BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman
1760 (Galgiani)
Hearing Date: 8/4/08 Amended: 5/6/08
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: BP&ED 9-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1760, relating to veterinarians, would do the
following:
- Require the Governor to appoint one public member to the five
member Veterinary Medical Board (board).
- Require the board exam for licensure be given at least twice a
year.
- Require the board to waive the exam requirement and issue a
license to an applicant if he or she meets certain requirement,
including holding a license in good standing in another state
and having practiced clinical veterinary medicine for a
specified amount of time.
- Revise the requirements for issuance of a temporary license to
practice veterinary medicine.
- Authorize the board to assess fines and issue citations to,
and place on probation, a registered veterinary technician who
violates the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act.
- Make provisions of the act relative to revocation and
reinstatement of licenses applicable to veterinary technician
registrations.
Because fees from the reinstatement of a revoked veterinary
technician registration collected by the board pursuant to the
provisions of this bill would be deposited in the Veterinary
Medical Board Contingent Fund, which is a continuously
appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Fund
Temporary veterinary license $76 $65 $65
ongoing Special*
License and penalty revenue $9 $18
$18Special*
* Veterinary Medical Board Contingent Fund (VMBCF)
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill would require the board to waive
examination requirements and issue a temporary license to an
applicant who (1) has either graduated from a veterinary college
recognized by the board or possesses a certificate issued by a
specified commission or by the Program for Assessment of
Educational Equivalence and, (2) within three years immediately
preceding filing and application, has practiced clinical
veterinary medicine for a minimum of two years and completed a
minimum of 2,944 hours of clinical practice.
Beginning 2008-09, the VMBCF will have a reserve of $781,000,
equal to 3.7 months of operation. By 2011-12, the VMBCF reserve
will be negative. (Business and Professions Code 4905 (m)
requires that the VMBCF reserve shall not be less than three
months nor more than ten months of annual authorized board
expenditures.) This
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AB 1760 (Galgiani)
bill, which will impose new licensing and enforcement workload
associated with issuing
an estimated 100 new temporary veterinary licenses annually will
exacerbate VMB revenue problems.
Under Business and Professions Code 4905 (d), the fee for the
Veterinary Medicine Practice Act exam, which is set by
regulation in an amount the VMB determines reasonably necessary
to provide sufficient funding, is capped at $50. The fee, which
was set at $35, was increased in October 2007 to the cap. Under
subdivision (g) of the same section, the fee for a temporary
license is capped at $125.
The increased costs associated with offering more Veterinary
Medicine Practice Act exams and processing more temporary
licenses will further deplete the VMBCF reserve. Staff
recommends the bill be amended to make it contingent on the
passage of SB 1584 (Padilla) which would allow an increase in
the maximum amounts that the board may set for certain specified
fees. (SB 1584 (Padilla) would also delete the provision of law
requiring the board to set and collect a fee for the national
licensing exam, and would require an application fee to be paid
by a school or institution seeking approval of registered
veterinary technician curriculum.) Absent that contingency,
this bill, if chaptered, would exacerbate the board's revenue
problems if the fee increases in SB 1584 are not enacted.
The board must adopt regulations in order to increase a fee to a
statutory cap.