BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1155 Hearing Date: April 4,
2016
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|Author: |Morrell |
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|Version: |March 28, 2016 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Bill Gage |
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Subject: Professions and vocations: licenses: military service
SUMMARY: Would require every board under the Department of Consumer
Affairs (Department) to grant a waiver for the application and
initial licensing fee to an honorably discharged veteran.
Existing law:
1) Provides for the licensure, registration and regulation of
various professions and vocations by the boards, bureaus,
committees, programs and commission (board(s)) within the
Department.
2) Specifies that it is the policy of this state that persons
with the skills, knowledge, and experiences obtained in the
armed services should be permitted to apply this learning and
contribute to the employment needs of this state at the
maximum level of responsibility and skill for which they are
qualified, and that to this end, that the rules and
regulations of boards shall provide a method of evaluating
education, training and experience obtained in the armed
services and determine how it may be used to meet the
licensure requirements for the particular business, or
occupation, or profession regulated. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) § 35)
3) Authorizes any licensee whose license expired while he or she
was on active duty as a member of the California National
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Guard of the United States Armed Forces to reinstate his or
her license without examination or penalty if certain
specified requirements are met. (BPC § 114)
4) Provides that every board within the Department shall waive
the renewal fees, continuing education requirements, and
other renewal requirements as determined by the board, if
they are applicable, for any licensee or registrant called to
active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces or
the California National Guard if certain specified
requirements are met. (BPC § 114.3)
5) Requires each board to inquire in every application if the
individual applying for licensure is serving in, or has
previously served in, the military. (BPC § 114.5)
6) Requires after July 1, 2016, that a board within the
Department expedite, and may assist, the initial licensure
process for an applicant who supplies satisfactory evidence
to the board that the applicant has served as an active duty
member of the Armed Forces of the United States and was
honorably discharged and provides that the board may adopt
regulations necessary to implement this requirement.
(BPC § 115.4)
7) Requires a board within the Department to expedite the
licensure process for an applicant who is married to, or in a
domestic partnership or other legal union with an active duty
member of the Armed Forces or who is assigned to a duty
station within this state under official active duty military
orders and holds a current license from another state in the
profession or vocation for which her or she seeks a license
from the board. (BPC § 115.5)
8) Requires a board within the Department to issue, after
appropriate investigation, temporary licenses for specified
professions for an applicant who is married to, or is in a
domestic partnership or other legal union with an active duty
member of the Armed Forces or who is assigned to a duty
station within this state under official active duty military
orders, if specified requirements are met.
9) Authorizes the State Bar of California to waive the
membership fees of any member who is good standing with the
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State Bar at the time the member enters into military service
and for the period for which the service member is in
military service.
(Military and Veterans Code § 825)
This bill:
1)Requires every board within the Department to grant a fee
waiver for the application for and issuance of a license to an
individual who is an honorably discharged veteran who served
as an active duty member of the California National Guard or
the United State Armed Forces.
2)Requires under this program, that the following shall apply:
a) The veteran shall be granted only one fee waiver.
b) The fee waiver shall apply only to an application of a
license issued to an individual veteran and not to an
application of or a license issued to a business or other
entity.
c) A waiver shall not be issued for a renewal license or
for the application for and issuance of a license other
that one initial license.
FISCAL
EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This measure is sponsored by the Author. According
to the Author, initial application and occupational license
fees can act as a barrier for entry to the workforce for the
240,000 to 360,000 veterans who separate from the military
each year. Many either already reside in or intend to make
California their home, adding to the 1.9 million veterans
residing in the state.
As stated by the Author, veterans often gain valuable job skills
during military service which can be used upon entering the
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civilian workforce. Despite this fact, young male veterans,
as of 2014, have an unemployment rate of 16.2 percent.
California also has upwards of 11,000 veterans living on the
streets, the most of any state.
The Author believes that eliminating these fees will bring more
veterans into the workforce, growing the skilled labor market
in California, and taking a step to alleviate the growing
problem of veteran homelessness.
2. Background. The Department currently oversees 39 licensing
programs that issue more than two million licenses,
registrations and certifications in nearly 200 professional
categories. These licensing boards are charged with
regulating a particular profession through licensure and
enforcement programs. Each of these entities is responsible
for enforcing the minimum qualifications for licensure that
are established by statute and regulation. Licensure
requirements vary in their specificity and flexibility. In
many cases, the stated qualifications are specific and
provide the regulating entity with little or no discretion
over what experience or education can be accepted.
Professional and occupational licensure requirements range
from completing a form and paying a licensing fee to
satisfying significant experience, education and exam
requirements.
3. Consideration of Military Experience and Education. In 2012,
the Department provided a report to the Legislature regarding
the licensing programs that have statutes or regulations that
allow for the use of military experience and education to
meet licensing requirements for the various boards under the
Department. Titled, Report to the California State
Legislature: Acceptance of Military Experience & Education
Towards Licensure, it outlined administrative solutions that
the Department's programs were instituting to assist military
applicants with the licensure process. It provided a
breakdown of all licensing programs under the Department that
allowed for members of the military to apply experience,
education, or training towards licensure and those that did
not.
In 2015, the Department provided an update to its 2012 report
and focused on boards providing acceptance of military
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experience towards licensure pursuant to BPC § 35, which
requires that rules and regulations of boards shall provide
for methods of evaluating education, training and experience
obtained in the armed services. It was found that none of
the licensing programs have regulations based on BPC § 35,
but that many of the Department's programs have either
specific or broad authority to review and apply military
education, experience, or training towards licensure. For
example, the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
(BSIS) worked with over 5,000 military applicants to guide
them through the application process in the last two years.
The Contractors' State License Board (CSLB) has also created
a formal program to assist former military members with
properly applying their education and experience and
completing the licensing process.
4. Impact on Board Licensing Revenue Minimal. A survey of
several licensing boards found that the impact on their
overall revenue received from licensing fees would be
minimal. The CSLB has expedited 45 applications for veterans
for the last year out of about 18,000 applications received.
For BSIS, they receive about 3,700 new applications from
veterans on an annual basis out of about 71,000 applications
received per year. The Bureau of Automotive Repair and the
Board of Barbering and Cosmetology receives about 5
applications from veterans per year.
5. Other States Granting Licensing Fee Waivers for Veterans.
Florida, Texas and Wisconsin have granted licensing fee
waivers for the initial issuance of occupational licenses to
honorably discharged veterans. Ohio is in the process of
passing a similar law.
6. Arguments in Support. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of
California (San Diego County and Southern Imperial County)
and Goodwill Southern California are in support of this
measure for the reasons as indicated by the Author.
The California Association of Licensed Investigators, Inc. is
also in support of this bill and believes that the provisions
of this measure will remove an obstacle for veterans who
desire to work in our state and will facilitate their
entrance into the civilian workforce by waiving the
application and initial license fees that are paid by
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applicants to obtain occupational license.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
California Association of Licensed Investigators, Inc.
Goodwill Southern California
Veterans of Foreign Wars of California (San Diego County,
Southern Imperial County)
Opposition: None received as of March 29, 2016.
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