National Guard and military reserve members in Delaware could soon apply their training to any state requirements in getting a professional license.
A bill that would allowing them to do so unanimously passed the House Thursday.
Over the past few years, Delaware lawmakers have allowed active military and their spouses to use his or her past experience toward getting a professional license, like one in nursing, for example.
Now, they want to cover all members of the armed forces by including military reservists and members of the National Guard.
“This really allows people who really know what they’re doing, they’ve already been through the training – multiple years usually – and it lets them just get back into the flow, get those credit hours,” said Rep. Earl Jaques (D-Glasgow), the chief sponsor of the bill.
He says it would also give people coming back from deployment leeway to make up any continuing education they might need to keep a license.
“Some of those requirements have expired because they didn’t do their training. So this allows them, when they come back, a period of time to get all those things out of the way so that they get their license back,” Jaques said.
In the past, advocates have said it’s often difficult to navigate each state’s particular licensing laws, since military families move so often during deployments.
The bill now heads to the state Senate.