Alaska Closer to Securing Licensure for Respiratory Therapists

By Delaney Mallory

March 26, 2026 | 1 min read

The Alaska Senate Labor and Commerce Committee have introduced a bill that establishes licensure for respiratory therapists across the state. Alaska remains the only state without licensure for respiratory therapists. With an estimated 700-800 practicing RTs in the state, there’s no uniform framework to ensure national standards for training and education are being met.

“There is no uniform framework to ensure national standards without state licensure”, says Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Miriam O’Day. “AARC is excited Alaska is so close to licensure”. This good work has been lead by respiratory therapist Angela Oyler and the Alaska Society for Respiratory Care. Alaska has had three hearings which have allowed Oyler to give the local perspective on the need for licensure.

The initiative also received strong support from organizations across Alaska. In addition to AARC’s letter of support, both ASMA (Alaska State Medical Association) and ANTHC (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium) submitted additional letters of support.

Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Miriam O’Day, and past AARC president Carl Hinkson, MSc, RRT, RRT-NPS, RRT-ACCS, FAARC, FNAP, provided testimony on March 25 regarding the importance of licensure. Read O’Day’s testimony below: