The Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine (“Board”) is statutorily mandated to require forty (40) contact classroom hours of Continuing Education (“CE”) for Chiropractic Physicians and twenty-four (24) hours for Certified Chiropractic Physician’s Assistants as a prerequisite to biennial licensure renewal for licensees. In addition, the Board, by rule, requires all licensees to attend one in-person board meeting within their first year of licensure or practice in Florida. On March 1, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order Number 20-51 which directed the State Health Officer and Surgeon General, Dr. Scott Rivkees, to declare a public health emergency regarding the spread of the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). On March 9, 2020, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order Number 20-52 (Emergency Management - COVID-19 Public Health Emergency) and officially declared that a state of emergency exists in the State of Florida. COVID-19 disease is a severe acute respiratory illness that can spread among humans through respiratory transmission and presents with symptoms similar to those of influenza. As of August 9, 2020, there are over 532,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 disease in the State of Florida. The Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) recommends mitigation measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 disease such as “social distancing,” wearing masks in public, staying home when sick, keeping away from others who are sick, staying home when a household member is sick with respiratory disease symptoms, and for those who are at higher risk, including older adults and those who have serious chronic medical conditions, to avoid non-essential travel and to avoid in-person gatherings. Even though mitigation measures have been successful in “slowing the spread,” the risk of public infection remains high. Since the issuance of the Executive Orders and declaration of a public health emergency by the Governor and the State Health Officer, the Board has determined that online technologies, including video streaming/videoconferencing, can provide a level of quality which, due to the ongoing public health emergency, could be used as an alternative method of delivery of CE courses and virtual meeting participation, and which would satisfy the purpose and intent of the statute and promulgated rules, without exposure to the dangers of being in large groups of people, necessity of travel itself, potential contribution to the spread of the virus, and most importantly, would ensure compliance with the State Health Officer’s Orders, CDC Recommendations, and Governor DeSantis’s Emergency Orders, including the Governor’s “Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step.” recovery plan. Florida’s Chiropractic Professionals, and those who come in contact with them, should not be unnecessarily put at risk during this healthcare emergency. Accordingly, the Board, by emergency rule, will authorize licenses to satisfy CE and meeting attendance requirements through virtual live, synchronous online, and/or asynchronous online methods, while it contemporaneously initiates rulemaking to extend these changes until the end of the current licensure renewal biennium. The Board finds that this action is a measured regulatory approach that helps to mitigate the threat of exposure to COVID-19 disease to Floridians, including Chiropractic professionals and those that come in contact with them, while still satisfying the purpose and intent of the waived requirements.