Kasich order aims to help veterans get civilian jobs


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Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday signed an executive order geared toward making it easier for returning veterans to apply the skills they learned on the battlefield toward civilian life.

The order requires state departments, boards and commissions that issue professional certifications to count relevant military education, training and experience toward requirements for receiving an occupational license.

It also directs the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, which coordinates higher education in the state, to work with state universities to simplify the process of converting military education into college credit.

Kasich said the change will help remove the barriers facing veterans in getting civilian jobs. The unemployment rate for veterans in Ohio in 2012 was 7.6 percent, while 12.8 percent of Ohio’s roughly 75,000 post-9/11 veterans were unemployed, according to the executive order.

“Imagine driving a truck somewhere in Kandahar and then you need to drive a truck on (Interstate 71). You shouldn’t have to go to truck driving school to get that,” Kasich said.

He also used the example of army medics receiving credit for their military training for requirements to be a civilian EMT.

The executive order largely mirrors the pending House Bill 98, which the Ohio House of Representatives passed last month.

HB98 cosponsor Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, said Kasich’s executive order allows the needed reforms the bill would make to take effect immediately.

But HB98 is still necessary since it would codify Kasich’s order into law, he said. It would also give more time to military members who are deployed for active duty to get mandatory continuing education for their civilian professional licenses.

“The fact that the governor’s executive order is going to get the ball rolling on getting these agencies to get the rules established right away will make the implementation of HB98 that much quicker when the governor signs it,” said Retherford, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

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