LAWMAKER: PROTECT LICENSES FOR DEPLOYED GUARD MEMBERS, RESERVISTS

By ERIC GRAF
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Monday, Dec. 3) _ Arizona’s servicemen and servicewomen shouldn’t have to worry about losing their livelihoods at home when they are serving the country, a state senator says.

Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, has proposed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would protect members of the Arizona National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces Reserves from losing professional licenses while on deployment.

“We’re trying to make sure there are less injuries to the professional and private lives of soldiers,” Waring said. “It’s one more step to give them one less thing to worry about.”

Professional licenses are required for many jobs, ranging from a barber’s license to an emergency medical technician’s license.

Under the SB 1006, professional licenses that normally would expire while a National Guard member or reservist is on federal active duty would be extended for 180 days after he or she returns. While service members would be responsible for renewal costs, they would not face any late fees in that grace period.

State law currently offers such protections to U.S. armed forces members who are deployed abroad.

Questions about a soldier’s professional status can create unneeded stress on service members and their families, said Lt. Stuart Goodman, who knows the issue as both a Navy Reservist deployed in Iraq and as a lobbyist for several state regulatory boards. He helped Waring with the bill.

“It creates a feeling of helplessness,” Goodman said, adding that soldiers and their families feel their financial security is in jeopardy.

“We’re trying to find a way to proactively create a mechanism that will relieve the stress,” he said.

Goodman said he and his wife were involved in a stressful situation with his bank while he was in Iraq, and he does not want to see other soldiers going through the same kind of anxiety, he said.

“It was a pretty big mess, and it created a ton of stress,” Goodman said.

Jim Ellars, national legislative officer for the Arizona branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said service members should not face uncertainty about their job security.

“Soldiers donate their time, efforts and lives to a career. They choose to serve and they shouldn’t be punished for that,” Ellars said. “We need our guards and reserves, and we need their talent in our communities.”

Ellars said that while the state has done a good job protecting its veterans this bill would fill in a gap in Arizona law.

Waring said he is happy with the response he has received from the veterans’ community so far. He said he is looking to find those who may have experienced problems with licensing as the bill moves forward.