Military Spouse Licensing Relief Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2650 To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the portability of professional licenses of members of the uniformed services and their spouses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. GARCIA of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the portability of professional licenses of members of the uniformed services and their spouses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Spouse Li- 4 censing Relief Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2650.IH H2650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2650 IH (1) Thirty percent of military spouses work in 1 skilled positions requiring a State-issued professional 2 license or certification, and 30 percent of military 3 spouses have a four-year degree or greater. 4 (2) Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, military 5 spouses faced unemployment at nearly six times the 6 nationwide unemployment rate. 7 (3) To date, 49 of the 50 States have acknowl- 8 edged the challenges facing military spouses by tak- 9 ing various steps to address barriers to professional 10 licensure. 11 (4) The average military family loses more than 12 $10,000 per year in wages and fees due to time-con- 13 suming and costly relicensing procedures unique to 14 each State. 15 SEC. 3. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES OF 16 MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES 17 AND THEIR SPOUSES. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Servicemembers 19 Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 4021 et seq.) is amended by 20 inserting after section 705 (50 U.S.C. 4025) the following 21 new section: 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2650.IH H2650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2650 IH ‘‘SEC. 705A. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES OF 1 SERVICEMEMBERS AND THEIR SPOUSES. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which a service- 3 member has a professional license in good standing in a 4 jurisdiction or the spouse of a servicemember has a profes- 5 sional license in good standing in a jurisdiction and such 6 servicemember or spouse relocates his or her residency be- 7 cause of military orders for military service to a location 8 that is not in such jurisdiction, the professional license or 9 certification of such servicemember or spouse shall be con- 10 sidered valid at a similar scope of practice and in the dis- 11 cipline applied for in the jurisdiction of such new residency 12 for the duration of such military orders if such service- 13 member or spouse— 14 ‘‘(1) provides a copy of such military orders to 15 the licensing authority in the jurisdiction in which 16 the new residency is located; 17 ‘‘(2) remains in good standing with the licens- 18 ing authority that issued the license; and 19 ‘‘(3) submits to the authority of the licensing 20 authority in the new jurisdiction for the purposes of 21 standards of practice, discipline, and fulfillment of 22 any continuing education requirements. 23 ‘‘(b) INTERSTATE LICENSURE COMPACTS.—If a serv- 24 icemember or spouse of a servicemember is licensed and 25 able to operate in multiple jurisdictions through an inter- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2650.IH H2650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2650 IH state licensure compact, with respect to services provided 1 in the jurisdiction of the interstate licensure compact by 2 a licensee covered by such compact, the servicemember or 3 spouse of a servicemember shall be subject to the require- 4 ments of the compact or the applicable provisions of law 5 of the applicable State and not this section.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 7 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after 8 the item relating to section 705 the following new item: 9 ‘‘Sec. 705A. Portability of professional licenses of servicemembers and their spouses.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2650.IH H2650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS