California lawmakers have rejected a proposal that would have required healthcare employers to pay allied health students minimum wage during clinical training for licensure, registration, or certification.
California State Assembly Bill 387 was opposed by the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS), the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, and sonographers and allied health professionals in the Golden State.
The SDMS estimated the median cost of the bill, if enacted, would have been approximately $12,600 per sonography student. The organization asserted that the cost would have caused many employers to refuse to accept students, which in turn would have resulted in a shortage of qualified sonographers in the state and the closure of sonography educational programs.
