BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 723
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 12, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Roger Hern�ndez, Chair
SB 723 (Correa) - As Amended: April 23, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Veterans
SUMMARY : Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD),
and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), on or before
January 1, 2015, to jointly send a report to the Legislature
containing best practices by state governments around the nation
in facilitating the credentialing/licensing of veterans by using
their documented military education and experience.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the EDD, among other things, to study and make
recommendations as to actions which might promote the
prevention of unemployment and stabilization of employment,
encourage and assist in the adoption of practical methods of
vocational training, and promote re-employment of workers.
2)Requires the EDD, in consultation and coordination with
veterans' organizations and veteran service providers, to do
all of the following:
a) Research the needs of veterans throughout the state and
develop a profile of veterans' employment and training
needs;
b) Develop a statewide plan for the equitable distribution
of employment funds for veterans' employment services; and
c) Seek federal funding for specified purposes.
1)Requires that EDD, following any fiscal year in which state
funds support the Veterans Employment Training services
program, to provide an annual report to the Legislature
regarding the following performance measures:
a) The number of veterans receiving individualized, case
managed services.
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b) The number of veterans receiving these services and
entering employment.
c) The retention rate for veterans who enter employment.
d) The average earnings for veterans entering employment.
4)Provides for the licensure and regulation of certain
businesses, occupations, and professions by specified boards
within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) created under
the Business and Professions Code (BPC). Additionally,
requires these boards to adopt rules and regulations to
provide 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.
Lastly, requires these boards to consult with the Department
of Veterans Affairs (Cal Vet) and the California Military
Department (CMD) before adopting these rules and regulations.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the Author, veterans are typically held
back, prevented, or discouraged from finding or securing
employment when either colleges or state boards establish
policies that do not recognize military education and training.
The Author argues that the recession has taken a tremendous toll
on the economy and returning veterans are competing with
non-veteran peers, many of whom enter the weakened job market
with the advantage of freshly earned college degrees. The
Author concludes noting, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan, combined with ongoing troop reduction in each
military branch, make it increasingly difficult for young
service members to reenlist, forcing more of them into the
uneven competition for scarce civilian jobs and the unemployment
rate for veterans in unacceptably high.
Background : California is home to over 1.8 million veterans,
representing 8.3 percent of the total U.S. veteran population.
Seventy-two percent of the veteran population is fifty years of
age or above, and the number of veterans 85 years of age or
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older is projected to increase 20% between 2010 and 2019. Cal
Vet anticipates receiving an additional 35,000-40,000 discharged
members of the armed services each year for the next several
years - more than any other state. According to the department,
historically, the largest demand for benefits and services for
veterans occurs immediately after discharge and again as the
veteran population ages and requires greater access to medical
facilities and long-term care services.
According to a January 2013 memorandum prepared by the Senate
Office of Research (SOR), titled Employment Opportunities for
(Semi-Skilled or Unskilled) Veterans, California does not
provide a coordinated, integrated system that streamlines
employment-related services to veterans. According to SOR,
veterans find many services fragmented and without a single
point of entry. SOR also examined the need to facilitate
veterans who want to receive licensure or certification
(academic) credit for military education, training, and
experience.
According to the Author, in mid-March, the Joint Legislative
Audit Committee approved the Author's request to conduct a
comprehensive audit of the EDD's effectiveness in providing
employment assistance and job training programs to veterans.
This includes determining if EDD has identified best practices
for translating military training and experience into comparable
civilian job skills. It also asked the Bureau of State Audits
(BSA) to determine if EDD's strategic plan considers the unique
needs of veterans.
Reports on This Issue : As part of the 2012-13 Budget, the
Legislature directed the DCA to prepare a report on the
implementation of Business and Profession Code section 35
relating to military experience and licensure. The DCA was
specifically asked to provide a list of boards that accept
military experience and a description of the statutes and
regulations that authorize the acceptance of military experience
towards licensure. The DCA was also asked to provide a list of
boards that do not accept military experience and an explanation
as to why they do not.
In October 2012, DCA released its Report to the California State
Legislature: Acceptance of Military Experience & Education
Towards Licensure. According to the report, nine of DCA's
licensing programs have specific provisions in their statutes
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and regulations that authorize the acceptance of military
experience or education towards licensure. Those programs
include the Bureau of Automotive Repair, Board of Barbering and
Cosmetology, Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors,
and Geologists, Board of Pharmacy, Physical Therapy Board of
California, Board of Registered Nursing, Respiratory Care Board,
Bureau of Security and Investigative Services and Board of
Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians. Many more
programs also have broad discretion in approving credit earned
in the military towards licensure.
In the report, DCA outlined the top three priority vocational
areas, as security, construction and automotive repair, based on
the large number of veterans who possess skills in these areas
when leaving the military.
Another report issued by the Executive Office of the President
in February 2013, The Fast Track to Civilian Employment:
Streamlining Credentialing and Licensing for Service Members,
Veterans and Their Spouses, outlined the unique challenges that
confront service members, military spouses and veterans in
establishing their qualifications for civilian employment, and
outlines the measures that the Administration and states have
taken, and still need to take, to ensure that the skills and
abilities of these individuals can be applied to meet employer
needs while providing good, meaningful jobs for our military
families.
According to this report, since February 2012, 17 states have
passed spousal licensing legislation, bringing the overall total
to 28 states with military spouse licensure measures in place
and an additional 15 states have active spouse licensure bills.
The report stated that through collaboration with state
legislators and regulators, the Department of Defense (DOD) has
worked towards state adoption of best practice options that can
expedite the transfer of military spouse licenses that are in
good standing and are substantially equivalent: licensure
through endorsement; temporary licensure; and expedited
processes for issuing licenses. The report also stated that the
Department of Defense Military Credentialing and Licensing Task
Force (Task Force), established in 2012 at the direction of
President Obama, has identified and created opportunities for
service members to earn civilian occupational credentials and
licenses. The Task Force has focused its efforts on well-paying
industries and occupations that have a high demand for skilled
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workers, including: manufacturing, information technology,
transportation and logistics, health care and emergency medical
services. The Task Force has also worked with states and
institutions to streamline licensing for service members and
veterans, specifically targeting the occupations of bus and
truck drivers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and
licensed practical nurses. According to the report, a total of
34 states have already passed laws to waive the driving skills
test for veterans with a record of safely operating vehicles
similar to the trucks and buses for which a commercial driving
license is required, and similar legislation is pending in the
District of Columbia and nine other states.
The report also highlighted a number of best practices that
states and industry can adopt to streamline the certification
and licensing for service members and veterans, similar to the
requirements set forth in this bill, and included model
legislation from those states.
This bill is double-referred to Assembly Veterans Affairs
Committee upon passage out of this Committee.
Prior and Related Legislation :
AB 186 (Maienschein) of 2013 would require DCA's licensing
programs to issue temporary licenses for 12 months to military
spouses who qualify for, and request, expedited licensure as
authorized under current law. The bill is currently in the
Senate.
AB 213 (Logue) from 2013 would establish the Veterans Health
Care Workforce Act of 2013, which requires schools accredited by
healing arts boards within DCA and the State Department of
Public Health (DPH) to accept satisfactory evidence of an
applicant's education, training, and practical experience
completed during military service towards licensure or
certification. The bill is currently held in Assembly
Appropriations.
AB 1588 (Atkins) Chapter 742, Statutes of 2012 allowed military
personnel licensed by any of DCA's licensing programs to have
their license renewal requirements waived while on active duty
in the armed forces.
AB 1904 (Block) Chapter 399, Statutes of 2012 required DCA's
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licensing programs to expedite the licensure process for spouses
and domestic partners of members of the military serving on
active duty if the spouse or domestic partner is licensed in the
same profession in another state.
AB 2462 (Block) Chapter 404, Statutes of 2012 required the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to determine
which courses should be awarded credit for prior military
academic experience using standards of the American Council on
Education.
AB 2659 (Blumenfield) Chapter 406, Statutes of 2012 allowed
licensed drivers of military commercial vehicles to qualify for
a California commercial driver's license without additional
California driving tests.
SB 1405 (de Le�n) Chapter 411, Statutes of 2012 allowed military
personnel, beginning January 1, 2014, who possess a license
issued by the California Board of Accountancy to have renewal
requirements waived while on active duty in the armed forces.
AB 557 (John P�rez) of 2011 would have created the California
Interagency Council on Veteran Services and Programs to assess
how California veterans are accessing available state and
federal benefits. The bill was held in the Senate Committee on
Appropriations.
AB 2783 (Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs) Chapter 214,
Statutes of 2010 added the CMD as an entity required to be
consulted before the adopting of rules and regulations that
provide for the licensure and regulation of certain businesses,
occupations, and professions by specified boards within DCA.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lorie Alvarez/ L. & E. / (916) 319-2091