(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) “License” means any document, permit, certificate of registration, or other authorization issued by or on behalf of a professional licensing board that is required for a person to engage in a profession, business, or trade.

(2) “Licensee” means any person who is required to be licensed or who is actually licensed by a professional licensing board.

(b) The office of the Secretary of State, on behalf of all professional licensing boards under its jurisdiction that require continuing education, shall establish a continuing education tracking solution to monitor compliance of licensees with applicable continuing education requirements and to determine whether a licensee is in full compliance with such requirements at the time of making application for license renewal. Such tracking solution may be an off-premises hosted software-as-a-service application accessible through a public website. The Secretary of State may contract with third parties to implement, integrate, or otherwise provide such tracking system.

(c) On and after January 1, 2026, a professional licensing board shall not renew a license until the applicant has complied with all applicable continuing education requirements as verified using the continuing education tracking solution required by subsection (b) of this Code section. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a professional licensing board from granting a waiver or imposing additional penalties as otherwise provided by law or by the rules or regulations of the applicable board for failure to comply with continuing education requirements.

(d) The professional licensing boards and the division director may adopt any rules and regulations necessary to implement this Code section.