Connecticut is joining a number of states that have passed laws to consider military training when veterans apply for certain jobs or college credit.
The law stems from recommendations of a legislative task force and a report by the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center.
The center's executive director, Margaret Middleton, explained the rationale for the measure. "Veterans returning to the Connecticut workforce," she said, "are coming in with a lot of specialized military training. [They] might have been trained as airplane mechanics, or EMTs, or commercial drivers, and then they come into the state, and have to do a lot of redundant training to get licenses to practice these professions in the state of Connecticut."
Middleton said the law will ease the transition for veterans who are looking for jobs or starting college after their military careers have ended. She said, "I don't think a lot of people appreciate the sacrifice that service-members make in postponing higher education so they're coming out of service and maybe starting college at 28. What this law will do will allow them to get some credit for the many hours of training they've already done in the military so they are moving faster back into the workforce."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are twenty states that have passed laws to streamline access to college credit and certain occupational licenses.
