GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

SESSION LAW 2015-115

SENATE BILL 43

AN ACT to extend the period immediately preceding the date of application from 90 days to one year in which a military veteran seeking a waiver of the commercial skills test must have been regularly employed and to provide a military veteran with an additional method for satisfying the certification requirement in G.S. 20‑37.13.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑37.13 reads as rewritten:

"§ 20‑37.13.  Commercial drivers license qualification standards.

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(c1)      The Division may waive the skills test for any qualified military applicant at the time the applicant applies for a commercial drivers license if the applicant is currently licensed at the time of application and meets all of the following:

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(3)        The applicant certifies, and provides satisfactory evidence on the date of application, that the applicant is a retired, discharged, or current member of an active or reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States and is regularly employed or was regularly employed within the 90‑dayone‑year period immediately preceding the date of application in a military position requiring the operation of a commercial motor vehicle, and the applicant meets either of the following requirements:

a.         Repealed by Session Laws 2013‑201, s. 1, effective June 26, 2013.

b.         Has operated for the two‑year period immediately preceding the date of application a vehicle representative of the class and, if applicable, the type of commercial motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be licensed, and has taken and successfully completed a skills test administered by the military.

c.         For an applicant who is a retired or discharged member of an active or reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States, the applicant (i) has operated for the two‑year period immediately preceding the date of retirement or discharge a vehicle representative of the class and, if applicable, the type of commercial motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be licensed, and has taken and successfully completed a skills test administered by the military, (ii) has retired or received either an honorable or general discharge, and (iii) has retired or been discharged from the Armed Forces within the 90‑dayone‑year period immediately preceding the date of application.

(c2) The one‑year period referenced in subdivision (3) of subsection (c1) of this section applies unless a different period is provided by federal law. An applicant may provide his or her Form DD 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," and his or her drivers license issued by the military, to satisfy the certification required by subdivision (3) of subsection (c1) of this section. An applicant who is retired or discharged must provide a drivers license issued by the military that was valid at the time of his or her retirement or discharge when using the process in this subsection to satisfy the certification required by subdivision (3) of subsection (c1) of this section.

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SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 18^th day of June, 2015.

                                                                    s/  Daniel J. Forest

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Pat McCrory

                                                                         Governor

Approved 1:05 p.m. this 24^th day of June, 2015