Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
01/31/2012 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB158 | |
| SB150 | |
| SB155 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 155 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 150 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 158 | ||
SB 150-MILITARY TRAINING CREDIT
1:34:49 PM
CHAIR EGAN announced SB 150 to be up for consideration. He said
that they would take up CSSB 150(STA) [labeled 27-LS1117\T].
1:34:54 PM
At ease from 1:34:54 to 1:36:22 p.m.
1:36:22 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI, sponsor of SB 150, explained that
separating service members leave the military with documented
training, experience and education that often prepares them for
civilian employment. However, this documentation is not always
used by state entities to qualify them for licenses required for
their occupation or to provide them with academic credit.
According to data prepared by the Department of Defense (DOD),
as of June 2011, 1 million veterans were unemployed and the
jobless rate for post 9/11 veterans was 13.3 percent with young
male veterans experiencing an unemployment rate of around 22
percent.
He said a number of states are considering or have passed
similar legislation to this. This bill requires the Department
of Commerce and applicable boards to accept military education,
training and services as equivalent to some or all of the
qualifications required while applying for a license or
certificate. It authorizes the issuance of a temporary license
or certificate for active duty service members who had an
equivalent license or certificate issued by another state, and
it requires the president of the University of Alaska, the
Alaska Commission on Post-Secondary Education and the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development to implement a policy and
procedure for the acceptance of military education, training and
service credit as academic credit toward a degree or a technical
program offered at the University. He noted that the Department
of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED) worked
with them so that the cost could be lowered so the fiscal note
is zero. Other states have implemented this bill with a zero
fiscal note. He said this is the top priority for the US
Department of Defense.
1:39:28 PM
MICHAEL O'HARE, Deputy Director, Homeland Security/Emergency
Management, Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA),
Ft. Richardson, Alaska, said he was available to answer
questions on SB 150.
1:39:56 PM
MARK SAN SOUCI, Department of Defense Regional Liaison for
Military Families for the Northwest, working for the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Family & Community
Policy, said the department supported SB 150. He said as Senator
Wielechowski mentioned last year, with over 1 million veterans
unemployed and a post 9/11 unemployment rate of 13.3 percent and
an unemployment rate for 18 to 24 year old veterans at 21.9
percent, the Department of Defense began supporting efforts in
the states to give separating service members credit so they may
not be held back from finding employment or finishing a degree.
They are asking states to establish policies that ensure
separating service members do not have to repeat requirements
they may have already completed during a military career to
obtain academic credit or an occupational license.
He said last year four states enacted new laws to help grant
veterans credit towards licensing in academics. So far, in the
2012 session, 15 other states have had 27 bills resembling the
one before them today. They are not asking for direct licensure
if it's not equivalent in cases where the regulatory agency or
board determines partial credit; they are only seeking credit
where credit is due.
MR. SAN SOUCI said they should consider that a veteran's
training with the DOD has already been paid for just by paying
federal taxes. 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 Alaskan
programs that may have waiting lists.
He said the DOD is working feverishly with the US Department of
Labor to link service transcripts of military occupations with
private sector licensing requirements while also asking state
regulatory authorities in pilot states of Washington, Illinois
and Maryland to review select military occupations to determine
whether the training and experience is sufficient to be rendered
useful in determining licensing credit in given occupations. The
DOD is also working with the military services to simplify the
processing of academic transcripts to help with the evaluation
of academics with the higher institutions of learning.
MR. SAN SOUCI said Alaska is home to thousands of veterans and
is a desired location for separating and retired military
members when choosing where to live after leaving the military.
A 2010 study by the Defense Manpower Data Center showed Alaska
had 1,286 military people separate to become veterans or retire
from the military and move back to Alaska and call it home. So,
Alaska can expect many highly qualified ex-military people to
continue to enjoy its quality of life, and many will continue to
choose Alaska when they want to transition into civilian life
and careers.
He said Washington State has two bills, one for medical
occupations and one for non-medical occupations and they went
into law last July. They are considered best practices
legislation and the bill in front of them is very much modeled
after them. He asked that Alaska join the 15 other states
considering passing policy to help veterans along with the other
four that did last year.
1:44:52 PM
SENATOR MENARD asked if the argument has been made that many
people need the same popular classes and if military people get
credit for IT, for instance, other people could have those
classroom slots. Often classes are closed because too many
people need them for their degree.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that was a great point and
theoretically it would open up more space for people to take
classes, but the main thing they are trying to do is to avoid
duplication.
1:47:18 PM
RIC DAVIDGE, Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 904,
Anchorage, Alaska, said they support SB 150. He said he also
serves as National Director of Government Affairs for the
Vietnam Veterans of America. He said they are interested in
shortening the time between separation and employment. If
existing and already recognized skills and training could be
recognized in the professional community, that shortens that
time up. The University is making great efforts to accommodate
veterans in this respect and their Veterans Service officers on
the Fairbanks Campus report this issue is going extremely well.
1:49:09 PM
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, Associate Vice President, State Relations,
University of Alaska, said he was here to talk about section 2
in SB 150, which directs the University's president to adopt
policies and procedures to award credit for military training,
service and education. He began by noting that the University is
committed to offering quality educational experiences to active
military veterans and their dependents. GI Jobs, a magazine in
"Web Portal" that exists specifically to serve people who are
transitioning from the military back into civilian life, has
designated both UAA and UAF as GI Jobs military friendly
schools. The significance of this is that only 15 percent of all
the colleges, universities and vocational schools in the country
were able to receive that rating from that entity. He said that
is a "pretty sad commentary" on the military friendliness of
schools down in the Lower 48 and that's probably why the DOD
feels it's necessary to push this in the various states.
He said WebPortalGuidetoOn-LineSchools.com, a very comprehensive
authority on distance education and on-line learning, just
released its 2012 rankings of military friendly on-line schools.
And out of the multitude of schools that offer on-line and
distance education, UAA was rated number five. As the entity
that made that rating possible by its funding decisions and
other support the legislature should be proud of the part it
played.
While trying to learn the University system over the last few
months, the single issue Mr. Christensen said he has heard most
about is transfer of credit. It's a contentious issue where
everyone has a story or an opinion; military transfer credit is
just a piece of this bigger issue. The Board of Regents has a
written policy that the campuses must accept in transfers as
much credit as is appropriate to a student's new degree in
graduation requirements. All three campuses have established
transfer credit policies designed to give maximum credit for
courses and training taken elsewhere, specifically including the
military. He reminded them that a degree from an institution is
a representation to potential employers and to others that the
holder has actually learned what the degree stands for and can
do the things it says they can do.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said their credit transfer policies have evolved
over time for streamlining while still protecting the integrity
of the degree. It is a work in progress and the policies are
continually tweaked to make them more student-friendly.
1:52:54 PM
They believe awarding appropriate credit for military training
is one of their basic responsibilities. But there are actually a
lot of misconceptions in the building about what UA does with
respect to accepting military credits. All three campuses
transfer credit based on recommendations made by the American
Council of Education (ACE) that has been in existence since the
end of World War II. It has had an agreement with DOD for the
last 65 years to review military training and experience for the
award of equivalent college credit - essentially recommendations
on what military service is the equivalent of civilian college
credit - that is currently being used by thousands of
universities and colleges around the country.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said each of the University's three campuses has
a written agreement with the DOD to use the ACE recommendations.
The three campuses are also members of the Service Members
Opportunity Colleges (SOC), a consortium of 1900 colleges and
universities that enroll active military, veterans and their
dependents in special degree programs. The purpose of the
consortium is to let military folks actually get degrees rather
than just accumulate credits as they moved from base to base
around the country and around the world. In order to be members
of this consortium the campuses had to sign written agreements
easing the transferability of credit between the member
institutions. They even had to agree to limit the number of
credits required of military students at the campuses to get one
of their degrees. For example, at UAA a military student getting
a SOC Associates Degree (AA) is only required to take 3 UAA
credits on campus; all the other credits in the SOC consortium
will be accepted.
He said the schools do not have a limitation on the number of
military transfer credits that they will accept, but they used
to. UAA did away with that as recently as last year as part of
its continual process to review how things are done and to make
it more student friendly.
Right now, UAF is in the process of developing a minor degree
based on typical military credits, the kind that most servicemen
would just automatically have, which can be used to satisfy up
to 18 credits towards any bachelor's degree.
MR. CHRISTENSEN said he could go on and on, but bottom line last
year UAA alone awarded over 15,000 credits to service members
for training, education and even for time spent in the service.
Approximately 99.5 percent of the military students who
requested transfer credit were given that credit. He concluded
saying that Alaska is widely known to service members as a state
that welcomes and appreciates the military.
SENATOR MENARD asked if he agreed that Alaska is superior in
military friendliness, because we have every single service
branch here. We are in the top 15 percent of most friendly to
military states in the nation.
1:57:27 PM
MR. CHRISTENSEN said he agreed, and added that the military know
they are appreciated here.
SENATOR GIESSEL thanked him and said the University had sent her
a four-page letter enumerating all the proactive steps the
University had taken on this issue, and she thanked them.
MR. CHRISTENSEN responded that he participated in the writing of
that letter and actually in the interests of brevity the list
was cut way down to four pages.
1:58:58 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN said it's wonderful that Alaska is in the top 15
percent, but he said the University has a system in place and he
didn't want this to interfere with it. His belief is that it
doesn't, but he wanted assurance. He noted specifically on page
1, line 9, it says "shall accept" and the applicant has to
provide "satisfactory evidence of successful completion", and on
page 4, lines 17 and 18, it says those transfers have to "meet
the requirements of the accrediting body of the institution or
the commission."
MR. CHRISTIANSON responded, "I think you are accurate." He said
the bill has been drafted to instruct the university to adopt
procedures for the acceptance of relevant credit and they have
signed agreements with the DOD to use the ACE system for members
of the SOC. He is assuming they will continue to do things much
the way they have done with the ever-present eye to seeing if
they can do things better, and just the review of this bill has
done that.
SENATOR PASKVAN remarked that this bill reflects the policy of
the State of Alaska, not only the University, and moved to
report CSSB 150 (L&C), version T, from committee with individual
recommendations and attached zero fiscal note.
SENATOR GIESSEL said the fiscal note is zero for the University,
but the DCCED has one of $207.8, because regulations need to be
written by the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic
Development (DCCED).
SENATOR PASKVAN amended the motion to "attached multiple fiscal
notes." There were no objections and CSSB 150 (L&C) moved from
Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 155 Enrolled HB 126.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 126 SB 155 |
| SB 155 Parnell Veto msg HB 126.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
HB 126 SB 155 |
| SB 155.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Sponsor Statement.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Sectional Analysis.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB155-DNR-DGGS-01-27-12.pdf |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit Bd of Barbers and Hairdressers.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit Board of Nursing.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit ABC Board.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit Board of Dental Examiners.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit Big Game Commercial Services Board.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| SB 155 Leg Audit Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission.PDF |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 155 |
| CS SB150 (STA) memo of changes.pdf |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 150 |
| SB150-DOL-Fiscal Note-1-20-12.pdf |
SL&C 1/31/2012 1:30:00 PM |
SB 150 |