BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1746|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1746
          Author:   Emmerson (R)
          Amended:  6/21/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE  :  7-0,  
            6/14/10
          AYES:  Negrete McLeod, Aanestad, Calderon, Correa, Florez,  
            Walters, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Wyland, Oropeza
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 04/22/10 (Consent) - See last page  
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Architects:  continuing education

           SOURCE  :     American Institute of Architects, California  
          Council


           DIGEST  :    This bill revises and recasts existing  
          requirements for the California Architects Board to accept  
          self-certification of completed continuing education  
          requirements for license renewals.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

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          1. Provides for the licensing and regulation of more than  
             22,000 architects by the California Architects Board  
             (Board) within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).

          2. Provides that each architect license expires every  
             odd-numbered year (every two years), and may be renewed  
             by filing an application with the Board which contains a  
             statement specifying whether the licensee has been  
             convicted of a crime and by paying the renewal fee, as  
             specified. 

          3. Mandates continuing education as a condition for license  
             renewal, by requiring that an architect must complete  
             coursework on disability access requirements, as  
             specified, and must certify completion to the Board and  
             provide documentation from the course provider that  
             includes the course title, subjects covered, name of  
             provider and trainer or educator, date of completion,  
             number of hours completed, and a statement about the  
             trainer or educator's knowledge and experience  
             background.

          4. Phases in the number of continuing education hours  
             required on an incremental basis as follows:

             A.    One hour for licenses renewed between July 1, 2009  
                and January 1, 2010.

             B.    2.5 hours for licenses renewed between January 1,  
                2010 and January 1, 2011.

             C.    Five hours for all licenses renewed after January  
                1, 2011.

          5. Requires coursework regarding disability access to be  
             presented by trainers and educators with knowledge and  
             expertise and to include information and practical  
             guidance regarding:

             A.    The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
             B.    State laws that govern access to public  
                facilities.
             C.    Federal and state regulations adopted pursuant to  
                #A and #B.

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          This bill:

          1. Recasts the existing continuing education requirements  
             described under Existing Law, #3, 4 and 5 above, and  
             revises the manner in which completion of the continuing  
             education in disability access is documented to the  
             Board.

          2. Beginning January 1, 2013, requires licensees to certify  
             compliance with the continuing education requirements  
             and provide documentation of the disabled access  
             continuing education upon request by the Board in an  
             audit.

          3. Subjects a licensee who provides false or misleading  
             information relating to the completion of required  
             coursework to administrative citation which may include  
             an administrative fine or to disciplinary action by the  
             Board.

          4. Authorizes the Board to audit the records of a licensee  
             to verify completion of any of the continuing education  
             requirements, and requires each licensee to maintain  
             records of completion of the required coursework for two  
             years from the date of license renewal and make the  
             records available at the Board's request for auditing.

          5. Until January 1, 2015, requires the Board to audit at  
             least three percent of the license renewals each year to  
             verify completion of the continuing education  
             requirements.

          6. Requires the Board to submit a letter to the Legislature  
             by January 1, 2019, on the disability access continuing  
             education provisions, including the level of licensee  
             compliance with the requirements, actions taken by the  
             Board for noncompliance, the findings of Board audits,  
             and any recommendations for improving the process.

           Background

           In 2008, SB 1608 (Corbett), Chapter 549, Statutes of 2008,  
          established a narrowly-focused continuing education  

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          requirement for architects.  That bill was introduced to  
          address a number of reforms intended to increase compliance  
          with longstanding state and federal laws requiring access  
          to persons with disabilities in places of public  
          accommodation.  

          The bill established the Construction-Related Accessibility  
          Standards Compliance Act, and made a number of changes  
          including (1) established processes for businesses sued for  
          violation of accessibility standards, (2) specified  
          requirements for site certifications by a certified access  
          specialists, (3) established a California Commission on  
          Disability Access, (4) imposed continuing education  
          requirements on local building officials relating to  
          disability access requirements, and (5) required as a  
          condition of license renewal that an architect must  
          complete coursework regarding disability access  
          requirements as a condition of license renewal.

          The bill required each architect to certify completion of  
          the continuing education hours and provide documentation to  
          the Board from the course provider that includes the course  
          title, subjects covered, name of provider and trainer or  
          educator, date of completion, number of hours completed,  
          and a statement about the trainer or educator's knowledge  
          and experience background.

          While SB 1608's continuing education provisions dealt only  
          with disability access, both the American Institute of  
          Architects, California Council (AIACC) and the Board  
          expressed clear interest in establishing a broad-based  
          comprehensive continuing education requirement for  
          architects rather than the narrower, subject-specific  
          requirement for disability access continuing education.   
          Last year, AIACC sponsored AB 623 (Emmerson) which proposed  
          to establish a comprehensive continuing education  
          requirement if the Board determines that continuing  
          education is in the interest of public health safety and  
          welfare.  The bill was further amended to additionally  
          contain nearly identical provisions to those found in this  
          measure to recast the disability access education  
          requirements and to require an architect to provide  
          documentation of the disabled access continuing education  
          upon request by the Board.  The AIACC worked with Senator  

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          Corbett's office and with the Senate Judiciary Committee  
          staff to streamline the licensees' reporting process and at  
          that same time simplify the Board's processes of monitoring  
          compliance with the requirements.  AB 623  was ultimately  
          vetoed by the Governor who stated:  "I am supportive of the  
          provisions that modify the documentation requirements for  
          the existing [continuing education] requirements, but I  
          believe this could be done administratively.  However, I do  
          not believe we should be placing additional burdens on  
          licensees by demanding they fulfill new continuing  
          education requirements."

          It is significant to note that this bill's revision of the  
          reporting process does not diminish the requirement for  
          architects to complete five hours of continuing education  
          in disability access, nor does it set aside any of the  
          educational standards or course content requirements.  This  
          bill only changes the SB 1608 reporting requirement so that  
          the architect certifies compliance, maintains the  
          information on the course(s), and submits that information  
          to the Board upon request.

          According to the Board, 16 DCA licensing boards use the  
          certify/audit method to verify continuing education, while  
          seven boards require some information on the course to be  
          submitted.  AIACC states that the National Council of  
          Architectural Registration Boards and the American  
          Institute of Architects report that 26 state licensing  
          boards follow the certify/audit model, and 12 require some  
          information to be sent to the licensing board.  Of those  
          12, most require minimal information on the course (course  
          title, date taken, and hours) as a part of renewal  
          application, with more specific information to be retained  
          in case of an audit.

           Prior Legislation

           AB 623 (Emmerson), 2009-10 Session, would have authorized  
          the Board to establish comprehensive continuing education  
          requirements and revised the existing disability access  
          continuing education reporting requirements.  The bill was  
          vetoed by the Governor.

          SB 1608 (Corbett), Chapter 549, Statutes of 2008, requires,  

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          for license renewal, that an architect complete coursework  
          regarding disability access requirements, and certify to  
          the Board completion of the coursework.

           FISCAL EFFECT :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/4/10)

          American Institute of Architects, California Council  
          (source)
          California Alliance for Retired Americans
          California Architects Board

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Board writes in support that  
          this bill streamlines the Board's process for verifying  
          compliance with the continuing education on disabled access  
          provisions.  Currently, the Board must review and process  
          22,000 records each renewal cycle.  This bill allows the  
          Board to rely on licensees certifying compliance with and  
          to audit the continuing education records of licensees.   
          The revised process will remove a significant backlog that  
          occurs under the current system that delays licenses being  
          issued, according to the Board.

          In sponsoring the bill, the AIACC states that the bill  
          removes the requirement that architects submit the  
          disability access coursework forms to the Board, and  
          instead requires architects to certify they took the  
          courses, retain the coursework forms for two years, and  
          give them to the Board only upon an audit.  This bill  
          requires the Board to verify compliance with the continuing  
          education law through random audits.  AIACC ultimately  
          states that the proposed changes would be more cost  
          effective than the current law, and would result in cost  
          savings to the Board.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,  
            Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,  
            Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,  
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,  

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            Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,  
            Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  
            Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,  
            Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,  
            Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,  
            Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra  
            Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,  
            Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,  
            Norby, Vacancy


          JJA:mw  8/4/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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