[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3614 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3614

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the recognition by 
  States of skills learned in the military by a veteran when issuing 
                       licenses and credentials.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2013

 Mr. Reichert introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the recognition by 
  States of skills learned in the military by a veteran when issuing 
                       licenses and credentials.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Skills to Careers Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE RECOGNITION OF MILITARY EXPERIENCE OF VETERANS IN ISSUING 
              LICENSES AND CREDENTIALS TO VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 4102A(c)(9) of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(9)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under which funds 
are made available to a State under subsection (b)(5) in order to carry 
out section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the State shall--
            ``(i) establish a program under which the State administers 
        an examination to each veteran seeking a license or credential 
        issued by the State and issues such license or credential to 
        such veteran without requiring such veteran to undergo any 
        training or apprenticeship if the veteran--
                    ``(I) receives a satisfactory score on completion 
                of such examination, as determined by the State;
                    ``(II) has been awarded a military occupational 
                speciality that is substantially equivalent to or 
                exceeds the requirements of the State for the issuance 
                of such license or credential;
                    ``(III) has engaged in the active practice of the 
                occupation for which the veteran is seeking such 
                license or credential for at least two of the five 
                years preceding the date of application for such 
                license or credential; and
                    ``(IV) pays any customary or usual fees required by 
                the State for such license or credential; and
            ``(ii) submit each year to the Secretary a report on the 
        exams administered under clause (i) during the most recently 
        completed 12-month period that includes, for the period covered 
        by the report, the number of veterans who completed an exam 
        administered by the State under clause (i) and a description of 
        the results of such exams, disaggregated by occupational field.
    ``(B) The Secretary may waive the requirement under subparagraph 
(A) that a State establish a program described in that subparagraph as 
a condition of a grant or contract if the State certifies to the 
Secretary that the State--
            ``(i) takes into account previous military training for the 
        purposes of issuing licenses or credentials;
            ``(ii) permits veterans to completely satisfy through 
        examination any training or testing requirements for a license 
        or credential with respect to which a veteran has previously 
        completed military training; and
            ``(iii) for any credential or license for which a veteran 
        is unable to completely satisfy such requirements through 
        examination, substantially reduces training time required to 
        satisfy such requirement based on the military training 
        received by the veteran.
    ``(C) Not less frequently than once each year, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress and the Secretary of Defense a report summarizing 
the information received by the Secretary under subparagraph 
(A)(ii).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) Exams.--Subparagraph (A) of section 4102A(c)(9) of such 
        title, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the 
        date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act and shall apply with respect to grants and contracts 
        described in such subparagraph awarded after such date.
            (2) Reports.--Subparagraph (B) of section 4102A(c)(9), as 
        added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date that is 
        one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and the 
        Secretary of Labor shall submit the first report under such 
        subparagraph not later than two years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
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