AB 705, as amended, Blumenfield. Combat to Care Act.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires boards within the department to adopt rules and regulations to provide for methods of evaluating education, training, and experience obtained in the armed services, if applicable to the requirements of the business, occupation, or profession regulated, and to specify how this education, training, and experience may be used to meet the licensure requirements for the particular business, occupation, or profession regulated. Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing.
Existing law requires applicants for licensure as a registered nurse to meet certain educational requirements, to have completed specified courses of instruction, and to not be subject to denial of licensure under specified circumstances. Existing law authorizes applicants who have served on active duty in the medical corps in the United States Armed Forces to submit a record of specified training to the board for evaluation in order to satisfy the courses of instruction requirement. Under existing law, if the applicant satisfies the other general licensure requirements and if the board determines that his or her education establishes competency to practice registered nursing, the applicant shall be granted a license upon passing a certain examination.
This bill would provide that this act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Combat to Care Act and would make various legislative findings and declarations, including that California recognizes that military service members gain skill and experience while serving the country that, upon discharge, can be translated to the
civilian world. The bill would require the Board of Registered Nursing to adopt regulations that identify the Armed Forcesbegin delete courseworkend deletebegin insert educationend insert, training, and experience that is equivalent or transferable to coursework required for licensure by the board. This bill would require the board, after evaluating a military applicant’sbegin delete education and trainingend deletebegin insert education, training, and experienceend insert, to provide the applicant with a list of the coursework he or she must still complete to be eligible for licensure.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
2Combat to Care Act.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
4(a) President Barack Obama signed the Veteran Skills to Jobs
5Act, authored by former California State Senator Jeff Denham,
6which directs federal licensing authorities to consider and accept
7military experience and training for the purposes of satisfying the
8requirements for licensure.
9(b) In signing the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act, President Obama
10declared that “No veteran who fought for our nation overseas
11should have to fight for a job when they return home.”
12(c) The Institute
for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse
13University found that, since 2001, more than 2.8 million military
14personnel have made the transition from military to civilian life
15and another one million service members will make this transition
16over the next five years.
P3 1(d) California is home to the largest veteran population in the
2country, with approximately 2 million veterans, and is expected
3to welcome home 30,000 more annually.
4(e) California recognizes that military service members gain
5skills and experience while serving our country that, upon
6discharge, can be translated to the civilian world.
7(f) Last year the Governor signed into law Assembly Bill 2659
8(Ch. 406, Stats. 2012) to help veterans with military
commercial
9motor vehicle driving experience transfer those skills into civilian
10life. This act is part of California’s ongoing effort to streamline
11veterans into viable careers after military service.
Section 2736.5 of the Business and Professions Code
13 is amended to read:
(a) Any person who has served on active duty in the
15medical corps of any of the Armed Forces of the United States and
16who has successfully completed the course ofbegin delete instructionend deletebegin insert education,
17training, and experienceend insert required to qualify him or her for rating
18as a medical service technician--independent duty, or other
19equivalent rating in his or her particular branch of the Armed
20Forces, and whose service in the Armed Forces has been under
21honorable conditions, may submit the record of thatbegin delete trainingend delete
22begin insert
education, training, and experienceend insert to the board forbegin delete evaluation.end delete
23begin insert
evaluation towards licensure.end insert
24(b) After making an evaluation pursuant tobegin delete subdivisionsend delete
25begin insert subdivisionend insert (a)begin delete and (d)end delete, the board shall provide an applicant with
26a list of coursework, if any, that the applicant must complete to be
27eligible for licensure.
28(c) If an applicant meets the qualifications of subdivision (a)
29and paragraphs (1) and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 2736, and
30if the board determines that his or her educationbegin insert, training,
and
31experience end insert would give reasonable assurance of competence to
32practice as a registered nurse in this state, he or she shall be granted
33a license upon passing the standard examination for licensure.
34(d) The board shall, by regulation, establish criteria for
35evaluating thebegin delete educationend deletebegin insert education, training, and experienceend insert of
36applicants under this section.
37(e) On or before January 1, 2015, the board shall, by regulation,
38identify the Armed Forcesbegin delete courseworkend deletebegin insert
educationend insert, training, and
39experience that is equivalent or transferable to coursework required
40for licensure by the board.
P4 1(f) The board shall maintain records of the following categories
2of applicants under this section:
3(1) Applicants who are rejected for examination and the areas
4of those applicants’ preparation that are the causes of rejection.
5(2) Applicants who are qualified by their militarybegin delete educationend delete
6begin insert education, training, and experience end insert alone to take the examination,
7and the results of their
examinations.
8(3) Applicants who are qualified to take the examination by
9their military educationbegin insert, training, and experienceend insert plus
10supplementary education, and the results of their examinations.
11(g) The board shall attempt to contact by mail or other means
12individuals meeting the requirements of subdivision (a) who have
13been or will be discharged or separated from the Armed Forces of
14the United States, in order to inform them of the application
15procedure provided by this section. The board may enter into an
16agreement with the federal government in order to secure the names
17and addresses of those individuals.
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