What was reported
Breaking News ABA published an analysis piece on August 7, 2026 and labeled it opinion and analysis, not legal or clinical advice. The piece says 40 states and Washington, D.C. now regulate the profession, up from zero in 2009, citing the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's tracker as of June 2026. It names ten states without a dedicated behavior analyst license: California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia. It says Pennsylvania regulates under a "Behavior Specialist" license and Florida restricts only the title.
It says five jurisdictions have enacted laws since 2023: D.C. and Minnesota in 2024, Arkansas in 2025 as a lighter registration program, and Colorado in 2026. It warns that some aggregator sites list states such as Maine and Idaho as licensed when the BACB map does not, and recommends checking the BACB record and state boards directly. It adds that in most licensing states supervisors must hold that state's license, and that telehealth clients in a licensing state generally require the analyst to hold that state's license.
What we have not verified
We have not checked the BACB tracker or each state's statute for this entry. This entry reports what Breaking News ABA reported. Our own state pages reached the same conclusion for Maine, New Mexico, West Virginia and South Carolina from the statutes and board sources we read. We are keeping an eye on this and will look for official word from the BACB.
Analysis: Whether a state licenses behavior analysts decides which license a buyer must verify in a deal, and whether anything strands when the owner sells. In the ten holdouts there is no individual state license to transfer, but other rules (facility, Medicaid, entity) still apply. Check the state's board, not an aggregator.
This brief rests on the reporting linked above and is labeled accordingly. Dossiers on this site are read to primary sources. Education only; nothing here is legal advice.
ABAWiser provides research, analysis, and compliance advisory services. We are not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice, and no engagement creates an attorney client relationship. Dossiers track developments as they occur and may be incomplete or updated as a story evolves. Confirm any statutory or regulatory point against the primary source before acting on it.