The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania Bill 575 sets statewide policy for awarding academic credit to veterans and protects military service professional licenses
Last action · March 17, 2025: Re-referred to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, March 17, 2025Sponsors: Jake Banta and 15 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Pennsylvania House Bill 575 requires the Department of Education to adopt a standardized policy for awarding academic credit for military training and service experience. The legislation also protects professional licenses and certifications for individuals entering military service by exempting them from continuing education requirements and waiving intermediate renewal fees upon discharge.
Service members and veterans returning to Pennsylvania or pursuing higher education will be guaranteed consideration of their military experience for college credits and license renewals without financial or educational penalties for time spent deployed.
- Pennsylvania House Bill 575 amends Titles 51 and 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to update provisions regarding military affairs and municipal authorities. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Military service members and veterans
Their professional licenses are protected from forfeiture during deployment, continuing education requirements are waived, and they are eligible to receive academic credit for military training.
Institutions of higher education
They must incorporate the Department of Education's policy for awarding academic credit for military training and publish it in their public catalogs.
State licensing departments
They must exempt deployed individuals from continuing education requirements, waive intermediate renewal fees, and evaluate military training for license requirements.
Key Facts
- The Department of Education must adopt a policy for awarding academic credit to students enrolled in higher education who completed military training or obtained experiential learning.
- Colleges and universities must make the Department of Education's military credit policy available in their public course catalogs.
- Individuals licensed by Commonwealth agencies who enter military service will not forfeit their licenses and are exempt from continuing education or in-service training requirements during service.
- Service members have up to one year following discharge to renew their professional licenses by paying only the current renewal fee without paying intermediate renewal fees.
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- Licensing entities must consider a veteran's military service, education, and training to determine if certification requirements can be met or waived.
- Employers of police officers unable to attend in-service training due to military service or service-related injury must request a waiver.
- Police officers whose employers fail to request a waiver shall not be decertified unless they fail to participate in appropriate makeup training upon return.
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court may extend these professional license protections to individuals licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this bill affect college credits for veterans?
Will service members lose their professional licenses while deployed?
What is the deadline to renew a professional license after military discharge?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 17, 2025HouseCommitteeRe-referred to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, March 17, 2025
- Mar 17, 2025HouseReported with request to re-refer to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, March 17, 2025
- Mar 17, 2025HouseCorrective Reprint, Printer's No. 959, March 17, 2025
- Feb 12, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to EDUCATION, Feb. 12, 2025
Version history & redline
2 versions on fileLobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 11 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Codification of Statewide Military Credit Policy
Shifts responsibility for setting baseline military training credit standards from individual institutions to the Department of Education.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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