Connecticut § 4-61bb - Inquiry by licensing authority of service member's status. Annual reports re application of military training or experience for service members.

§ 4-61bb. Inquiry by licensing authority of service member's status. Annual reports re application of military training or experience for service members.

Sec. 4-61bb. Inquiry by licensing authority of service member's status. Annual reports re application of military training or experience for service members. (a) For the purposes of this section, “licensing authority” means the Department of Consumer Protection, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Labor Department, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Public Health, the Board of Regents for Higher Education, the Office of Higher Education, the Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut or the Police Officer Standards and Training Council; “service member” means a member of the armed forces or the National Guard or a veteran; “armed forces” has the same meaning as provided in section 27-103; and “veteran” has the same meaning as provided in section 27-103.

(b) Each licensing authority shall ask each applicant for a license, a certificate, a registration or an educational credit that is within such licensing authority's purview and where military training or experience is relevant and could be applied whether such applicant is a service member.

(c) (1) On or before January 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, each licensing authority, except the Board of Regents for Higher Education and the Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut, shall submit a report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to military and veterans' affairs and higher education and employment advancement, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, and the Labor Department that shall include the following: (A) The number of service members who applied for a military training evaluation pursuant to section 31-22u, a license, a certificate, a registration or an educational credit that is within such licensing authority's purview and where military training or experience is relevant and could be applied; (B) the number of service members whose application for a license, a certificate, a registration or an educational credit that is within such licensing authority's purview and where military training or experience is relevant and could be applied was approved; (C) the number of service members whose application for a license, a certificate, a registration or an educational credit that is within such licensing authority's purview and where military training or experience is relevant and could be applied was denied, and data on the reasons for any such denial; (D) the licensing authority's processing time for applications that are within such licensing authority's purview where military training or experience is relevant and could be applied and are submitted by service members and the average processing time for all applications; (E) information on the licensing authority's efforts to inform and assist service members in accessing programs that provide the education and training necessary for meeting the requirements for licensure, certification, registration or educational credit; (F) information on whether existing law effectively addresses the challenges that service members face when applying for an occupational or professional license, a certificate, a registration or an educational credit upon discharge from military service or relocating to the state; and (G) recommendations on improving the licensing authority's ability to meet the occupational needs of service members, including, but not limited to, the issuance of temporary or provisional licenses, certificates or registrations. The Labor Department shall also include in its report the number of service members who were issued or denied a recommendation for review or a deduction from the hours of apprenticeship training pursuant to section 31-22u.

(2) On or before July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the Board of Regents for Higher Education and the Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut shall each submit a report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to military and veterans' affairs and higher education and employment advancement, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, and the Labor Department that shall (A) include the information required pursuant to subparagraphs (A), (B), (E), (F) and (G) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (B) in aggregate, detail the types of military training presented, the types of educational credit awarded to enrolled service members for such training and the types of military training for which credit was not awarded to enrolled service members.

(d) On or before January 1, 2016, each licensing authority shall, within existing budgetary resources, publish on its Internet web site a link to the Department of Veterans Affairs informational Internet web site established pursuant to section 27-100f and the Internet web site maintained by the executive branch listing resources and opportunities available to veterans.

(e) On or before January 1, 2016, the Labor Department shall post the reports submitted pursuant to subsection (c) of this section on its Internet web site.

(P.A. 14-65, S. 14; 14-131, S. 14; P.A. 16-167, S. 14; P.A. 18-37, S. 1; P.A. 21-79, S. 2; P.A. 23-71, S. 16.)

History: P.A. 14-131 effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 14-65 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision re licensing authority's purview and amended Subsec. (c) to designate existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and add exceptions re Board of Regents for Higher Education and Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut and provisions re licensing authority's purview therein, to add Subdiv. (2) re submittal of report and to make technical changes, effective June 3, 2014; P.A. 16-167 amended Subsec. (d) to replace “Department of Veterans' Affairs” with “Department of Veterans Affairs”, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 18-37 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “committee” with “committees” and adding “and higher education and employment advancement” in Subdivs. (1) and (2), effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 21-79 amended Subsec. (a) to redefine “veteran”; P.A. 23-71 made a technical change in Subsec. (a).