Part ofHealthcare →
The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri Senate Bill 979 allows experienced nurse practitioners to prescribe Schedule II stimulants and practice without collaborative agreements
Original title: Modifies provisions relating to advanced practice registered nurses
Last action · March 31, 2026: SCS Voted Do Pass w/SCS SBs 979 & 1016 Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee (5116S.02C)Sponsor: Nick Schroer
Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.
What This Bill Would Do
in Missouri with 2,000 documented hours of collaborative practice may prescribe for behavioral health patients and operate independently without a physician collaborative agreement.
Why it matters
Qualifying nurse practitioners gain independent prescriptive and practice authority, altering workforce requirements for healthcare providers and changing prescription access for behavioral health patients in the state.
Background
- Advanced practice registered nurses include nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse-midwives who have completed advanced graduate-level education. context
- Collaborative practice arrangements legally bind advanced practice registered nurses to maintain a formal working relationship with a licensed physician in order to prescribe certain medications. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Directly affected
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
Qualified practitioners gain the authority to practice without a collaborative agreement and prescribe Schedule II stimulants for behavioral health patients.
Directly affected
Behavioral Health Patients
Patients receive expanded access to prescription medications, including Schedule II stimulants, prescribed directly by qualified nurse practitioners.
Directly affected
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
They are explicitly excluded from the collaborative practice exemption provisions outlined in the act.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which nurse practitioners qualify to practice without a collaborative agreement?
who have completed a cumulative 2,000 documented hours in a collaborative practice arrangement with a collaborating physician, maintain a license in good standing, and are not .
Can nurse practitioners prescribe stimulants for behavioral health under this measure?
Yes, prescriptions written by may include for behavioral health patients.
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
6 actions- Mar 31, 2026SenateCommitteeSCS Voted Do Pass w/SCS SBs 979 & 1016 Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee (5116S.02C)
- Mar 3, 2026SenateHearing Conducted S Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee
- Feb 24, 2026SenateHearing Cancelled S Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee
- Jan 8, 2026SenateFloorSecond Read and Referred S Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee
- Jan 7, 2026SenateIntroducedS First Read
- Dec 1, 2025SenatePrefiled
Version history & redline
2 versions on fileComparing 5116S.01I - Introduced → Senate Committee Substitute - Committee Version
removed addedOfficial text
removed: EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
added: 5116S.02C
1
SENATE removed: BILL NO. added: COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE BILLS NOS. 979
removed: 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SCHROER.
5116S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
added: & 1016
AN ACT
To repeal sections 195.070, 334.104, and 335.019, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new
sections relating to advanced practice registered
[…]
under section 334.104 may prescribe any controlled substances listed in Schedules III, IV, and V of section 195.017, and may have restricted authority in added: 2
Schedule II. Prescriptions for Schedule II medications prescribed by an advanced practice registered nurse who has a certificate of controlled substance prescriptive authority are
[…]
section 195.265. 5. An individual practitioner shall not prescribe or dispense a controlled substance for such practitioner's personal use except in a medical emergency. added: 3
334.104. 1. A physician may enter into collaborative practice arrangements with registered professional nurses. Collaborative practice arrangements shall be in the form of written
[…]
surgical procedures. Schedule III narcotic controlled substance and Schedule II - hydrocodone prescriptions shall be limited to a one hundred twenty-hour supply without refill. added: 4
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, a collaborative practice arrangement may delegate to an advanced practice registered nurse the
[…]
requirement that there shall be posted at every office where the advanced practice registered nurse is authorized to prescribe, in collaboration with a physician, added: 5
a prominently displayed disclosure statement informing patients that they may be seen by an advanced practice registered nurse and have the right to see
[…]
includes alternative plans as required in paragraph (c) of this subdivision. This exception to geographic proximity shall apply only to independent rural health clinics, added: 6
provider-based rural health clinics where the provider is a critical access hospital as provided in 42 U.S.C. Section 1395i-4, and provider-based rural health clinics
[…]
to maintain documentation related to this requirement and to present it to the state board of registration for the healing arts when requested; and added: 7
(c) Provide coverage during absence, incapacity, infirmity, or emergency by the collaborating physician; (6) A description of the advanced practice registered nurse's controlled substance
[…]
charts reviewed under this subdivision may be counted in the number of charts required to be reviewed under subdivision (9) of this subsection; and added: 8
(11) If a collaborative practice arrangement is used in clinical situations where a collaborating advanced practice registered nurse provides health care services that include
[…]
distribution of controlled substances by prescription or prescription drug orders under this section shall be subject to the approval of the department of health added: 9
and senior services and the state board of pharmacy. In order to take effect, such rules shall be approved by a majority vote of
[…]
board or the division. The state board of registration for the healing arts shall take action to correct reports of alleged violations and disciplinary added: 10
actions as described in this section which have been submitted to the National Practitioner Data Bank. In subsequent applications or representations relating to his
[…]
in subdivision (8) of section 335.016 from entering into a collaborative practice arrangement under this section, except that the collaborative practice arrangement may not added: 11
delegate the authority to prescribe any controlled substances listed in Schedules III, IV, and V of section 195.017, or Schedule II - hydrocodone. 8.
[…]
health advanced practice registered nurse, where the collaborating physician is new to a patient population to which the advanced practice registered nurse is familiar. added: 12
10. No agreement made under this section shall supersede current hospital licensing regulations governing hospital medication orders under protocols or standing orders for the
[…]
advanced practice registered nurse who has been in a collaborative practice arrangement for a cumulative two thousand documented hours with a collaborating physician and added: 13
whose license is in good standing. Any such advanced practice registered nurse shall not be required to enter into or remain in an arrangement
[…]
have a collaborative practice arrangement, the provisions of subsection 1 of this section shall apply to an advanced practice registered nurse who meets the added: 14
requirements described in subsection 13 of section 334.104 and is no longer required to hold a collaborative practice arrangement. 3. The board of nursing
[…]
prescription order orally or telephonically or to an inpatient medical record from protocols developed in collaboration with and signed by a licensed physician; and removed: [(4)] added: (4) (a) Has a controlled substance prescribing authority delegated in the collaborative practice arrangement under section 334.104 with a physician who has an unrestricted federal Drug Enforcement Administration registration number and who is actively engaged in a practice comparable in scope, specialty, or expertise to that of the advanced practice registered nurse; or added: 15
(b) Provides documentation of a minimum of two thousand hours of practice in advanced practice nursing, as provided in subsection 13 of section 334.104.
Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →
Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
policy shift95% confidence
Reduction of Physician Collaboration Requirements
The measure removes mandatory collaborative practice agreements for advanced practice registered nurses who meet specific experience thresholds.
Connected Entities
OrganizationMissouri State Board of Nursing“Board that verifies licensure by endorsement and completion of required hours.”Map →
Sources
Open source document
www.senate.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy50Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools