Hi Organic and Ivorinedust et al,
I also talked to Andy Martinez a couple of weeks ago. The bill will be taken up during the next legislative session and that session begins on Monday, January 5. Andy remains very positive about the prospects for quick passage of the bill.
It may be somewhat confusing, but the bill must return to the Senate for changes and amendments. The main reason for its return to the Senate is to change the dates of enactment of the bill and the dates of the deadlines stipulated in the bill. For example, the bill will stipulate the deadline for receipt of all applications at the office of the Dental Board. Currently the bill says that applications were to have been received by Dec. 31, 2003, except for those applicants who did not yet have their Board 2 scores. Since the bill will not be approved until some future date in 2004, the deadline for application will be extended. All changes to the bill must be approved by both Houses of the Legislature. The State legislative website is not always up to date on the status of bills so don't let that bother you.
The bill still has unanimous support so it should be smooth sailing in January. As a reminder, one provision that will not change is the date that all candidates must have passed Board 2. You must have passed NBDE II on or before Dec. 31, 2003 in order to be eligible for the Bench test.
As to Ivorinedust's comments, I presume some of them were made in jest. But let me dispell any doubts that some of you may have:
1.The final date of sunset for the bench test is fairly firmly set and there is little to no chance that it will be extended beyond 2008 (not 2007 as Ivorinedust wrote), regardless of how many applicants there are.
2. The number of opportunities for applicants to take the bench test is currently 4 and there is no discussion of reducing that number. However the bill specifically states that there is no guaranty that applicants will get all of those chances due to limited testing opportunities.
3. After the bill is passed, it will be up to all of us to lobby, beg and cajole the Dental Board into conducting more bench tests per year. The number of tests will not be specified in the bill.
4. Fees will be set by the Dental Board, not the Legislature.
5. The method and timing of filing applications will be left up to the Dental Board so there is a chance that some may wait for a year or more to actually sit for the exam. Again, if we collectively want to influence how this process is occuring, we will need to convince the Dental Board, not the Legislature.
If any of you are getting antsy about this then feel free to write to Legislators. I myself won't be bothering my Legislators, I trust that they will all do the right thing. I'm saving my energy for the Dental Board after the bill is passed and signed by our new Governor. By the way, I suggest that we do not contact the Dental Board until after the bill is signed into law. The Board is still a reluctant participant in this whole thing. Lets not rock the boat until we get out of the deep waters.
Scott
