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General Assembly Governor's Bill No. 6445
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3216
Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW
Introduced by:
Request of the Governor Pursuant
to Joint Rule 9
AN ACT EXPANDING ECO NOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN OCCUP ATIONS
LICENSED BY THE DEPA RTMENT OF CONSUMER P ROTECTION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) An occupational or 1
professional license, permit, certification or registration issued by the 2
Department of Consumer Protection shall be issued, in the occupation 3
or profession applied for and at a practice level determined by the 4
department, to a person who is a resident of this state as defined in 5
section 12-701 of the general statutes or who is married to an active duty 6
member of the armed forces of the United States and accompanies said 7
member, pursuant to an official permanent change of station, to a 8
military installation located in this state if: 9
(1) The person holds a valid license, permit, certification or 10
registration in at least one other jurisdiction in the occupation or 11
profession applied for; 12
(2) The person has practiced under such license, permit, certification 13
or registration for not less than one year; 14 Governor's Bill No. 6445
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(3) The person is in good standing in all jurisdictions in which he or 15
she holds a license, permit, certification or registration and has not had 16
a license, permit, certification or registration revoked or discipline 17
imposed by any jurisdiction, does not have a complaint, allegation or 18
investigation related to unprofessional conduct pending in any 19
jurisdiction, and has not voluntarily surrendered a license, permit, 20
certification or registration while under investigation for unprofessional 21
conduct in any jurisdiction; 22
(4) The person satisfies any background check or character and fitness 23
check required of other applicants for the license, permit, certification or 24
registration; and 25
(5) The person pays all fees required of other applicants for the 26
license, permit, certification or registration. 27
(b) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this 28
section, the Department of Consumer Protection shall require a person 29
to take and pass all or a portion of any examination required of other 30
persons applying for the license, permit, certification or registration 31
unless the person has taken an exam acceptable to the department or 32
there is a reciprocal arrangement with the jurisdiction in which the 33
person is currently credentialed. 34
(c) Any person issued a license, permit, certification or registration 35
pursuant to this section shall be subject to the laws of this state and the 36
jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Protection. 37
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Commissioner 38
of Consumer Protection may deny an occupational or professional 39
license, permit, certification or registration if he or she finds such denial 40
is in the best interest of the state. 41
(e) A person applying for a license, permit, certification or 42
registration that is not required to practice an occupation or profession 43
in at least twenty-five states who relocates to this state from another 44
state that did not require a license, permit, certification or registration to 45 Governor's Bill No. 6445
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practice the person's occupation or profession may be considered to 46
have satisfied the conditions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) 47
of this section if he or she establishes to the satisfaction of the 48
Department of Consumer Protection that he or she has three or more 49
years of related work experience with a substantially similar scope of 50
practice within the four years preceding the date of application to such 51
department. 52
Sec. 2. Section 20-333 of the general statutes is repealed and the 53
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 54
(a) To obtain a license under this chapter, an applicant shall have 55
attained such applicant's eighteenth birthday and shall furnish such 56
evidence of competency as the appropriate board or the Commissioner 57
of Consumer Protection shall require. A recommendation for review 58
issued pursuant to section 31-22u shall be sufficient to demonstrate such 59
competency. The applicant shall satisfy such board or the commissioner 60
that such applicant [is of good moral character,] possesses a diploma or 61
other evidence of graduation from the eighth grade of grammar school, 62
or possesses an equivalent education to be determined on examination 63
and has the requisite skill to perform the work in the trade for which 64
such applicant is applying for a license and can comply with all other 65
requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted under this 66
chapter. A recommendation for review issued pursuant to section 31-67
22u shall be sufficient to demonstrate that an applicant possesses such 68
requisite skill and can comply with all other requirements of this chapter 69
and the regulations adopted under this chapter. For any application 70
submitted pursuant to this section that requires a hearing or other action 71
by the applicable examining board or the commissioner, such hearing 72
or other action by the applicable examining board or the commissioner 73
shall occur not later than thirty days after the date of submission for 74
such application. Upon application for any such license, the applicant 75
shall pay to the department a nonrefundable application fee of ninety 76
dollars for a license under subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (a) and 77
subdivision (4) of subsection (e) of section 20-334a, or a nonrefundable 78
application fee of one hundred fifty dollars for a license under 79 Governor's Bill No. 6445
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subdivision (1) of subsection (a), subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 80
(b), subdivision (1) of subsection (c) and subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of 81
subsection (e) of section 20-334a. Any such application fee shall be 82
waived for persons who present a recommendation for review issued 83
pursuant to section 31-22u. 84
(b) The department shall conduct such written, oral and practical 85
examinations as the appropriate board, with the consent of the 86
commissioner, deems necessary to test the knowledge of the applicant 87
in the work for which a license is being sought. The department shall 88
allow any applicant, who has not participated in an apprenticeship 89
program but presents a recommendation for review issued pursuant to 90
section 31-22u, to sit for any such examination. Any person completing 91
the required apprentice training program for a journeyman's license 92
under section 20-334a shall, within thirty days following such 93
completion, apply for a licensure examination given by the department. 94
If an applicant does not pass such licensure examination, the 95
commissioner shall provide each failed applicant with information on 96
how to retake the examination and a report describing the applicant's 97
strengths and weaknesses in such examination. Any apprentice permit 98
issued under section 20-334a to an applicant who fails three licensure 99
examinations in any one-year period shall remain in effect if such 100
applicant applies for and takes the first licensure examination given by 101
the department following the one-year period from the date of such 102
applicant's third and last unsuccessful licensure examination. 103
Otherwise, such permit shall be revoked as of the date of the first 104
examination given by the department following expiration of such 105
one-year period. 106
(c) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, subject to section 46a-107
80, may deny a license or may issue a license pursuant to a consent order 108
containing conditions that shall be met by the applicant if the applicant 109
reports that he or she has been found guilty or convicted as a result of 110
an act which constitutes a felony under (1) the laws of this state at the 111
time of application for such license, (2) federal law at the time of 112
application for such license, or (3) the laws of another jurisdiction, and 113 Governor's Bill No. 6445
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which, if committed within this state, would constitute a felony under 114
the laws of this state. 115
[(c)] (d) When an applicant has qualified for a license, the department 116
shall, upon receipt of the license fee or upon waiver of such fee pursuant 117
to section 20-335, issue to such applicant a license entitling such 118
applicant to engage in the work or occupation for which a license was 119
sought and shall register each successful applicant's name and address 120
in the roster of licensed persons authorized to engage in the work or 121
occupation within the appropriate board's authority. All fees and other 122
moneys collected by the department shall be promptly transmitted to 123
the State Treasurer as provided in section 4-32. 124
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) The Departments of 125
Administrative Services, Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Correction, 126
Emergency Services and Public Protection and Public Health, the Labor 127
Department, and the Office of Early Childhood shall, within ninety 128
days, report to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management on 129
(1) the number of employees that perform background checks related to 130
the Agency's licensing functions, the job classifications of such 131
employees, and the type or level of clearance of the background checks 132
that are being performed, (2) the number of hours each such employee 133
spends on average per week performing background checks, and (3) for 134
any licenses in which some education or training is required of the 135
applicant prior to obtaining a license, the feasibility of establishing a 136
preclearance assessment of criminal history prior to potential applicants 137
beginning such education or training. Such recommendations shall 138
additionally assess the feasibility of centralizing and standardizing 139
background checks performed by state government agencies and shall 140
address any related issues of delegation of authority by such agencies. 141
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 20-333
Sec. 3 October 1, 2021 New section Governor's Bill No. 6445
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Statement of Purpose:
To implement the Governor's budget recommendations.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]