Tillis Co-Sponsored Bill to Ease Requirements on Military Members Seeking Commercial Driver’s...

Sir,

This bill streamlines the process by waiving certain requirements for 88Ms and similar MOSs. It also opens the door for VA physicians to be NRCME qualified, so SMs won't have to travel long distances to have their required medical examinations.

There are constitutional issues with establishing federal standards on state licensing, which makes it difficult to establish federal programs that automatically certify SMs in their home state.

1LT(P) (Join to see) - Ok. with what you stated above. Our Federal Government has programs for inmates in prison to help transition them into a job; our Fed Gov has programs for non-Americans to travel over here and again-work. Why is it so hard to take a known skill of a military member, credential it, and allow the the military member to use on their resume or job application process?? It is all about money.

The several states have the authority to establish and regulate professional licensing within their states. Since licensing is an implied power of the states, the federal government is very limited in its ability to interfere. This creates a problem when SMs are leaving their service with years of experience in a particular field, but that experience is not recognized by an individual state. It is incumbent on the states (as in your case, Colorado) to establish regulations that make an SM certified in a professional field upon discharge. Fortunately, many states are moving in that direction, and the federal government is doing what it can to incentivize the states to act that way.

There are federal programs that assist SMs in their transition to military life. Some of them will assist you in charting a path to being licensed in your state in order to practice a particular service.

I'd like to disagree with you on the license comment. I graduated from Ole Miss with a BA degree that is acknowledged by all academic institutions. The same credentialing process could occur with all training executed by DOD. Our children can get a HS diploma which is accepted by academic institutions yet an experienced Heavy Equipment Transporter must go thru a State CDL process even if they have successfully passed the Army's requirements. It makes no sense. Fort Leonard Wood leaders coukd easily work this with TRADOC.