Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
01/27/2012 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB145 | |
| HB282 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 282 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 8 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 145 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 282-MILITARY TRAINING CREDIT/TEMP. LICENSE
9:35:30 AM
CHAIR DICK announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 282, "An Act relating to applying military
education, training, and service credit to occupational
licensing and certain postsecondary education and employment
training requirements; and providing for a temporary
occupational license for qualified military service members."
9:35:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT moved the proposed CS for HB 282, Version
27-LS1116\E, Mischel, 1/25/12.
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI objected.
9:36:18 AM
AARON SCHROEDER, Staff, Representative Bill Thomas, Jr., Alaska
State Legislature, reviewed the changes represented in the
proposed CS for HB 282 paraphrasing from a prepared statement,
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Page 1, Line 9
DELETE: Relevant
Page 1, Paragraph (a)
SECTION REORGANIZED
ADDS SUBSECTION 1: "the department or applicable board
determines that education, training, and service is
equivalent to some or all of the qualifications
otherwise required of an applicant for a license or
certificate issued under this chapter:"
-stronger/clearer language
ADDS SECTION 2: "The applicant provides satisfactory
evidence of successful completion of the education,
training, or service as a member of the armed forces
of the United States, the United States Reserves, the
National Guard of any state, the Military Reserves of
any state, or the Naval Militia of any state."
-restates language from Section 1 of version B which
deals w/ occupations who issue temporary licenses.
Page 2, Paragraph (b)- ADDS: citation AS
08.01.050(a)(9)
Page 2, Line 11
ADDS: citation for subparagraphs 2-5
-Language refers licensing practices already in
statute
Page 2, Subparagraph (A)
ADDS: maintained the license or certification in
active status before and at the time of application
-Makes clear that the license needs to be current when
they apply for a temporary license.
Page 2, Subparagraph (B)
REWORDED TO: "was awarded a diploma or certificate by
a branch of the armed forces of the United States or
any state, as described in (a) of this section, that
met standards of an equivalent license or a
certificate of technical training."
-Recognizes military certificates of technical
training
Page 2, Paragraph (c)
ADDS: for an applicant who is on active duty
-Expedited licenses only apply to individuals who
already hold a license and are on active duty.
Page 3, Line 12
DELETES: paragraph (d)
-Was not appropriate guidance for the Postsecondary
Education Commission.
Page 4, Paragraph (b)
ADDS: Institution accepts military education if the
institution already accepts transfer credits and is
approved by their accrediting body.
-Language suggested by the Postsecondary Education
Commission.
-Protects the institution from jeopardizing their
accreditation.
Page 5, Section 5-
ADDS- Guidance for DCCED and applicable boards to
immediately promulgate necessary regulations.
Page 5, Section 6-
ADDS: Effective date of December 31, 2013 for section
1-4.
-Gives department time to research military training
and promulgate regulations.
Page 6, Section 7-
ADDS: Immediately effective for Sec 5
9:40:01 AM
MR. SCHROEDER said the intent of the bill is to assist
previously active military personnel to transition into the
private sector work force. Currently, the national unemployment
rate is high among this demographic, about 13 percent. Although
Alaska's veteran unemployment rate is typically better than
average, recent concern has risen for a means to better support
the ex-service men and women in our state. In 2010, 1,200
former military personnel separated from service and maintained
an Alaskan address. The scope of the bill seeks to directly
solicit the Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional
Licensing, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic
Development (DCCED), the University of Alaska Vocational
Education, and the Alaska Work Force and Investment Board, to
assess military equivalencies to the programs offered.
Additionally, HB 282 seeks to expedite professional licensing,
or relicensing, of a veteran who is credentialed in another
state.
9:42:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked whether licensing boards have
provided comment on HB 282.
MR. SCHROEDER responded that representatives are available to
answer committee questions.
CHAIR DICK interjected that written comment has not been
received from the boards.
9:43:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA drew a similarity between service members
and those who volunteer in a specialized field and then receive
credit for the gratis work, when being considered for hire into
a profession. She stressed the positive implications to the
state in encouraging this type of action.
9:44:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON pointed out that the fiscal note has
been increased due to the boards and commissions need to fulfill
the work; these increases may be reflected in the license fees.
She said that the sooner the military personnel are able to find
work, the more helpful it will be for them socially and
emotionally. This is a great bill, she said.
9:46:20 AM
MARK SAN SOUCI, Liaison, Military Families for the Northwest,
Department of Defense, Regional Deputy Assistant, Secretary of
Defense for Military Family & Community Policy, testified in
support of HB 282, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Last year, with one million veterans unemployed; with
a post 9/11 unemployment rate of 13.3 percent; and an
unemployment rate for 18-24 year old veterans at 21.9
percent, the Department of Defense [DOD] began
supporting efforts in the states to ask states to give
separating Service members credit, so that they may
not be held back from finding employment or finishing
a degree.
We are asking legislative leaders like you to
establish policies that ensure separating Service
members do not have to repeat requirements completed
during their military career to obtain academic credit
or an occupational license.
MR. SAN SOUCI said:
So far, in the 2012 session and this is as of this
morning, we have 27 bills in 15 more states resembling
the one before you today that we are asking you to
support.
MR. SAN SOUCI continued paraphrasing from a prepared statement,
which read [original punctuation provided]:
It is important to us that you know we are not asking
for direct licensure if it is not equivalent. In
cases where the regulatory agency or board determines
partial credit but it saves time and expense and helps
get them there, even if not completely, that is what
we seek. We only seek credit where credit is due.
A couple of other points to consider: You and I have
already paid for this veteran's training within the
DOD schools and with years of experience while serving
our Nation with our federal tax dollars. Also, the
more credit given to a veteran towards licensing or a
degree or certification, the more school slots can be
made available to civilians, especially in programs
where [there] may be waiting lists to get in.
This issue is now the top of the Top Ten Key Issues of
the Defense State Liaison Office. The Department of
Defense has many highly qualified schools which train
service members in a wide variety of skills and
occupations.
The Department of Defense is also, right now, working
feverishly with the US Department of Labor to link
military occupations with training/experience programs
that most closely align to private sector licensure
requirements, while also asking some state regulatory
authorities in pilot states like Washington, to review
select military occupations to determine whether the
training and experience are sufficient to render
licensing in that occupation.
As you very well know, Alaska is home to thousands of
veterans, and is a desired location for separating and
retiring military members when choosing where to live
after leaving the military. A 2010 Defense Manpower
Data Center Study reported that Alaska had 1,286
military separate or retire back to Alaska in Fiscal
Year 2010.
At roughly 1,286 annually, and more to come with draw-
downs, we can expect that highly qualified ex-military
people will continue to enjoy Alaska's quality of
life, and many will continue to choose Alaska when
transitioning into civilian careers.
Finally, I'm frequently asked what other states are
doing in this area. In 2011, Washington state passed
two bills - one for medical occupations and one for
non-medical occupations, into law as of July 22nd.
Washington modified the statutory chapters of 21
commercial occupations and 14 healthcare related
occupations. It is considered by us as Best Practice
(BP) legislation. Your bill is modeled after
Washington State and also would be a BP.
Washington State's Department of Health and Department
of Licensing accepted this challenge in legislation
last year with 'zero' as fiscal notes, and they have
the demands of a big military state with over 6,000
veterans annually choosing to separate or retire from
the military and live there.
We ask this committee and this legislature in Alaska
to join the other [15] states and rising now in
session and considering this help for our veterans,
along with the four (WA [Washington], UT [Utah], CO
[Colorado], WV [West Virginia]) that did it last year.
9:50:58 AM
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, Associate Vice President, State Relations,
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), addressed the committee,
paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
I'm here today to talk about section 2 of this bill,
which directs the university's president to adopt
policies and procedures to award credit for military
training, education, and service.
I'd like to begin by noting that the university is
committed to offering quality educational experiences
to active military, veterans, and their dependents.
GI Jobs, which is a magazine and web portal that
exists specifically to serve people who are
transitioning from the military back to civilian life,
has designated both UAA [University of Alaska
Anchorage] and UAF [University of Alaska Fairbanks] as
"GI jobs military friendly schools". Only 15
[percent] of all the colleges, universities, and
vocational schools in the country have earned this
distinction, which is based on an institution's
financial and non-financial commitment to recruit and
retain military and veteran students. It is a pretty
sad commentary on the lower 48 that only 15 [percent]
of schools are rated "military friendly." That's
probably why the department of defense is promoting
this legislation around the country. The web portal
"guide to online schools.com," which bills itself as
the most comprehensive authority on distance education
and online learning, just released its 2012 rankings
of the most military-friendly online colleges in the
country, and out of the multitude of schools that
offer online education, UAA was rated [number] 5.
We're proud of that, and as the entity that made that
rating possible by your funding decisions and other
support, you have every right to be proud, too.
While trying to learn the university over the last few
months, the single issue I have heard about the most
is transfer of credit. Everybody's got a story. It
is a subject that arouses great passion, and military
transfer credit is a piece of this bigger issue.
The board of regents has adopted a written policy that
the campuses must accept in transfer as much credit as
is appropriate to a student's new degree and
graduation requirements. All three campuses have
established transfer credit policies designed to give
maximum credit for courses and training taken
elsewhere, including in the military. Keep in mind
that a degree from an institution is a representation
to potential employers and to others that the holder
has actually learned what the degree indicates they
have learned and that they can do everything the
degree indicates they can do. The credit transfer
policies have evolved over time to make the process as
streamlined as possible while still protecting the
integrity of the degrees that are awarded.
We believe that awarding appropriate credit for
military training is one of the university's
responsibilities, and another way we can show our
commitment to recruit and retain military and veteran
students.
There are apparently a lot of misconceptions about
what we do for military students, so I would like to
give the committee a brief recap.
Transfer credit processes at the university are
managed at the campus level, although there is
intentionally a great deal of uniformity in the
system. With respect to credit for military training,
all three campuses transfer credit based on
recommendations made by "ACE," which is the acronym
for the American Council of Education. For over 65
years, ACE has had an agreement with the defense
department to review military training and experience
for the award of equivalent college credits. Its
recommendations on equivalent college credits are
utilized by thousands of colleges and universities
across the country. Our three campuses have written
agreements with the defense department to use the ACE
recommendations.
Our three campuses are also members of the SOC
consortium. "SOC" stands for the Service-members
Opportunity Colleges. This is a consortium of over
1,000 colleges and universities that enroll military,
veterans, and dependents in special degree programs,
both on-campus and through distance learning. Its
purpose is to let the military get degrees, rather
than just accumulate credits as they move from base to
base. To be part of SOC, our campuses signed written
agreements to, among other things, follow specific
guidelines to ease transferability of credit between
the member institutions and to limit the number of
credits military students have to earn at UA, in order
to get a UA degree. For example, military students
working on an Associate's degree at UAA only need 3
UAA credits to earn the degree; UAA will take all the
rest of the credits from other schools in the SOC
consortium.
UAA is currently accepting approximately 51 credits
per student from those military students who attended
the community college of the air force, the service
academies, and other regionally accredited military
institutions.
At UAF, a military student can use approximately 30
credits of typical training for the Bachelor of
Emergency Management degree, or 90 credits for a
general studies BA that doesn't require satisfying
particular major requirements.
Neither UAA nor UAF have any limitation on the number
of military transfer credits they will award. They
used to; they've done away with it, UAA as recently as
last year, as part of our continual process to review
the system and make it more student-friendly. Right
now, for example, UAF is in the process of developing
a minor based on typical military credits, which will
satisfy 18 credits towards any BA degree.
I could go on, but what is the bottom line? I don't
have figures for the entire system, but last year, UAA
alone awarded over 15,000 hours of military transfer
credit for training, for education, and even for time
spent in the service. Approximately 99.5 [percent] of
the students who requested military transfer credits
received those credits.
Alaska is widely known to service-members as a state
that welcomes and appreciates the military. I think
that Alaska's university, as demonstrated by our
existing credit transfer policies, reflects those
prevailing social values pretty darn accurately.
9:57:42 AM
DON HABEGER, Director, Division of Corporations, Business, and
Professional Licensing, Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development, came forward to answer questions, at the
request of the committee.
9:58:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON expressed support for the bill, and asked
whether the department has any concerns for the proposed
statute.
MR. HABEGER responded that the original version imposed time
constraints that would have been difficult to meet; however, the
sponsor has been responsive to the administrations concerns and
Version E provides a workable timeframe for the department to
implement the bill utilizing existing resources. As such, a
revised fiscal note will be rendered, he said.
9:59:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE stated support for HB 282, and said
anything that can be done to capture the talent of veterans is
beneficial for the state.
10:00:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI removed his objection. With no further
objection Version E was before the committee.
10:01:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT moved to report CSHB 282, Version 27-
LS1116\E, Mischel, 1/25/12, out of committee.
10:01:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON objected and pointed out that a fiscal
note from DCCED is attached, but is undergoing revision. He
then removed his objection. With no further objection, CSHB 282
(EDC) was moved from the House Education Standing Committee,
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes.
10:02:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA commented that similar legislation in
Washington State has passed with a zero fiscal note.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 8 27-LS0084A Student Questionnaires.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB 8 AS 14.03.110 current law.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB 8 Docs - 2009 YRBS results by CDC.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| CS HB282 Summary of Changes 012612.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| CS HB282 Version E.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| HB282-DCCED-CBPL-01-20-12.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| HB 282 Professions Licensed.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| CS HB282 Version E Sectional.doc |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| CS HB282 Supporting Documents.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| CS HB 145 G Version 012412.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 145 |
| SB 8 Docs - Letter Ak Ne Dom Viol Assault.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB 8 Docs - Ref Links YRBS 2009.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB 8 Docs-Ltr Support -ANDVSA 2-4-2011.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB 8 Docs- 2009 Survey Questions.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB008-DHSS-CDPHP-12-16-11 (2).pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| SB008-EED-TLS-12-6-11.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 8 |
| HB282-DCCED-CBPL-01-20-12.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |
| HB282-ACPE-EED-01-20-12.pdf |
HEDC 1/27/2012 8:00:00 AM |
HB 282 |