BILL ANALYSIS SB 1490 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 1490 (Business, Professions, and Economic Development) - As Amended: April 12, 2010 Policy Committee: Business and Professions Vote: 11 - 0 Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill deletes the January 1, 2011, sunset date for the law authorizing certified public accounting (CPA) firms to practice in California through a practice privilege and extends the deadline for the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) to hold a hearing following the issuance of a report by the California Research Bureau (CRB), from September 1, 2010, to six months after the report is issued. FISCAL EFFECT There are no significant costs associated with this legislation. COMMENTS 1)Rationale . This bill is intended as clean up to SB 819 (Yee; Chapter 308, Statutes of 2009), which deleted the sunset dates on the practice privilege laws under which a CPA licensed in another state may legally practice in California. That bill inadvertently failed to delete the sunset date on the practice privilege for CPA firms licensed in another state. This bill deletes that sunset date. In addition, SB 819 required the CBA to hold a hearing on a CRB report on the Uniform Accountancy Act's 150-hour rule by September 1, 2010. In order to meet these requirements, the CBA anticipates it would need at least two additional meetings. However the release of the report has been delayed due to conflicting workload within CRB. This bill would SB 1490 Page 2 instead require the CBA to hold the hearing within six months after the report is issued. Thus allowing CRB and CBA the time they need. 2)The Uniform Accountancy Act's 150-hour Rule . SB 819 (Yee; Chapter 308, Statutes of 2009) requires all California CPAs licensed after 2014 to have 150 hours of college education prior to licensing. Adopting this requirement makes California equivalent to most other states, thus allowing California CPAs to more easily work in other states and allowing CPAs licensed in other states to more easily transfer to California. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081