BILL ANALYSIS
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|Hearing Date:April 19, 2004 |Bill No:SB |
| |1914 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Senator Liz Figueroa, Chair
Bill No: SB 1914 Author: Business & Professions
Committee
As Introduced: March 17, 2004 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Business and Professions Committee Non-health
Omnibus Bill.
SUMMARY: Makes several non-controversial, minor,
non-substantive or technical changes to various
miscellaneous provisions pertaining to regulatory boards of
the Department of Consumer Affairs (Department).
Existing law:
1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors
by the Contractors' State License Board (CSLB).
2)Requires an unlicensed person engaging in a project under
$500 to give notice to the consumer regarding his or her
non-licensee status.
3)Prohibits contractors from engaging in asbestos-related
work without the required certification.
4)Prohibits an applicant for licensure convicted of certain
acts from applying for licensure for a one-year period
following the conviction.
5)Specifies that a delinquency fee is 50 percent of the
renewal fee, if the license is renewed more than 30 days
after its expiration.
6)Requires a copy of a complaint in a civil action against
a contractor's bond to be served on the registrar of CSLB
by the clerk of the court.
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7)Prohibits CSLB from making public disclosure of
complaints against a licensee, except as specified.
8)Requires a contractor to file a bond in the amount of
$10,000. After January 1, 2007, the amount of the bond
is to be $12,500.
9)Requires a qualifying individual to file a bond in the
amount of $7,500.
10)Provides for a contractor's licensure examination, and
exempts certain persons from the examination.
11)Requires contractors changing certain information,
including business name or address, to notify the
registrar within 90 days of the change.
12)Makes employment of certain persons who have been denied
a license or had action taken against their license, or
the license of an entity that they were associated with,
grounds for disciplinary action.
13)Provides for the licensing and regulation of court
reporters by the Court Reporters Board (CRB).
14)Requires the payment of an initial certification fee
prior to certification as a court reporter.
15)Requires a licensee applying for renewal to meet
requirements that include notifying CRB if he or she has
been convicted of a misdemeanor substantially related to
the functions and duties of a court reporter.
16)Requires private court reporting schools to disclose
specified information to prospective students.
This bill:
1)Makes the following changes pertaining to the licensing
of contractors by the Contractors' State License Board
(CSLB) :
a) Replaces the previously-used term "deputy
registrars" with the currently-used term "enforcement
representatives."
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b) Specifies that unlicensed contractors may not
perform or engage in asbestos-related work without the
required certification.
c) Deletes the requirement that a person who performs
small contracting jobs (less than $500) which are
exempt from the state license requirement must provide
a notice to a consumer that he or she is not licensed
by the CSLB.
d) Deletes the prohibition that an applicant for
licensure who has been convicted of working as an
unlicensed contractor must wait at least one year
before he or she may apply for a contractor's license.
e) Conforms the amount of the bond that is required to
obtain a license as a qualifying individual to the
amount of the contractors' license bond as of January
1, 2007.
f) Deletes the requirement that court clerks serve the
registrar of CSLB, by registered or certified mail,
with a copy of any complaint in any civil action
against a license bond.
g) Specifies that the required change-of-address
notices licensees must provide to the board within 90
days must be on a form approved by CSLB.
h) Expands the definition of disciplinary cases that
are eligible for resolution through arbitration.
i) Shortens the time period, from 1 year to 90 days,
in which a licensed contractor must reinstate his or
her license following its suspension for failure to
pay a civil penalty or comply with an order of
correction.
j) Exempts employment as a bona fide employee from the
prohibition against employing persons who have been
denied or had action taken against their license or
the license of an entity with which they were
associated.
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aa) Eliminates the 30-day grace period for delinquent
fees.
bb) Deletes obsolete provisions and makes other
technical changes.
2)Makes the following changes pertaining to the licensing
of contractors by the Court Reporters Board (CRB):
a) Requires a licensee to notify CRB of any
misdemeanor conviction.
b) Authorizes CRB to issue an interim permit to
successful applicants. Specifies that the interim
permit shall be valid for up to 45 days or until the
initial certificate fee is received and the permanent
certificate is issued, whichever comes first.
c) Requires public schools to disclose the same
information to prospective students that private
schools are required to disclose. Additionally,
specifies that court reporting schools must provide
the disclosure information to all students, both new
and existing, by June 30, 2005.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is one of three "committee bills"
authored by the Business and Professions Committee that
are intended to consolidate a number of non-controversial
provisions related to various regulatory programs
governed by the Business and Professions Code, and
generally located within the Department. Consolidating
the provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the
various licensing boards from the necessity and burden of
having separate measures for a number of
non-controversial revisions.
Many of the provisions make minor, technical and updating
changes, while other provisions are substantive changes
which are intended to improve the ability of the various
licensing programs to efficiently and effectively
administer their respective licensing laws. However, as
a "committee bill," if controversy or opposition should
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arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved,
then that provision will be removed from the bill. This
will eliminate the chance of placing any of the other
provisions in jeopardy.
1)Background. The following is some background and
reasoning for the provisions in this bill given by the
CSLB AND CRB.:
CSLB Provisions: This bill contains 14 legislative changes
to Contractors' License Law proposed by CSLB. These
changes include the removal of several references to
completed studies; deletion of redundant notice
requirements; formalization of address change requests;
clarification of the term "associate"; and correction of
a mistake in a bill chaptered last year (AB 1382, Chapter
363, Statutes of 2003). It also eliminates the provision
in current law that precludes an unlicensed contractor
convicted of a violation of Section 7028 (unlicensed
contractor) from applying for a license for 1 year,
giving CSLB more control; clarifies that a qualifying
individual's license bond amount is the same as the
contractor's license bond amount (revised in SB 1919,
Chapter 1123 (Statutes of 2002); expands the definition
of cases eligible to be sent to arbitration; and,
eliminates confusing "grace period" language for
delinquent fees that erroneously leads licensees to
believe their license has not expired when, if fact, it
has. These proposals are intended to be part of an
ongoing process of continued clarification, updating, and
streamlining of CSLB licensing law, as proposed by staff,
industry, consumers, and the Joint Legislative Sunset
Review Committee.
CRB Provisions: Current licensing requirements specify
that applicants and licensees must notify CRB of any
misdemeanor conviction if the misdemeanor is
substantially related to the functions and duties of a
court reporter. That statutory language may be
interpreted to mean that the individual may determine
whether an offense is related to the functions of the
court reporter. Consistent with other statutory
requirements, it is CRB's responsibility to determine
whether or not a conviction is related to the functions
of a court reporter.
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The temporary permit provision will allow applicants who
have successfully completed the requirements, including
passage of the exam, to begin to practice immediately
while waiting for their permanent certificate (license)
to be sent to them by CRB.
Existing law only requires private schools to give
prospective students information and a disclosure
statement. Further, the law only applies to new or
prospective students, not to currently enrolled students.
CRB believes that this requirement should be extended to
public court reporting schools and that all students
currently enrolled in court reporting school should be
given this information.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support: Contractors State License Board
Opposition: None on file
Consultant: Robin Hartley