Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law that aims to address a shortage of health care workers.
The bill, which passed unanimously in the Illinois House and Senate in the spring, allows retired health care workers in Illinois to work as volunteers without having to pay a license fee.
Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter, a medical doctor from Morton, sponsored the bill. He said the legislation covers doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, optometrists and other health care professionals.
“We leave so much talent and knowledge ‘on the bench’ when health care professionals' licenses lapse at retirement — now they can remain licensed in Illinois for free!” Hauter said in a social media post.
He added 15 other states have such a law.
The bill was one of 266 measures Pritzker signed into law last Friday.
