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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6445
January Session, 2021
AN ACT EXPANDING ECO NOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN OCCUPATIONS
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 (1) a resident of this state, as defined in 5
section 12-701 of the general statutes, or (2) married to an active duty 6
member of the armed forces of the United States and accompanies such 7
member, pursuant to an official permanent change of station, to a 8
military installation located in this state, if such person: 9
(A) Holds a valid license, permit, certification or registration in at 10
least one other jurisdiction in the occupation or profession applied for; 11
(B) Has practiced under such license, permit, certification or 12
registration for not less than four years; 13
(C) Is in good standing in all jurisdictions in which he or she holds a 14
license, permit, certification or registration and has not had a license, 15
permit, certification or registration revoked or discipline imposed by 16
any jurisdiction, does not have a complaint, allegation or investigation 17 Substitute Bill No. 6445
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related to unprofessional conduct pending in any jurisdiction and has 18
not voluntarily surrendered a license, permit, certification or 19
registration while under investigation for unprofessional conduct in any 20
jurisdiction; 21
(D) Satisfies any background check or character and fitness check 22
required of other applicants for the license, permit, certification or 23
registration; 24
(E) Pays all fees required of other applicants for the license, permit, 25
certification or registration; and 26
(F) Takes and passes all or a portion of any examination required of 27
other persons applying for the license, permit, certification or 28
registration. 29
(b) Any person issued a license, permit, certification or registration 30
pursuant to this section shall be subject to the laws of this state and the 31
jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Protection. 32
(c) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the 33
Commissioner of Consumer Protection may deny an occupational or 34
professional license, permit, certification or registration if the 35
commissioner finds such denial is in the best interest of the state. 36
(d) A person applying for a license, permit, certification or 37
registration that is not required to practice an occupation or profession 38
in at least twenty-five states who relocates to this state from another 39
state that did not require a license, permit, certification or registration to 40
practice the person's occupation or profession may be considered to 41
have satisfied the conditions of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 42
subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section if he or she establishes to 43
the satisfaction of the Department of Consumer Protection that he or she 44
has three or more years of related work experience with a substantially 45
similar scope of practice within the four years preceding the date of 46
application to said department. 47 Substitute Bill No. 6445
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Sec. 2. Section 20-333 of the general statutes is repealed and the 48
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 49
(a) To obtain a license under this chapter, an applicant shall have 50
attained such applicant's eighteenth birthday and shall furnish such 51
evidence of competency as the appropriate board or the Commissioner 52
of Consumer Protection shall require. A recommendation for review 53
issued pursuant to section 31-22u shall be sufficient to demonstrate such 54
competency. The applicant shall satisfy such board or the commissioner 55
that such applicant [is of good moral character,] possesses a diploma or 56
other evidence of graduation from the eighth grade of grammar school, 57
or possesses an equivalent education to be determined on examination 58
and has the requisite skill to perform the work in the trade for which 59
such applicant is applying for a license and can comply with all other 60
requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted under this 61
chapter. A recommendation for review issued pursuant to section 31-62
22u shall be sufficient to demonstrate that an applicant possesses such 63
requisite skill and can comply with all other requirements of this chapter 64
and the regulations adopted under this chapter. For any application 65
submitted pursuant to this section that requires a hearing or other action 66
by the applicable examining board or the commissioner, such hearing 67
or other action by the applicable examining board or the commissioner 68
shall occur not later than thirty days after the date of submission for 69
such application. Upon application for any such license, the applicant 70
shall pay to the department a nonrefundable application fee of ninety 71
dollars for a license under subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (a) and 72
subdivision (4) of subsection (e) of section 20-334a, or a nonrefundable 73
application fee of one hundred fifty dollars for a license under 74
subdivision (1) of subsection (a), subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 75
(b), subdivision (1) of subsection (c) and subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of 76
subsection (e) of section 20-334a. Any such application fee shall be 77
waived for persons who present a recommendation for review issued 78
pursuant to section 31-22u. 79
(b) The department shall conduct such written, oral and practical 80 Substitute Bill No. 6445
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examinations as the appropriate board, with the consent of the 81
commissioner, deems necessary to test the knowledge of the applicant 82
in the work for which a license is being sought. The department shall 83
allow any applicant, who has not participated in an apprenticeship 84
program but presents a recommendation for review issued pursuant to 85
section 31-22u, to sit for any such examination. Any person completing 86
the required apprentice training program for a journeyman's license 87
under section 20-334a shall, within thirty days following such 88
completion, apply for a licensure examination given by the department. 89
If an applicant does not pass such licensure examination, the 90
commissioner shall provide each failed applicant with information on 91
how to retake the examination and a report describing the applicant's 92
strengths and weaknesses in such examination. Any apprentice permit 93
issued under section 20-334a to an applicant who fails three licensure 94
examinations in any one-year period shall remain in effect if such 95
applicant applies for and takes the first licensure examination given by 96
the department following the one-year period from the date of such 97
applicant's third and last unsuccessful licensure examination. 98
Otherwise, such permit shall be revoked as of the date of the first 99
examination given by the department following expiration of such 100
one-year period. 101
(c) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, subject to section 46a-102
80, may deny a license or may issue a license pursuant to a consent order 103
containing conditions that shall be met by the applicant if the applicant 104
reports that he or she has been found guilty or convicted as a result of 105
an act which constitutes a felony under (1) the laws of this state at the 106
time of application for such license, (2) federal law at the time of 107
application for such license, or (3) the laws of another jurisdiction, and 108
which, if committed within this state, would constitute a felony under 109
the laws of this state. 110
[(c)] (d) When an applicant has qualified for a license, the department 111
shall, upon receipt of the license fee or upon waiver of such fee pursuant 112
to section 20-335, issue to such applicant a license entitling such 113 Substitute Bill No. 6445
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applicant to engage in the work or occupation for which a license was 114
sought and shall register each successful applicant's name and address 115
in the roster of licensed persons authorized to engage in the work or 116
occupation within the appropriate board's authority. All fees and other 117
moneys collected by the department shall be promptly transmitted to 118
the State Treasurer as provided in section 4-32. 119
Sec. 3. (Effective October 1, 2021) The Departments of Administrative 120
Services, Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Correction, Emergency 121
Services and Public Protection and Public Health, the Labor 122
Department, and the Office of Early Childhood shall, not later than 123
January 1, 2022, report to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 124
Management on (1) the number of employees who perform background 125
checks related to the department's or office's licensing functions, the job 126
classifications of such employees, and the type or level of clearance of 127
the background checks that are being performed, (2) the number of 128
hours each such employee spends on average per week performing 129
background checks, and (3) for any licenses in which some education or 130
training is required of the applicant prior to obtaining a license, the 131
feasibility of establishing a preclearance assessment of criminal history 132
prior to potential applicants beginning such education or training. Such 133
recommendations shall additionally assess the feasibility of centralizing 134
and standardizing background checks performed by state government 135
agencies and shall address any related issues of delegation of authority 136
by such agencies. 137
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
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Section 1(a) was reorganized for clarity.
Substitute Bill No. 6445
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GL Joint Favorable Subst.