HOUSE BILL 24-1097
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Taggart and Weissman, Armagost, Bacon,
Bird, Boesenecker, Bradley, Brown, deGruy Kennedy, Duran, Froelich,
Hamrick, Herod, Jodeh, Joseph, Kipp, Lieder, Lindstedt, Lynch, Marshall,
Martinez, Marvin, McCormick, Ortiz, Ricks, Rutinel, Sirota, Titone,
Valdez, Weinberg, Willford, Wilson, Young, McCluskie;
also SENATOR(S) Fields and Gardner, Baisley, Buckner, Coleman, Cutter,
Exum, Ginal, Hinrichsen, Kolker, Liston, Lundeen, Marchman,
Michaelson Jenet, Mullica, Pelton B., Pelton R., Rodriguez, Simpson,
Smallwood, Sullivan, Van Winkle, Will, Winter F., Zenzinger.
C
ONCERNING OCCUPATIONAL CREDENTIALING FOR MILITARY FAMILIES .
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Short title. The short title of this act is the "Military
Family Employment Support Act".
SECTION 2. Legislative declaration. (1) (a) The general
assembly finds and declares that:
(I) Not all active military members have orders for three years or
less; this is especially true for younger enlisted members;
NOTE: This bill has been prepared for the signatures of the appropriate legislative
officers and the Governor. To determine whether the Governor has signed the bill
or taken other action on it, please consult the legislative status sheet, the legislative
history, or the Session Laws.
________
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act. (II) Nearly 39% of military spouses require professional licensing
for their jobs;
(III) Colorado has nearly 17,000 military spouses of servicemembers
across all branches of service; and
(IV) Colorado not only recognizes the sacrifice that military spouses
make while military members are in service, but also recognizes those who
have lost their spouses in the line of duty.
(b) Further, the benefits of the "Red Tape Reduction Act", which
was enacted in House Bill 20-1326 in 2020, should be expanded to
encompass the spouses of military servicemembers who are on orders for
longer than three years, the spouses of servicemembers in the Ready
Reserve and of servicemembers who transfer from active duty service to the
National Guard or Armed Forces Reserve, Gold Star military spouses,
military dependents, and the spouses and dependents of any other qualified
servicemembers.
(c) Therefore, the general assembly declares that:
(I) Regulators should continue to reduce barriers to entry into the
workforce;
(II) Military family members should be granted a Colorado
occupational credential for substantially equivalent experience in another
state, unless the regulator can demonstrate a specific reason to withhold the
credential; and
(III) Credentials should continue to be provided in the least
burdensome manner possible in order to get professionals to work as soon
as possible.
SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 12-20-202, amend
(1)(b) and (3)(f) as follows:
12-20-202. Licenses, certifications, and registrations - renewal
- reinstatement - fees - occupational credential portability program -
exceptions for military personnel, spouses, gold star military spouses,
PAGE 2-HOUSE BILL 24-1097 and dependents - rules - consideration of criminal convictions or
driver's history - executive director authority - definitions.
(1) Renewal. (b) Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary,
the director may change the renewal date of any license, certification, or
registration issued by a regulator so that approximately the same number of
licenses, certifications, or registrations are scheduled for renewal in each
month of the year. Where any renewal date is so changed, the fee for the
license, certification, or registration is proportionately increased or
decreased, as the case may be. E
XCEPT FOR A LICENSE, CERTIFICATION, OR
REGISTRATION ISSUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBSECTION
(3)(f) OF THIS
SECTION
, a license, certification, or registration is valid for a period of no
less than one year and no longer than three years, as determined by the
director in consultation with the applicable regulator. A licensee, certificate
holder, or registrant shall submit an application for renewal to the
applicable regulator on forms and in the manner prescribed by the director.
(3) Occupational credential portability program. (f) Effective
January 1, 2021:
(f) (I) Except as specified in subsection (3)(f)(III) of this section, a
military spouse,
GOLD STAR MILITARY SPOUSE, MILITARY DEPENDENT, OR
SPOUSE OR DEPENDENT OF ANY OTHER QUALIFIED SERVICEMEMBER
duly
licensed, certified, registered, or enrolled in good standing in another state
or United States territory to practice a particular profession or occupation
is, upon application to the division for licensure, certification, registration,
or enrollment in that profession or occupation in this state, entitled to the
issuance of a temporary
license, certification, registration, or enrollment
upon submission of satisfactory proof to the regulator, under penalty of
perjury, of the applicant's active license, certification, registration, or
enrollment in another state or United States territory in good standing. and
that the applicant has not committed an act that would be grounds for
disciplinary action under the law governing the applicable profession or
occupation.
(II) For the purposes of AS USED IN this subsection (3)(f):
(A) "G
OLD STAR MILITARY SPOUSE" OR "GOLD STAR SPOUSE" MEANS
THE SPOUSE OF A SERVICEMEMBER
, WHICH SERVICEMEMBER DIED WHILE ON
MILITARY ORDERS
, WHO WAS RELOCATED TO COLORADO.
PAGE 3-HOUSE BILL 24-1097 (A) (B) "In good standing" means that a license, certification,
registration, or enrollment has not been revoked, expired, or suspended and
against which there are no outstanding disciplinary or adverse actions.
(C) "M
ILITARY DEPENDENT" MEANS THE DEPENDENT OF A
SERVICEMEMBER SERVING IN THE
UNITED STATES UNIFORMED SERVICES
WHO WAS RELOCATED TO
COLORADO.
(B)
(D) "Military spouse" OR "SPOUSE" means the spouse of a person
who is actively SERVICEMEMBER serving in the United States armed forces
and UNIFORMED SERVICES who is stationed in WAS RELOCATED TO Colorado.
in accordance with military orders.
(E) "RELOCATED" MEANS THAT A SERVICEMEMBER IN THE UNITED
STATES UNIFORMED SERVICES AND THE SERVICEMEMBER 'S SPOUSE OR
DEPENDENT HAVE
, OR THE SERVICEMEMBER 'S GOLD STAR SPOUSE HAS ,
MOVED TO COLORADO, AS A RESULT OF: AN ASSIGNMENT TO A DUTY
STATION IN
COLORADO; A REASSIGNMENT, EITHER AS A RESULT OF A
PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION OR PERMANENT CHANGE OF ASSIGNMENT
TO
COLORADO, BETWEEN TWO DUTY STATIONS ; OR A TRANSFER FROM A
REGULAR COMPONENT OF A UNIFORMED SERVICE INTO A SELECTED RESERVE
OF THE
READY RESERVE OF A UNIFORMED SERVICE , IF THE MEMBER IS
AUTHORIZED TO MAKE A FINAL MOVE FROM THE MEMBER
'S LAST DUTY
STATION TO
COLORADO.
(F) "S
ERVICEMEMBER" MEANS A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED
SERVICES
, AS DEFINED IN 10 U.S.C. SEC. 101 (a)(5).
(III) An applicant is not entitled to temporary
licensure, certification,
registration, or enrollment pursuant to this subsection (3)(f) if approving the
temporary
licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment would violate
an existing compact or reciprocity agreement or if the regulator
demonstrates by a preponderance of evidence, after notice and opportunity
for a hearing, that
(A) The applicant has committed an act that would be grounds for
disciplinary action under the law governing the applicable profession or
occupation; or
(B) the applicant's license, certification, registration, or enrollment
PAGE 4-HOUSE BILL 24-1097 issued by another state or United States territory is not in good standing.
(IV) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary:
(A) A temporary
license, certification, registration, or enrollment
issued to a military spouse,
A GOLD STAR MILITARY SPOUSE , A MILITARY
DEPENDENT
, OR THE SPOUSE OR DEPENDENT OF ANY OTHER QUALIFIED
SERVICEMEMBER
pursuant to this subsection (3)(f) is valid for three
SIX
years after the date of issuance and may not be renewed.
(B) Each regulator shall waive the application fee for temporary
SINGLE STATE licenses, certifications, registrations, or enrollments issued
pursuant to this subsection (3)(f).
SECTION 4. Effective date. This act takes effect September 1,
2024.
SECTION 5. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
PAGE 5-HOUSE BILL 24-1097 the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state
institutions.
____________________________ ____________________________
Julie McCluskie Steve Fenberg
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PRESIDENT OF
OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE
____________________________ ____________________________
Robin Jones Cindi L. Markwell
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE SECRETARY OF
OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE
APPROVED________________________________________
(Date and Time)
_________________________________________
Jared S. Polis
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
PAGE 6-HOUSE BILL 24-1097