BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1348 Hearing Date: April 11,
2016
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|Author: |Cannella |
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|Version: |February 19, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Bill Gage |
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Subject: Licensure applications: military experience
SUMMARY: Requires regulatory boards and bureaus within the Department
of Consumer Affairs (Department) to indicate on a license
application that veterans may be able to apply military
experience and training toward licensure requirements.
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) Requires each board to inquire in every application if the
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individual applying for licensure is serving in, or has
previously served in, the military. (BPC § 114.5)
4) 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)
5) States that it is the policy of the State of California that,
consistent with high quality health care services, persons
with skills, knowledge and experience obtained in the armed
services of the United States should be permitted to apply
such learning and contribute to the health manpower needs of
the state at the maximum level of responsibility and skill
for which they are qualified, and to this end, the rules and
regulations of healing arts boards shall provide for methods
of evaluating education, training, and experience obtained in
military service if such training is applicable to the
requirements of that profession. (BPC § 710)
6) Requires, by July 1, 2015, the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, using common course descriptors and
pertinent standards of the American Council on Education, to
determine for which courses credit should be awarded for
prior military experience. (Education Code § 66025.7)
This bill requires that, if a board's governing law authorizes
veterans to apply military experience and training towards
licensure requirements, for that board to modify their
application for licensure to advise veteran applicants about
their ability to apply military experience and training towards
licensure requirements.
FISCAL
EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
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COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the Author. According to
the Author's office, "This bill would require each board,
with a governing law authorizing veterans to apply military
experience and training towards licensure requirements, to
modify their application for licensure to advise veteran
applicants about their ability to apply that experience and
training towards licensure requirements. By building off of
AB 1057 from 2013, this bill closes this technical gap in code,
ensuring veterans receive notification in writing when
applying for licensure in boards that accept military
experience and training towards their licensure
requirements."
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
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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
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.
To better account for military veterans who apply for
California licenses, each licensing board was required to ask
on its license application whether the individual applying
for licensure is serving in, or has previously served in, the
military, beginning in 2015. This bill will require all
boards to also alert applicants that some of their military
experience and training may be counted towards licensure
requirements.
The Author's believes that individuals will look to the
licensure application in order to determine the requirements
for licensure. While this is undoubtedly true in certain
circumstances, it may also benefit veterans for boards to
advertise opportunities for military credit in locations
prior to the point of credential verification, such as on
boards' website, at schools and training programs, and in
Veterans Affairs offices.
4. Previous Legislation. SB 466 (Hill, Chapter 489, Statutes of
2015) extended the sunset date on the Board of Registered
Nursing (BRN) until January 1, 2018, required the California
State Auditor's Office to conduct an audit of the BRN's
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enforcement program and required BRN to promulgate
regulations to ensure that schools grant credit for military
education and experience.
AB 1057 (Medina, Chapter 693, Statutes of 2013) required
licensing boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs,
beginning January 1, 2015, to ask on every application for
licensure if the applicant is serving in, or has previously
served in, the military.
AB 705 (Blumenfeld, 2013) required the BRN to promulgate
regulations that identify the military education, training,
and experience that is equivalent or transferable to
coursework required for licensure as a registered nurse (RN)
and, upon receipt of an applicant's record of education,
training, and experience completed in the Armed Forces,
provide the applicant with a list of coursework, if any, that
the applicant must complete for license eligibility.
( Status: this bill was held in Assembly Appropriations
Committee.)
AB 704 (Blumenfeld, 2013) required the Emergency Medical
Services Authority (EMSA) to adopt regulations by January 1,
2015, to accept the military education, training, and
practical experience of applicants, as specified, towards
certification as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-I and
EMT-II, and towards licensure as an EMT-Paramedic (EMT-P).
( Status: this bill was vetoed by the Governor.)
5. Related Legislation. SB 1155 (Morrell) would require every
board under the Department of Consumer Affairs to grant a
waiver for the application and initial licensing fee to an
honorably discharged veteran. ( Status: this bill is pending
in the Senate Appropriations Committee.)
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support: None on file as of April 5, 2016.
Opposition: None on file as of April 5, 2016.
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