S.B. 90 Occupational Licenses for Veterans and Service Members

What this bill does

S.B. 90 would create a military crosswalk that matches military training and job roles to existing civilian occupational license requirements, so veterans and service members can have that training credited toward a Utah license. The Department of Professional Licensing would administer the crosswalk, and the bill grants rulemaking authority.

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Every vote

• 6 yes, 0 no, 2 absentSenate Business and Labor Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 21, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Jan 22, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Jan 23, 2026Who voted how
• 10 yes, 0 no, 2 absentHouse Government Operations Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 73 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal House vote · Mar 4, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Jan 21, 2026 Senate Business and Labor Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (42 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker50:20speaker not certain

     Senate bill 90 Occupational Occupational licenses for veterans and service members.

  2. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)50:26

     Senator Baldry, thank you for being here.

  3. Sen. Heidi Balderree50:29

     Thank you for working me into your schedule. I appreciate it. So I am ecstatic to present this bill today. Um, been working with a lot of different partners to get to this point today. As a matter of fact, for just fun facts, this was a bill that my very first session, um, Libertas had suggested that I would be their partner. And, um, frankly, we, it wasn't quite ready, so we had to wait. So it's been since, uh, 2023 and today is an exciting day. So veterans are returning home ready to work, but licensing delays, stop them. Many veterans have the skills and experience to work immediately yet state licensing roles, uh, force them into months or years of delay. And military training is rigorous, but often treated as invisible. Veterans are asked to redo training they already completed because there is no consistent way to recognize military credentials. This is not just a veteran's issue, it's a family issue because licensing delays mean delayed income, which affects housing stability, childcare, and overall family wellbeing. As a matter of fact, one of the things that I found in the course of, of my research was that the number one cause of suicide among veterans is not PTSD. It's financial stress number one. So this is going to help mitigate that. The current system is inconsistent on unpredictable and some licensing boards, um, consider military experience, while others do not leaving veterans unsure whether their training will even count. Utah's losing skilled workers that it already has during these workforce shortages. Qualified veterans are sidelined while employees struggle to fill the positions. A military crosswalk is a translation tool, not a new license. It simply maps military training and job roles to existing civilian licensing requirements. And crosswalks reduce guesswork for agencies and applicants licensing boards get a clear framework instead of reviewing each veteran case from scratch. This approach has worked in other states, states that implemented similar, but less comprehensive programs saw faster licensing and better workforce outcomes without lowering their standards. Utah already supports an expedited licensing, and this builds on that foundation. The policy makes recognition systematic and consistent, rather than case by case, veterans should not have to start over to do jobs. They're already trained for. This policy respects military service in a practical way by removing unnecessary, uh, barriers to work. And I would just say, um, you know, the, the military has different codes. Um, if you're in the Army and Marine Corps, they're called MOS, air Force, A FSC, Navy, NEC, coast Guard, DMOS. And, uh, my partners and this bill, they have done an immense amount of work to collect all that data and to, to warehouse it in one convenient location. And I'm just super excited about this bill. And I'd like to turn some time over to my colleague Jason Shipman from Libertas to explain further. Yeah, thanks for being Here. Go ahead. Thank you. Senator Vickers.

  4. Jason Chipman, Director of Public Policy, Libertas Institute53:45

     Uh, my name is Jason Chipman. I'm the Director of Public Policy with the Bertis Institute. Uh, about three years ago, we had, uh, one of our colleagues who was, uh, very big into occupational licensing reform found this program in Pennsylvania. It was passed in 2022, and it was instigated by their Department of Professional Licensing. And it was, uh, it came out of a series of surveys they had done with their veterans in the state, and they found out that occupational licensing was a real problem for them. So they actually received a grant from the Department of Defense to build this out. And their, they were the only state to do this. There are other states that have done this piecemeal kind of job by job Florida is one of them. Uh, I spoke to the gentleman that ran those bills in Florida, and, uh, he said that it was just too big for them to do. They didn't have the resources. And so when we approached Senator Baldry about this, uh, and then I talked to Director Steinle and Brian Garrett with the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs. It was too big for them too. So we just decided to take it on ourselves. And so we hired people to do this research, and it took almost 18 months to go through every job in every branch of the service and map out what their job duties actually were. And then we also had to deal with the Army and Air Force last year, uh, redoing all of their jobs. Not all of the jobs, but they had a lot of jobs that were combined that were eliminated, that were changed. And so we had to incorporate those. And that's something Pennsylvania has not done. And so the whole idea, uh, was to just make it easier for people transitioning out the military to get the job that they were already doing. They've already trained to do. We've already paid all that money to train them all those years. And it's kind of a waste if we make them do it all over again because we don't understand what they're doing. So we created a, a huge spreadsheet and a bunch of PDFs, a bunch of Word documents to give to, um, director Segel and say, here you go, the work, you know, you're gonna have to verify everything of course. But the work is essentially done. And what we're hoping to do with your blessing, if you, if this gets all the way through, is to expand this nationwide and use Utah as, you know, the preeminent state for veterans and licensure. Um, it was a lot of work. Uh, it was, um, and it is tedious, very tedious to go through all of these things. Uh, it was not fun. Um, but as a veteran myself, uh, I was kind of lucky, I guess if I was trying to get the same job in Utah, the only place I'd have to get a license is Salt Lake City. It would've been a stationary engineer's license. I worked down in the engine room of an aircraft carrier. It was the last boiler fired carrier we, we ever built, has been retired for almost 20 years. And to, in order to do that same job in Utah, you know, I wouldn't have to have that license. But in Salt Lake City, I would. And if my job description, the duties didn't match up with what Salt Lake City required, then I would have to go through additional training, education, whatever was required to make it to where I could get that license. So what this bill kind of does, there's three E's to occupational licensing education examination experience. What we're essentially saying is we're gonna remove basically the education requirement and say that you've been doing the job. If there's an exam, you still have to take the exam to prove that you know what you're doing. But we're gonna use your experience as proof that you don't actually need the education. This is especially important for enlisted members because you don't have to have a degree to be enlisted. You, you, in some cases, you don't even have to have a high school education, um, to, in order to join the military officers, the vast, vast majority of 'em have to have a degree to become an officer. There's a small pathway for enlisted members to become officers, but that's very minute. So it's really hard for professional licensing boards to figure out, or departments to figure out what do we do with all these enlisted people? And those are the ones in need of the most help because there's no education there to just straight up match with what the licensing requirements are. So we're hoping that what we've done will, will help the state, help the department do this. And we've worked hand in hand with, with Brian, with Mark through this whole time. Uh, and we realized too, once we got into it that they didn't have the resources to do all this work. It was, there's way too much for them. And, uh, we're hopeful, um, with, uh, the floor sponsor, Val Peterson, representative Val Peterson, that, uh, we'll be able to get the appropriation. We need to add the, I believe Mark said one person to continue all this work for us. So it's, it's not gonna be a huge program that's gonna require a lot of people, a lot of money ongoing. But as these services continue to change jobs, combine jobs, eliminate jobs, this is gonna have to be updated. And we're, we're also putting it in statute, you know, the statute is very, um, narrow and it allows the department a lot of latitude to do this kind of on the fly. So we don't have to come back to the legislature every time one of the services change something. They could just do it on their own. One of the things that Pennsylvania is also doing that we're not gonna do yet, is they're building a portal to make it extremely easy, uh, for veterans to apply for these licenses. And, uh, that that costs a whole lot more money. And we're not gonna ask for that just yet. They've been operating for three years and it's been fine without it, but it'll just be helpful in the future if they do have it. That's all I have. Thank you.

  5. Jason Chipman, Director of Public Policy, Libertas Institute59:02

     And, and if, if you don't mind, I think, um, I'd, I'd like to have, um, Brian Garrett from the Veteran Military Affairs Commission speak for just a moment.

  6. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)59:15

     Thank you. Sure. Come up, Jason.

  7. Brian Garrett, Deputy Director, Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs59:21

     Good afternoon. Brian Garrett, deputy Director of Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs. Um, we'd just like to pass on our appreciation to Jason at the, in the team. I think this is a, a great example of a public-private partnership. He came to us with this idea. Um, mark Sigal and I had had a number of meetings with him and we just simply didn't have the bandwidth to take this project on. And, um, they volunteered to do it with our assistants, um, where we could and have done a great job of compiling this list and, and, uh, and bringing this forward. And, and we're very supportive of this. I'd like to add, we've had the opportunity to brief some senior leadership as recently as yesterday, uh, on this bill. And we, uh, are seeing interest out of the Pentagon to, to see if we get this done, you know, Utah leading the way, again, because it could be a standard for other states and an example for other states without a yield to any questions.

  8. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:00:15

     Okay. Senator Balderree, any further? Uh, presentation.

  9. Sen. Heidi Balderree1:00:20

     Uh, that's it. Okay. Thank you.

  10. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:00:22

      We'll come back to the committee for, uh, questions. Uh, Senator Musselman?

  11. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:00:26

      Yeah, I apologize. I missed portion there. So if I ask a question, you think, well, they answered it there. It's 'cause I was out of the room. Um, nonetheless, uh, I I I know the testimony was that you still have to take the exams. So is that stated in there that we just relying, because it's not stated in in the bill, because I can't find it in the bill necessarily, that you, you have to take the exams. Is it explicitly spelled out in the bill or are we just relying on Dopple for that dictation and not calling on it specifically?

  12. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:00:56

      I'd like to call up Mark Segel from Doppel to answer that question. Thank you. That's,

  13. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:01:00

      And I have a couple other questions. Friends, how about, um, background checks and, and, uh, I mean the, this makes sense to me, but there's, it's not as simple as just time in the education you have to have. You gotta check some other boxes here. So the question is, is this, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm scrubbing trying to find it, but I don't know that it spells it out the bill that the, the tests or evaluations are required in code.

  14. Mark Steinagel, Director, Utah Division of Professional Licensing1:01:29

      Yeah, I think between this bill and some things we've done in endorsement, in other sections, we have some leeway to, uh, substitute alternative pathways. And I didn't say Mr. Chair, mark Steinle, uh, director division and professional licensing in the Department of Commerce. We have some leeway, I think like LER and others. There may be some as we get into it. And we're creating these pathways for military members where we have to come back to you and clarify the statute. I hope that answers your question, Senator Musselman.

  15. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:02:00

      It does. I I, I suppose I would rather either have, in the bills explicitly spelled out that the test and valuations have to be the same or e equal to or greater than maybe just equal to what's currently required or explicitly spelled out. The doppel may implement any, anything that they see fit in test and evaluations that would be equal to what is the standard for the industry.

  16. Mark Steinagel, Director, Utah Division of Professional Licensing1:02:26

      I think substantially equivalent if you look at line 42. So one of the things we're doing is determining to what level the skills, experience, credentials, training, and education described are substantially equivalent. Um, and so that's kind of the terminology we typically use in the past and we used in this bill as well.

  17. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:02:43speaker not certain

      Okay.

  18. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:02:45

      Um, one other question, Mr. Chair, if you don't mind. And I, I suspect there might be some other questions for Mr. Director. Um, gimme just one second here. And I, I guess this may be getting in the weeds a bit. I, I like this bill, but maybe I'll ask cut offline. But let me just ask you, did you, did you, uh, Senator Baldry, did you work with the, um, veterans and Military Affairs Commission on this bill already? And what do you mind just giving, what was the result of that? Did they, are they in support of it? I'm assuming they are, but do you know, or

  19. Sen. Heidi Balderree1:03:28

      Yeah, so we, we worked, we worked, we brought all the stakeholders that we could think of to the table. So, um, we, we just heard from the deputy director of the v Veteran Military Affairs Commission, Brian Garrett, which probably was when you were outta the room. And then of course, Mike, uh, mark Steinle, the director of doppel. And so, um, yeah, deliberately brought them into the equation and this would grant rulemaking authority for them to make those decisions.

  20. Sen. Heidi Balderree1:03:53

      But just for real world, real world examples, let's say there was a military medic, um, they might qualify faster for an EMT or nursing license, or a military truck driver might meet the requirements for a, a commercial driver's license, A CDL. Um, a cybersecurity specialist may translate military credentials into civilian IT licensure. Here's another, um, experience that, um, was actually brought up on a podcast that I was on. He, as we, as you know, we have a huge aerospace industry in the state. And, um, this gentleman, his son had, was the top dog at, at an airfield for seven years, came home to Utah and found out that he had to have a piece of paper that told him he was qualified to do the job that he'd just been doing for seven years. Well, it turns out that piece of paper or license cer certificate was not available in the state of Utah. He would have to move out of the state, spent x amount of months and then, you know, hopefully he would come back. So these are the kind of real life situations that we're trying to hit comprehensively.

  21. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:04:59

      Yeah, I, I don't get me wrong, I'm, I fully support it and theoretically it's, it's great. Sometimes the devil's in the details, right? And, and, and I, I just want to be explicit 'cause there could be some that cause lawsuits and so on and so forth. Hold on. I, you know, I shouldn't have to take the test. If we more detailed we are in that process, I think the better. So

  22. Mark Steinagel, Director, Utah Division of Professional Licensing1:05:18

      maybe I could comment on that. Uh, we have a couple of other, other areas where we're doing this and for instance, we were just creating some alternative pathways for individuals trained as dentists in other countries. And we had 10 meetings with the dental board, working through pathways, working through language, working through everything. So we're, we want to create the pathways and we also want to do it safely.

  23. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:05:43

      Okay. Thank you.

  24. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:05:45speaker not certain

      Thank you. That was great. Thanks.

  25. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:05:47

      I, you know, and I'd had a couple of similar questions, but one question I thought of is, um, and I think this is a, a direct concept. The military obviously is oftentimes very good trainer and of employee employment trainer. Um, are there other situations where an individual could receive similar training that could potentially qualify them under, you know, in a similar fashion, only just not military? Is there, I don't, I don't know. Is is that possible? And, you know, I think about that, you know, in situations where an individual maybe weren't, they weren't in the military, but they still received s you know, significant training that, uh, that maybe could fall under the kind of the same umbrella that we're talking about here for veterans.

  26. Unknown speaker1:06:35speaker not certain

      Well, the, the biggest one I've mentioned, which is, uh, the statute was created, consider contemplating individuals from the United States of America. We have a lot of people who've come from other countries that are still trained well. Yeah. And so we've done this, we've done some similar things for foreign applicants that are, uh, highly trained. So that's the best example I can think of.

  27. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:06:56

      Okay. Yeah. I, and lemme just, yeah, maybe we can just talk offline. Okay. It's not, I don't know that it's critical, but it just got me thinking that I just wanna make sure that if there's other situations where an individual could, you know, be, receive, uh, training in a trade or, or anything like that, that, uh, maybe could fall under the same umbrella.

  28. Mark Steinagel, Director, Utah Division of Professional Licensing1:07:13speaker not certain

      We have done a lot of things with apprenticeships as well, which are used to be non-traditional, but we're making them more traditional pathways. So I think, I think with your leadership and, and the governors we've really tried to contemplate, but we will do more senator if that's

  29. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:07:29

      No, that's fine. Just, sorry, just one thought came to me. That's always dangerous when you're in a middle of a committee meeting and some random thought comes to your mind, you know.

  30. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:07:38

      Okay. Other questions from the committee. Seeing none, is there anyone in the public who would like to testify on this's? Like, we've got a couple hands, please come forward. Uh, make sure that you rec uh, uh, tell us your name, who you represent, if anyone, and make sure that you sign in as on our sheet there too, please. Okay. And we also have one online that we'd like to testify as well, so.

  31. Tammy Flake, Springville, Utah, Army veteran1:08:14

      Okay. Hello, Senator Vickers. I'm Tammy Flake. I'm from Springville, Utah. Um, I'm an army veteran that deployed to Iraq. I joined on my 17th birthday because honestly, I'm not a very book smart person. And honestly, I knew I had to provide for myself or a family one day. Um, and if I needed to, I knew I needed to have a skill. Um, I did not want to go to college. And I knew that people going into colleges had a lot of debt and had to read a lot of books. And so I was gonna avoid that at all costs. And if that meant being deployed, then I was gonna defend my country and die with honor. Luckily, I did not have that fate. But years down the road, after deploying to Iraq and through many traumatic experiences myself, I did le uh, leave the Army. And to cut my story short, um, I ended up reaching out to an organization when I hit my lowest. And I did get involved with the veteran community, of which some are here in the room with me. When I did realize, when I did get into that community, I realized a common thread. Most of us when we transitioned outta the military, military, we could not provide for our families because there was this Grand Canyon size of a problem between what our MOS or a military job and a civilian job equivalent certificate was. And the government solution was always just go use the GI Bill. Government solution was always just use that, get the certificate and then great, we're gonna pay for it. Yay. No, remember, I hate books. And in the next place I have PTSD, and let's mix that with some high school kids in college. Um, we are service hearted people that we would just rather stay home. And now let's insert mind numbing substances that you can insert whatever you think of. And that leads to not friendly thoughts to ourselves, which will probably lead to suicide. And why I have become a grassroots advocate where I ended up meeting a really good friend years ago that I had said, you know, I talked to many veterans and they confide in me, and they said, I just have a really hard time providing for my family. I have these skills, but I don't know how to get the certificates and people won't accept me because I have PTSD and I try to reach out, but I can't get these certificates because there's just this big gap and the civilian side won't do the work and the, um, the military side won't do the work, and I don't know how to help these people. And I care about these people because I am this people and this is my community. And that dear friend turned into Senator Heidi Baldry, who remembered me and my community, and she tackled this for me. And I'm very happy for the work that she did and that she remembered me and that thing that I said years ago. And I'm thankful for the time that you had to hear my story. And I'm very glad to have served my country. And I hope that we can do the work now for the people that are serving now and make it easier for them to transition into the future and that they can come out and have jobs and maybe wanna create jobs and businesses and bring children from colleges and get to teach them. And hopefully we will have more hope in this world. And that's all I have to say. Thank you for your time. Thank

  32. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:12:44

      You for coming today. Thanks. Anyone else here in the room, please? Okay. We've got a couple. I just, I'm gonna ask you to be as brief as possible. I'm not gonna put a timer on you, but, uh, we do have a still a number of builds that are gonna take some time, uh, to hear. So thank you. Thank you for coming. Please identify yourself and sign in. So we have, uh, two left, two more in the room, this one here, and then one more, and then we have one online, and then we'll go to that point.

  33. Cori Caddell, Disabled American Veterans1:13:24

      Okay. My name is, um, Corey Cadel. I went into the army when, in 1990, um, I went in to the field of aviation and it was hard enough to be one of the few women in my job. When I came out. I worked on Chinook helicopters, if you know what that is. It's, it's the double rotor helicopter. And it's a very complicated aircraft. When I got out with 20 plus years of service, I've been retired for about 15 years now. I was told, oh, just be an elevator mechanic. I worked on helicopters, I worked, i I crewed, I I went into combat. And now that I've become an active member within the veteran community, I, I represent the disabled American veterans, not only on the state level as the Junior Vice commander, but I'm also the chapter commander of the only chapter in Salt Lake County. And I was their first female commander. This bill is gonna help veterans not only financially, but mentally. I can't tell you the frustration I had when they said, oh, you can just go work on elevators. I thank you for your time.

  34. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:14:52

      Thank you for coming. Please come forward. State your name. Yeah. Sign. And then you state your name.

  35. Sonny White, U.S. Army1:15:19

      Hello, my name is Sonny White. Uh, I'm also a combat veteran. I do a lot of volunteering, uh, within the veteran community with nonprofits. I volunteer with these two young la with these young ladies. Uh, my home group is with Warrior Revival, and what we do is we help trans military transition to civilian life. Uh, I myself served from 1991 to 2004. Um, I joined at the age of 17. And when I come out of the Utah National Guard and my last deployment, I had a choice. I could go back to my civilian job or go into a job that would pay more, uh, with training. I mean, I was, I, my MOS was 62 echo, which is a heavy equipment operator, but to join the union, you have like 12 weeks of training, or you go in as an apprentice. And even though I had 12 to 15 years, you know, operating equipment, 40 to 80 hours a week, whatever it might be, uh, I had to choose the prior one and go back to a civilian job that was less pay. And, uh, I just think that it's would be amazing to see this bill go through because when faced with that kind of choice, when you want to, uh, progress your family and be able to, uh, provide for them at a higher level, especially in this time of age, you can't afford to do a lot of extensive training unpaid. So therefore you're going to, uh, go with a simpler job that is going to create probably more hardships in your life. Um, I see a lot, I, I do a lot with Warrior Revival. Again, that is with, uh, we help military, you know, transition to the civilian life. And I see these aspects all over. People looking for jobs, people try and improve their lives, and I just think the spiel would be a major benefit for veterans, but also other organizations like first responders, law enforcement, whatever it might be. But today we're here for veterans, so I appreciate your Time. Thank you.

  36. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:17:22

      We do have one on line, um, we, pardon me. Oh, Gavin Gilbert. Um, just remind you if you need to have, uh, get you to turn on your camera and identify your name and where you live or, and if you represent anyone, and the time is yours.

  37. Gavin Gilbert, Director of Government Affairs, Associated General Contractors1:17:44

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I apologize for joining remotely. Got tied up in, in another legislative committee, Gavin Gilbert with the Associated General Contractors, a GC of Utah, Erda and, and Herriman and in Salt Lake County, but represent the, the commercial construction industry statewide. Uh, we're supportive of this bill. Appreciate the, the bill sponsor of Bring It Forward and, and the many organizations and, um, the veterans that work in our industry. We think this is an important piece, um, and again, are supportive and appreciate their time.

  38. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:18:14

      Thank you. Okay, we'll come back to the committee for any further discussion or action. Senator McCay,

  39. Sen. Daniel McCay1:18:22

      I'll make a motion that we've passed the bill out favorably. I think, uh, there's been well thought out. There's been a lot of input from a lot of stakeholders, obviously early in the process. So if there's, you know, something that comes up between now and then, I'm confident we can work it out. But thank you for all your hard work.

  40. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:18:35

      Okay. Thank you. Motion before us, uh, by Senator McKay is to favorably recommend Senate Bill 90. Any discussion of that motion? Seeing none. Senator, Senator Balder, do you have any summation? All

  41. Sen. Heidi Balderree1:18:47

      Waive, Waive.

  42. Committee chair (Sen. Evan J. Vickers)1:18:49

      We'll place the motion. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say nay. Rule That pass unanimously looks like, uh, 3, 4, 6 to zero. Thank you. Thank You.

• Jan 22, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Sen. Heidi Balderree33:59

     unnecessary duplication, delay, or cost. In simple terms, the bill answers the question, if you did this job in the military, why should you have to start from scratching the civilian life? And military training is rigorous, but often treated as invisible. Our veterans are asked to redo training they already completed because there is no consistent way to recognize military credentials. This isn't just a veteran's issue, it's a family issue. And licensing delays mean delayed income, which affects housing stability, childcare and overall family wellbeing. As a matter of fact, something I found out in the course of my research was that the number one cause of veteran suicide is not PTSD. It's up there, it's financial stress. And this bell attempts to remedy that not on a one-off basis for one occupation here and one there, but a comprehensive one that will grant rulemaking authority to doppel to allow them to help make these transitions easier. And so these crosswalks reduce guesswork for agencies and applicants alike, and licensing boards get a clear framework instead of reviewing each veteran case from scratch. This approach has worked in other states, but they've done it less comprehen comprehensively. The state of Pennsylvania is the first to do it will be the second, but ours is going to be more comprehensive. As a matter of fact, the Department of Defense is looking at making this model legislation that they'd like to see adopted federally. And there's lots more I could say, but I'll, I'll keep my remarks brief and I'm open to questions.

  2. Senate President (presiding)35:36

     Thank you for the presentation. Looking for discussion. See no discussion. I'm gonna go to you for action.

  3. Unknown speaker35:45speaker not certain

     We suspended rules. Uh, yeah, I just need a motion to pass. Okay. Um, I move that Senate Bill 90 pass.

  4. Senate President (presiding)35:53

     Thank you. And the question is, do you wanna pass it all the way across? Senator, do you wanna pass this all the way across or do you, do you want to just move it to third? Oh, excuse me. I'd love to move it all the way across. Well, well, I, we, I don't think we can. So the question is, shall it be read a third time? I gave you the wrong Yeah. Yes, I, we got, we got ahead of ourselves, but, Okay. So I'm gonna call the question. The question is, shall Senate Bill 90 be read a third time?

  5. Unknown speaker36:27speaker not certain

     Yes. I, I move that the bill shall be moved to the third reading calendar. Thank You. Thank you.

  6. Senate President (presiding)36:32

     Senator Ipson again, Me. Let me re restate the motion. The motion is shall Senate bill 90 be read a third time? Roll call vote.

  7. Senate clerk36:39

     Senator Vickers. Baldy Aye. Lewin Aye. Bramer Bus Gilmore. Escamilla Fillmore Grover Harper Kinins Aye. Ipson Johnson k Juab McKay. Mikel Aye. Milner Musselman Owens pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers. Senator Vickers.

  8. Sen. Evan J. Vickers37:25

     Thank you Mr. President. I should have stood up, uh, during questions, but anyway, I did want to explain my vote. And my vote is aye. And we heard the bill and committee last night and that, and that senator did a great job of explaining that there's really a lot of work gone into this, but man, it's massive and it does put us in a position to lead out once again as a state. And I think that there's some really, really positive things that can come from this. There was a lot of good questions last night and, and a lot of good testimony, but I did, I just wanna reinforce that this, this is potentially setting Utah up to be, uh, number one again, Mr. President.

  9. Senate President (presiding)37:59speaker not certain

     There we go. There we go. Keep talking about it.

  10. Senate clerk38:04

      Senator Vickers Waller. Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye. President Adams Aye. Senate

  11. Senate President (presiding)38:12

      Bill 90 having received 27 yay votes, zero nay votes. Two being absent shall be read a third time.

  12. Senate President (presiding)38:19

      Senator Balder, you had a, an audience here. I think they came to hear you present that bill in action. So I'm gonna go to you for a personal privilege.

  13. Sen. Heidi Balderree38:26

      Thank you Mr. President today. Um,

  14. Senate President (presiding)38:30

      Let's bring 'em on. Your, your friends. Yes. Come on up. Oh, A lot of good friends here. So go ahead. Senator Balder. Yes.

  15. Sen. Heidi Balderree38:48

      Thank you Mr. President. Today is a special day here. To my right, we have the honorable, um, Ron Williams and Mr. Williams happens to live in my district a well, uh, a fortuitous fact that I didn't know for several years. But he is my constituent. He lives in Draper and I've had the privilege of knowing him, like I said, many years. And when you truly want to know someone, you watch how they show up in different settings. And Ron consistently leads with integrity, compassion, and purpose. He's an exceptional teacher, a trusted spiritual leader, and an inspiration to everyone he meets. His story is one of triumph over tragedy. Ron is not just a survivor, he's a thriver. He stands as a powerful example to anyone who erroneously believes that their past need to find their future. His life reflects the truth found in Romans 8 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them. Who are the called according to his purpose? Ron's journey empowers others to believe that they can do big things and succeed no matter where they start. With that, I'm proud to present the following citation, recognizing this truly stellar individual.

• Jan 23, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Sen. Heidi Balderree27:11

     Uh, as a reminder, this bill is a military crosswalk that will help our military veterans translate their skills and experience into the civilian workforce. I've had a lot of excitement about this bill, and I feel like we've spent a lot of time. So with that, I will conclude my presentation. Thank you. Looking for questions, seeing no questions.

  2. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)27:35

     Going to you for action. I Move that Senate Bill 90 pass. Thank you. And the question is, shall Senate bill 90 pass Roll call vote.

  3. Senate clerk (roll call)27:43

     Senator Vickers Baldry Aye. Lein Aye. Grammar Seems to be a lot of chatter in the chamber. If we could go ahead. Keep Senator Vickers bus Comore escamia Aye. Fillmore Aye. Grover a Harper Aye. Hankins Aye. Ipson Johnson Juab McKay Aye. Mikel Aye. Milner Musselman Owens pitcher Plum Rebi Aye. Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams Aye.

  4. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)28:43

     Senate Bill 90, having received 27 yay votes, zero nay votes, two being absent, passes this body and will be sent to the house for their consideration.

  5. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)28:52

     Senate Bill 1 0 1, Senate bill 1 0 1, specialized product amendments. Senator Vickers. Senator back to Senator Vickers.

  6. Sen. Vickers29:01

     Thank you Mr. President. Uh, as I mentioned yesterday, we've, you know,

• Feb 6, 2026 House Government Operations Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (20 turns)

  1. Committee chair35:02

     We'll dive right into item number one and that is Senate Bill 90, occupational licenses for veterans and service members. Representative Baldry, you have the con, I've got your mic on, so go right ahead.

  2. Sen. Heidi Balderree35:17

     Present. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The purpose of this bill, occupational licenses for veterans and service members is to create a reliable pathway for veterans and service members to translate their military training and experience into Utah occupational licenses without unnecessary duplication, delay, or cost. In simple terms, the bill answers the question. If you did this job in the military, why should you have to start from scratch? In civilian life, a military crosswalk functions as a translator between military service and civilian employment. In the military service members hold specific occupational codes, uh, MOS and the Army and Marine Corps, A FSC in the Air Force, uh, NEC in the Navy, the MOS and the Coast Guard. In civilian life, jobs and licenses are organized very differently, and the crosswalk bridges the gap by aligning military roles, training and competencies with comparable Utah license professions. Um, so this builds on Utah's existing licensure by endorsement framework. By allowing doppel or the Department of Professional Licensing to recognize military experience is substantially equivalent to civilian requirements. Um, it will maintain public safety and competency because there's no automatic licenses. The applicants must meet re uh, recency requirement requirements to see how recent their experience was past required exams were applicable and demonstrate competency consistent with Utah standards. Um, doppel again, is granted rule making authority to distinguish between types of service established documentation and verification procedures. Why does this matter? Well, um, I, this is something I found out along the way, but, um, the number one cause of suicide among veterans is, is not PTSD like I thought it was. It's actually financial stress. And this also seeks to, I'm relieve that financial strain, uh, Utah without this loses access to highly trained, disciplined workers. And SB 90 removes these barriers, rug keeping strong safeguards in place. So just a couple of real world, real world examples. Uh, a military medic could qualify faster for an EMT or nursing license. A military truck driver might meet requirements for a commercial driver's license. A cybersecurity specialist may translate military credentials into civilian IT licensure. So this saves time, avoids duplicative training and accelerates workforce entry. And with that, I would turn, uh, the time over

  3. Committee chair37:58

     to Jason Shipman from LABAs. Jason, Go ahead. Jason, just, uh, we know who you are, but tell us and, uh, make sure you signed in and who you represent.

  4. Jason Chidman, Libertas Institute38:08

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Jason Shipman. I am the policy director at the Libertas Institute. Uh, this policy came, uh, about in, uh, 2022 in Pennsylvania. Uh, they had done, the state had done a series of, uh, surveys with service members with veterans to find out what their pain points were and outside of education, it was occupational licensing. So they had a gentleman in their department of professional licensing that took it upon himself to start investigating ways to make it a lot easier for veterans to achieve an occupational license. He actually received a grant from the Department of Defense to build this out, and it took him two years of two to three years to, to get it up and running. And we had a gentleman that worked on our staff for a number of years who was interested in this, in this space. And he picked up on it. He'd done some research before he left for law school. And we picked up on a couple years ago, and we approached Doppel and the Department of Military Affairs and asked them if they would be interested in doing this. And they said that we just don't have the resources to do it. So we took it upon ourselves to do all the legwork. And we essentially, uh, took what Pennsylvania did and we made it our own. Uh, and we mapped all of the jobs in every branch of the military and then mapped what it took to achieve a license in Utah, and then looked for the equivalencies. And so, um, what we provided in October when we did the, the presentation to the Military Affairs and Veterans Commission was a giant spreadsheet of all of the jobs and how that matched up with all of the license it put in there, what the, if there were exam requirements, um, if there were other considerations to be taken into account. And, uh, we also provided a series of PDFs that explained, here's what the license requires, here's what the military trains you to do, and here's what the differences are. So it gives doppel just a complete roadmap to implement the program. We had originally wanted to implement this in January of next year to give them time to map it out, but, um, our researcher, who is also an Air Force veteran, did such a, a good job doing this, that they asked us to take the, the start date off because they want to implement this as soon as possible. Um, we have been assured that, uh, it's not gonna take a whole lot more resources to implement this. They will need some help. There is a little bit of a fiscal note on it for a person to administer this because it is big. Something that we did that Pennsylvania has not done yet is incorporate all of the latest job changes that the Army and the Air Force went through last year. And so that's something they still haven't even started doing yet. So we would be the second state and the most up to date. And I have gotten calls and had meetings with people from around the country that want to expand this to every other state. I actually talked with a lady from ge, uh, aerospace earlier this week who was having problems at the federal level where the FAA is not matching up the requirements for mechanics that that served in in the military to get their license to work on airplanes and helicopters. And so we're actually trying to help them out a little bit too. So this, this is not just us, this is a, this is a very big issue. Um, I served five years in the Navy. I worked in a power plant of an aircraft carrier. In order to perform that job in many states, I would have to get what's called a stationary engineer's license. Um, even though I had been doing that under, you know, a whole lot more pressure than they do, uh, in the civilian world, but most states, they just don't know how things work in the military. And so what we've done is we've built a roadmap to allow the state to do this. Um, and we have, we've been great partners. We've had great partnership with Doppel and with, uh, Ryan Garrett with the Department of Military Affairs to get this up to where we think it needs to be in order to be a successful program.

  5. Committee chair42:00

     Alright, thank you, uh, Jason Chipman for the work and for, uh, helping on this. Uh, we have a question from, well, let me say, are you, are you completed with your presentation? Yes. That concludes our Presentation. Alright, I've got a question from Representative Maloy. Go ahead.

  6. Committee chair42:16

     We're on clarifying questions.

  7. Rep. A. Cory Maloy42:18

     Yes, we are. Okay, Great. Um, uh, more of a comment. I guess a few years ago I was involved in a lot, a big bill to, uh, change this that really helped the military spouses. And I was just talking to Mark Steinle and I was just, I can't believe we didn't build this into it. So this is a very, very good move and it fits right in with what we've already been working on here in the state of Utah. So, good, bill, thank you.

  8. Committee chair42:44

     Alright, thank you Representative Maloy. And as the chair, I just wanna say, you know, this is right in line with what we've been doing with Doppel. Uh, taking down barriers and roadblocks and getting, uh, veterans into the workforce is a really good thing in every state. And so, uh, thanks to Veritas, thanks to Senator Balderree for reading this forward. And, and thanks for the help from the, uh, Utah Department of Veterans Military Affairs as well. Uh, don't see any further questions. Uh, we will go to the public. Raise your hand if you wanna speak to this bill. Uh, seeing none, uh, online. Anybody. Looks like this is a, uh, mine turned off. What's that? Oh, mine turned off. So, Looks like this is an overall very popular bill. Senator. Alright. We don't have anybody from the public. Oh, sorry. There's one. Oh, there's one. Alright, let's bring him up. What's that? Up to you. Go ahead. Okay.

  9. Committee chair43:58

     All right. Uh, Seth Stewart, turn your camera on please. Alright, that's a face we recognize. Um, you have, uh, you have two minutes. Go right ahead. Time's yours.

  10. Seth Stewart44:08

      Great. Thank you. Yeah. And Seth Stewart representing myself. Um, so, uh, this bill exposes the hazards of having licensing requirements at all. They aren't constitutionally grounded. And maybe the argument is, well, if we aren't going to license them in the government, then who will, uh, the answer to that question is found in Utah's free market provision for Article one Section 20, it's Constitution. There isn't any constitutional basis basis for licensure and regulation of, of, uh, free market professions. In this way, it tramples on the natural and private right of contract. Uh, if you did want to relieve the financial strain on both veterans and regular civilians and their families, I believe you'd remove the licensing requirements and let the private market regulate itself through consumer choice with the usual, usual safeguards of civil litigation and only criminalize what is actually wrong. Uh, this bill, uh, does create a standing economic incentive for military service by turning it into a, an ongoing licensure benefit. Uh, so it's not a one-time transition benefit, but it's, it's a discount essentially that would alter career incentives. And under US federal code, the militia is supposed to be independent. And so offering an economic regulatory incentive for enlistment is unconstitutional. It would enable military bodies to control the economy, and there's no general economic regulatory power delegated anywhere in the state constitution to that. And, uh, pressuring people to enlist is, is with economic incentives in this way is, uh, is, uh, hazardous. It's hazardous becoming more of a standing army type of an environment which is forbidden in the Constitution, which, uh, specifically forbids economic appropriations that last for longer than two years for the military, um, enables standing military entities to, uh, in, in and of themselves to decide on economic policy in a ways that allows for favoritism to occur, uh, both relative to civilian markets and also to control behavior once enlisted. So, uh, for those reasons, I'll urge you to oppose this bill and, uh, simply reconsider, uh, take it back to the Constitution and, uh, and reconsider those, uh, licensing, uh, prerogatives because I don't believe they exist. Thank you.

  11. Committee chair46:17

      Alright, thanks Seth. And for the record, who are you speaking for? Are you, uh, for yourself?

  12. Seth Stewart46:23

      I'm just, I'm just representing myself.

  13. Committee chair46:24

      Alright, thank you. Appreciate everybody's opinion in this, uh, committee. We hear from everybody Now, uh, that closes public comment. Uh, we'll come back to the committee for further discussion and or action on this bill. Alright, Representative Fiefia.

  14. Rep. Doug Fiefia46:40

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we pass out SB 90 and recommend it with a favorable recommendation to the full house.

  15. Committee chair46:48

      Okay. Thank you for the motion. That's in order. Would you like to speak to it?

  16. Rep. Doug Fiefia46:51

      I'll waive. Alright. Thank you to the bill sponsor. I'll waive. Alright.

  17. Committee chair46:58

      So the motion before us is that we favorably pass out Senate bill 90 occupational licenses for veterans and service members. We'll do a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Alright, that's unanimous. Congratulations Senator. Appreciate your work.

  18. Sen. Heidi Balderree47:16

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Have a good weekend, ma'am.

  19. Committee chair47:19

      You as well. Alright. She Was hoping you would go consent, but we don't want Jeff.

  20. Unknown speaker47:24speaker not certain

      What's that? You're up? Yes.

• Mar 4, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (10 turns)

  1. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:59:14

     Senate Bill 90 occupational licenses for veterans and service members by Senator Balderree. This bill was served in government operations with a vote 10 0 2. The house sponsors Representative Al Peterson, Representative Peterson.

  2. Rep. Val L. Peterson1:59:30

     Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro, Tim. So this bill is about, uh, making sure that, uh, the skills and training that our military members receive is, are given credit for in our licensing, uh, and our certificates here in the state of Utah. So, as you know, the military trains people in many different specialties. They give them specialty training and they have actually created a crosswalk, which shows you what those specialties tie back to in civilian life. And so what this bill does is says that that crosswalk will be used in awarding, uh, um, certificates and licensing in different fields. Uh, and a good example of this would be my son right now is at, uh, military training. And so he's getting, uh, training as an interrogator, and that, that that is crosswalk back like credits for psychology at the university. It's given crosswork for, um, physical training, a number of different items. All this does is make sure that with our certifications and our licensing, that that their training is given credit and that they can be able to use that so that tho that training is, uh, goes to their civilian careers. And so it will save them money, it will save us, uh, time in getting people licensed in, in key fields. And so I urge your support on this bill.

  3. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:00:55

     Thank you, Representative Peterson. Discussion to the Bill C none Representative Peterson for summation.

  4. Rep. Val L. Peterson2:01:03

     Just, uh, I appreciate all your support of our veterans and the training that they've had that, uh, we can move them into our economy. We have 130,000 veterans in the state of Utah with an economic impact of about $4.5 billion. I appreciate your support.

  5. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:01:19

     Thank you. Representative Peterson. The voting is open on Senate bill 90 occupational licenses for veterans and service members. Representative seeing all present, having voted voting will be closed. Senate bill 90, having received 73 yes votes and zero nay votes passes house will be signed by the speaker pro tem. Return to the Senate for the signature of the president. Bill right now. Representative Bolinder.

  6. Rep. Jon Bolinder2:02:59

     Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tem, we on the bill that h, or excuse me, 91 SB 91 Motion to adopt fifth substitute SB 91.

  7. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:03:21speaker not certain

     Are you going to do that List Representative? But you can do either one that you would like.

  8. Rep. Bridger Bolinder2:03:25speaker not certain

     So let's, Let's, she hasn't read that bill though, so I'm coming to you for this. Okay,

  9. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)2:03:30speaker not certain

     Gotcha. Okay.

  10. Rep. Bridger Bolinder2:03:31speaker not certain

      So I move