying for an initial
license
must | 5 | | demonstrate having earned, at a minimum, an associate degree or | 6 | | its equivalent from an
accredited institution of higher | 7 | | education that is recognized by the U.S. Department of | 8 | | Education or that meets the U.S. Department of Education | 9 | | equivalency as determined through a National Association of | 10 | | Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) member, and meet the | 11 | | other requirements of
this Section. In addition, the applicant | 12 | | must demonstrate the successful
completion of (1) 12 semester | 13 | | hours or 18 quarter hours of academic undergraduate
course work | 14 | | in an accredited institution consisting of 3 semester hours of
| 15 | | anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism, 3 | 16 | | semester hours of
hearing science, 3 semester hours of | 17 | | introduction to audiology, and 3 semester
hours of aural | 18 | | rehabilitation, or the quarter hour equivalent , or (2) an | 19 | | equivalent program as determined by the Department . Persons
| 20 | | licensed before January 1, 2003 who
have a valid license on | 21 | | that date may have their license renewed
without meeting the | 22 | | requirements of this subsection.
| 23 | | (Source: P.A. 98-827, eff. 1-1-15; 99-204, eff. 7-30-15.)
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