The state Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that seeks to ease professionals’ ability to work in Colorado.

Senate Bill 22-116, which received the chamber’s unanimous support on third reading, would allow individuals with a license, certification or military occupational specialty from another state to get the applicable license in Colorado quicker by deleting a requirement to the existing program. 

The bill’s sponsors said the move would help getting professionals into the workforce quicker.

Like other states, many of Colorado’s businesses face an acute labor shortage, the result of the pandemic-induced flight of tens of thousands of people who quit their jobs. Nationwide, some 4.4 million people – 3% of the country’s workforce – have quit their jobs by September of last year.

The crunch is occurring at a time when Colorado is poised to recover most of the jobs it lost during the pandemic. The state has regained 335,500 of the 375,800 jobs lost between February and April 2020, translating to a job recovery rate of 89.3% and exceeding the U.S. average of 84%, according to state data.

Current law already allows for reciprocity in licensure, which means a professional from another state, such as dentists, advanced nurse practitioners and cosmetologists, can obtain a license in Colorado. SB 22-116 removes the requirement that an applicant prove that he or she has substantially equivalent experience or credential before being granted a Colorado license.

To be eligible under the measure, the applicant must have held his or her license in another state for at least one year.

“I am glad to see this bill garner bipartisan support and pass unanimously in the Senate,” Minority Leader Chris Holbert, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “Part of our Commitment to Colorado is to deliver a more affordable cost of living and reduce burdensome regulations that make it difficult for struggling families to get back to work. Senate Bill 116 does just that by cutting red tape and making it easier for new Coloradans to enter the workforce.” 

Commitment to Colorado, which Republicans unveiled in January, outlines the GOP’s priorities in the legislative session this year.

The bill’s cosponsors include Sen. Brittany Pettersen, Rep. Kevin Van Winkle and Rep. Shannon Bird.

The measure’s next stop is the House of Representatives.