by Christine Stuart
Gov. Ned Lamont announced today his intention to recommend the elimination of licensure application fees for certain essential fields, as part of the fiscal year 2025 budget adjustment proposal.
The proposal, which will be presented to lawmakers in February during the next legislative session, aims to encourage individuals to pursue careers in education, child care, and health care, where there is a significant demand for workers. It will cost the state $3.5 million annually.
An educator certificate costs $200, a home child care license costs $40, a fee for a practical nurse is $150, and the fee for a registered nurse is $200.
Recognizing the labor shortages by eliminating these fees, Lamont believes it will incentivize individuals to explore opportunities in these fields.
“Right now, there are many job openings in essential fields that employers need to fill, and by eliminating these licensure application fees we can help encourage those who are seeking employment to consider entering a career in these sectors,” Lamont said. “I am hopeful that legislators will agree and vote to approve these fee reductions.”
While Republican lawmakers like House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora are supportive of the measure he thinks it should go much further.
“Occupational licensure reform is a concept House Republicans support as a means to reducing cost-related barriers that could make it more difficult for someone who is pursuing a career or startup in a particular field, and while I’m glad this topic has been elevated by the Governor’s proposal, my caucus believes our state can afford to do more and will have a proposal that aims to extend the conversation beyond careers he targeted, such as the building trades,” he said.
Bill Garrity, an emergency department nurse at UConn Health and president of the University Health Professionals, AFT Local 3837, fails to address the barrier for entry into these professions.
“Specifically, a manufactured deficit of over $200M threatening our patients and students – who are already grappling with forced tuition hikes,” Garrity said.
Connecticut spending is constricted by fiscal guardrails adopted in 2017, which means even though it has a surplus on paper, they can’t necessarily spend it on increasing services or expanding educational offerings at state universities and colleges.
“Lamont’s proposal to eliminate licensure application fees is a great step to remove barriers to education, healthcare and childcare careers” Seth Freeman, president of the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges, said. “However, his service cuts to public higher education and tuition hikes are doing the opposite. His cuts and tuition hikes are adding barriers to students, and reducing the pipeline of college graduates and workers entering these same fields.”
Louise Williams, president of CSU-AAUP, AFT Local 6745 and Connecticut Central State University (CCSU) history professor, said the move has left her scratching her head.
“Saving a few hundred dollars on application fees is helpful, but it means nothing to the students who have had to drop out due to the recent tuition hike or the students who need courses that are no longer being offered,” Williams said. “ If Governor Lamont really wants to ‘help encourage those who are seeking employment to consider entering a career in these sectors,’ then he has to fully fund our students’ futures.”
Connecticut For All’s Director Norma Martinez-HoSang was even harsher in her response.
“Yet again Governor Lamont’s drop in the bucket strategy is failing to address the true crisis facing Connecticut residents,” Martinez-HoSang said. “If he is serious about helping to ‘encourage those who are seeking employment to consider entering a career in these sectors’, then he must move bold policy that reaches the root cause of this employment crisis.”