WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, bipartisan legislation co-introduced by U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) that streamlines and eases the burden on the process whereby active-duty military, reservists and veterans apply for their commercial driver’s license was signed into law.
“The brave men and women that serve in the U.S. military learn a wide-range of skills applicable to jobs once they enter the civilian workforce, but too often face unnecessary barriers that make it harder for them to find jobs,” said Senator Tillis. “This legislation will allow our active-duty military, reservists, and veterans to apply the experience they gained serving our nation in a civilian capacity and not force them to go through a duplicative credentialing process to obtain a commercial driver’s license.”
“This bill shows our veterans that after all of their hard work defending our nation, after everything they’ve sacrificed for us, we have their backs,” said Senator Cornyn. “Now that this bill has been signed into law, veterans will be able to more easily transfer the commercial driving skills they’ve honed in the military to civilian life, and therefore more easily find jobs that pair well with their skillset.”
The Jobs for our Heroes Act of 2017 was also introduced by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Background:
The latest surface transportation reauthorization bill, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish a unique, streamlined set of standards for veterans applying for a CDL. The standards exempt veterans from all or a portion of civilian commercial vehicle driving tests if that veteran had experience driving similar vehicles while in the armed forces or reserves. Additionally, the standards allow veterans’ formal military training to count as credit towards the commercial motor vehicles minimum requirements to obtain a license.
However, the FAST Act did not include active-duty members of the military and reservists in their application of standards for veterans with previous training in military driving. To correct this, the Department of Transportation (USDOT) granted a two-year exemption allowing states to waive the commercial driver’s licenses knowledge test for current service members, reservists, and national guardsmen if they completed military heavy-training programs and had been regularly employed in a military position requiring the operation of heavy vehicles within the past year prior to their application.
The Jobs for our Heroes Act of 2017 makes the USDOT’s two-year exemption permanent, providing active-duty service members and reservists the same training and testing standards granted to veterans under the FAST Act.
The Senators’ legislation also makes it easier for veterans to receive the DOT-required health examination to hold a commercial driver’s license. The FAST Act contained a provision requiring USDOT and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to collaborate and develop a streamlined and efficient process whereby VA physicians can join the National Registry for Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME). USDOT requires that all CDL holders be examined by physicians certified by the NRCME. Currently, there is an extremely low number of physicians in the VA health system certified by the NRCME, forcing veterans to either travel exorbitant distances to see a CME or pay out of pocket for a non-VA medical professional. The Jobs for our Heroes Act of 2017 Act allows all qualified VA medical professionals, including advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, to use the same new process afforded to VA physicians.
