Professional licensing-military spouses.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL SENATE
FILE

NO.
0074

ENROLLED ACT NO. 47, SENATE

SIXTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2013 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to professions and occupations; providing for the issuance of professional and occupational licenses to military spouses as specified; providing for temporary practice permits; requiring rulemaking; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 33
‑
1
‑
116 is created to read:

33
‑
1
‑
116.

Professional and occupational licensure of military spouses; temporary permits.

(a)

As used in this section:

(i)

"
Active
"
means a status of occupational or professional licensure which has not been suspended, revoked or terminated and which is not otherwise inactive;

(ii)

"
Applicant
"
means a military spouse seeking licensure from a professional or occupational licensing board of this state;

(iii)

"
Good standing
"
means a status of occupational or professional licensure which is in compliance with all requirements imposed by the issuing licensing, certification or registration authority;

(iv)

"
License
"
means any license, certificate or registration required to practice an occupation or profession;

(v)

"
Military service member
"
means an active uniformed member of the United States army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, United States public
health service commissioned corps, national oceanic and atmospheric administration commissioned corps, national guard or any reserve or auxiliary component thereof;

(vi)

"
Military spouse
"
means the spouse of a military service member as defined in paragraph (v) of this subsection who has been transferred or is scheduled to be transferred to Wyoming, is domiciled in Wyoming or has moved to Wyoming on a permanent change-of-station basis.

(b)

A professional or occupational licensing board shall issue a license to a military spouse to allow the military spouse to lawfully practice a profession or occupation requiring licensure in this state if the military spouse:

(i)

Holds a relevant, active occupational or professional license in good standing from another state which state mandates substantially equivalent or more stringent educational, training, examination and experience requirements for licensure. Substantial equivalency shall be determined pursuant to rules which shall be adopted by the licensing board from which the military spouse applicant seeks licensure;

(ii)

Demonstrates competency in the occupation or profession for which the military spouse applicant seeks licensure. Competency shall be determined pursuant to rules which shall be adopted for that purpose and may include consideration of continuing education credits, recent work experience, disciplinary actions taken against the applicant in other states and other factors used to determine the competency of nonmilitary spouse license applicants;

(iii)

Has not engaged in any act that would constitute grounds for refusal, suspension or revocation of the occupational or professional license sought in this state; and

(iv)

Completes all required application procedures and pays any required fee.

(c)

All relevant work experience of a military spouse applicant, including full-time or part-time experience, regardless of whether in a paid or volunteer capacity, may be credited in any work experience requirement adopted by an occupational or professional licensing board.

(d)

This section shall apply to all applications for licensure under W.S. 21
‑
2
‑
802 or under title 33 of the Wyoming statutes except title 33, chapter 5, attorneys at law and
applications to any board which represents a profession with prescriptive drug authority
.

(e)

Pursuant to rules which may be adopted for this purpose, a professional or occupational licensing board may issue a temporary practice permit to a military spouse applicant who meets the requirements of
paragraph
(b)(i) of this section and who has applied for a professional or occupational license under this section. The military spouse applicant may practice under the temporary permit for a period not to exceed
one hundred twenty (120) days
or until the professional or occupational license for which they have applied has been either granted or denied, whichever first occurs.

(f)

Professional or occupational licensing boards shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

Section 2.

This act shall apply to applications for professional licensing which are filed on or after July 1, 2013.

Section 3.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

1