Assemblymember Jim Patterson

Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) has joined a fellow legislator in introducing a bill that would make it easier to get occupational licensees to work faster.

Introduced with James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), Assembly Bill 2185 would allow people occupational license holders in good standing from other states to transfer those licenses to California.

The bill would apply to people working in fields requiring state licenses, such as nurses, makeup artists and travel agents, according to a news release from Patterson’s office.

The problem is exacerbated for military spouses who cannot quickly get to work in their fields after being stationed in California, despite holding a valid license and years of work experience out of state.

The bill would save those people significant time — including extra education and unpaid, supervised work hours in some cases — as well as paperwork.

“California is the most burdensome and onerous state when it comes to occupational licenses,” Patterson said. “Other states figured this out years ago and many of them have compact or other reciprocity agreements in place. We are talking about people who are industry professionals. There’s no reason why we should continue making it near impossible for talented, reputable licensees to get right to work when they move to California.”

Many states have addressed the problem by accepting all out-of-state occupational licenses for the purpose of satisfying state-specific occupational licensing requirements.

Under AB 2185, California licensing boards will still collect the necessary fees to process the license, and may require state-specific exams if necessary. Applicants must have been practicing for at least three of the past five years and have faced no disciplinary action.