I agree with the Petition and the comments made thus far.  Virginia licensure has a long reputation for stringent criteria, presumably because we want to ensure that those becoming licensed to help others are the cream of the crop.  I have worked with and around very talented & solid clinicians with years of supervised clinical experience who had not pursued licensure for one reason or another.  But people's minds and opportunities change.  An exception should be made to consider these hours/years of clinical work because they did happen.  The act of applying for a temporary license does not miraculously bring someone with little to no clinical experience into line with someone having 5+ years of it.  In this case,  the starting point for the experienced clinician is unnecessarily stringent, discouraging, and seems illogical.