HB 5404 — AN ACT CONCERNING MILITARY TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE AND THE DRIVER'S LICENSE ENDORSEMENT TO OPERATE FIRE APPARATUS.

Substitute House ofBill Representatives File No.

6565404 GeneralPublic AssemblyAct February Session, 2024Reprint of File No.

176)24-14 SubstituteAN HouseACT BillCONCERNING No.MILITARY TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE AND THE DRIVER'S LICENSE ENDORSEMENT TO OPERATE FIRE APPARATUS.

5404 As Amended by House Amendment Schedule "A" Approved by the Legislative Commissioner May 3, 2024 AN ACT CONCERNING MILITARY TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE AND THE DRIVER'S LICENSE ENDORSEMENT TO OPERATE FIRE APPARATUS.

Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, no such endorsement shall be issued to any person until [he or she] such person demonstrates personally to the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, sHB5404including /the FileConnecticut No.Fire Academy, any regional fire school or the chief local fire official of any municipality as defined in section 7-323j, by means of testing in a representative vehicle that such person possesses the skills necessary for operation of fire apparatus.

656Substitute sHB5404House FileBill No.

6565404 including(2) If the Connecticutholder Fireof Academy,a license of any regionalclass fireis school(A) ora theveteran chiefwho localapplies fireto officialthecommissioner for a "Q" endorsement not later thantwo yearsafter the date of anydischarge municipalityfrom asthe definedmilitary and who, not more than two years prior to such discharge, met the conditions and limitations set forth in section49 7-323j,CFR by383.77(a)(2) meansor 49 CFR 383.77(b)(2), as amended from time to time, or (B) a member of testingthe inarmed forces or the National Guard who applies to the commissioner for a representative"Q" vehicleendorsement and who meets the conditions and limitations set forth in 49 CFR 383.77(a)(2) or 49 CFR 383.77(b)(2), as amended from time to time, the commissioner shall waive the requirement under subdivision (1) of this subsection to demonstrate that such personveteran or member possesses the skills necessary for operation of fire apparatus.

(2) If the holder of a license of any class is (A) a veteran who applies to thecommissioner for a"Q" endorsement not later thantwo yearsafter the date of discharge from the military and who, not more than two years prior to such discharge, met the conditions and limitations set forth in 49 CFR 383.77(a)(2) or 49 CFR 383.77(b)(2), as amended from time to time, or (B) a member of the armed forces or the National Guard who applies to the commissioner for a "Q" endorsement and who meets the conditions and limitations set forth in 49 CFR 383.77(a)(2) or 49 CFR 383.77(b)(2), as amended from time to time, the commissioner shall waive the requirement under subdivision (1) of this subsection to demonstrate that such veteran or member possesses the skills necessary for operation of fire apparatus.

ThisApproved actMay shall14, take2024 effectPublic asAct followsNo. and shall amend the following sections:

Section24-14 12 Octoberof 1,2 2024 14-36a(d) sHB5404 / File No.

656 sHB5404 File No.

656 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which does not have a fiscal impact, provides a waiver of the skills-based demonstration requirement for certain veterans and military personnel when applying to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for a Q-endorsement (i.e., to drive a fire truck).

Administering the waiver is within DMV's existing expertise.

House "A" makes clarifying and technical changes to the underlying bill and results in no fiscal impact.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sHB5404 / File No.

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656 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 5404 (as amended by House "A")* AN ACT CONCERNING MILITARY TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE AND THE DRIVER'S LICENSE ENDORSEMENT TO OPERATE FIRE APPARATUS.

SUMMARY This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) commissioner to waive certain Q-endorsement eligibility requirements for qualifying veterans and members of the armed forces or National Guard (“military members”).

(A Q-endorsement is a license endorsement that authorizes holders to operate a fire apparatus (i.e., drive a fire truck).) Under current law, applicants for this endorsement must have (1)beentrainedtodriveafiretruckaccording to Commission on Fire Prevention and Control standards and (2) demonstrated the necessary skills (i.e., passed a driving test) on a representative vehicle, among other requirements.

To qualify for a waiver under the bill, members must meet minimum requirements set in a federal law on commercial driver’s license (CDL) testing waivers.

This federal law allows states to waive the CDL knowledge test and driving skills test and sets qualifications for the waivers (see below).

Under the bill, the DMV commissioner must waive both the Q-endorsement training and driving test requirements for members who meet the minimum federal requirements for either the CDL knowledge test or driving skills test waiver.

*HouseAmendment“A”(1)requiresthecommissionerto waiveboth the Q-endorsement driving test and the training requirement, and (2) replaces the underlying bill’s eligibility requirements (based, in part, on a Federal Highway Administration vehicle classification system) with eligibility requirements based on federal CDL eligibility waivers.

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656 EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2024 FEDERAL CDL WAIVER REQUIREMENTS APPLIED TO Q- ENDORSEMENTS Federal law sets rules for CDLs for interstate operation and states are generally required to conform their licensing laws to these requirements.

Among other things, these rules include requiring CDL applicants to pass a knowledge test and driving skills test.

However, they allow states to waive these test requirements under certain circumstances.

Federal law generally allows states to waive the CDL knowledge test requirement for military members who show that, within the year prior to applying, they:

1.

were regularly employed in one of seven specified military capacities (e.g., an Air Force pavement and construction equipment operator,Army PATRIOTlaunching stationoperator, or Marine Corps motor vehicle operator—3531);

2.