BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|Hearing Date:June 13, 2011 |Bill No:AB |
| |214 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
Bill No: AB 214Author:Davis
As Introduced: January 31, 2011 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Professional photocopiers.
SUMMARY: Requires identification cards for employees of a
professional photocopier or a partnership or corporation to include a
photograph of the employee.
Existing law:
1)Defines a professional photocopier as any person who for compensation
obtains or reproduces documents under the Confidentially of Medical
Information Act, the Information Practices Act of 1977, or the
production of business records under the Evidence Code and has
access to the information in those records while performing those
duties. Requires a professional photocopier to register with the
county clerk in the county in which his or her principal place of
business is located. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) § 22450)
2)Requires the county clerk of each county to maintain a register of,
and assign a unique number to the professional photocopier
3)Requires the county clerk to issue an identification card to each
registrant, and provides that additional registration cards shall be
issued to employees of professional photocopiers subject to a $10
fee (BPC § 22457).
4)Provides that the identification card issued to a professional
photocopier must meet certain size requirements, contain specified
information, and further provides that:
a) The identification card must contain a photograph of the
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registrant.
b) The identification card for a partnership or corporation shall
not contain a photograph. (BPC § 22457)
This bill:
1)Additionally requires the identification card for an employee of a
professional photocopier or a partnership or corporation, to include
a photograph of the employee, as specified.
2)Makes conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: The Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis dated
May 4, 2011, indicates there are no significant costs associated with
this legislation.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This bill is sponsored by California Association of
Clerks and Election Officials (Sponsor) in order to clean-up
existing law to require identification cards for professional
photocopiers to have pictures included.
According to the Author, the bill attempts to clarify legislative
intent with regard to AB 620 (John Perez, Chapter 458, Statutes of
2009) and the issuance of professional photocopier identification
cards to employees of corporations. AB 620 established new minimum
size requirements and other changes to identification cards for a
specified class of registered professions. Among its clean-up
provisions, AB 620 deleted the requirement that a card issued to a
corporation must contain a photograph, but the bill remained silent
on whether an employee identification card must contain a photo.
The Author indicates that as amended by AB 620, the law is silent
regarding whether to include a photograph on the identification
card of an employee of a corporation needed to act as a
professional photocopier on behalf of the corporation. According
to the Author, counties are interpreting the Code both ways, and
issuing cards with and without photographs statewide. This is
causing issues for professional photocopiers, who are being faced
with difficulties establishing their identity and qualifications
while using the cards that do not have photographs, according to
the Author.
2. Background. Professional photocopiers are employed by law firms,
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legal services or insurance companies that require access to
documents for litigation or in conducting investigations. The
professional photocopier is sent to obtain copies of documents and
to transport and deliver them to the appropriate parties.
Identification cards are needed because of the personal or
confidential nature of the documents.
3. Related Legislation. The provisions in this bill were in last
year's SB 1491 (BP&ED Committee, Chapter 415, Statutes of 2010),
this Committee's non-health omnibus bill. However, the amendments
were removed in the Assembly out of concern that there may be
fiscal implications for the requirement to include a photograph on
the identification card.
AB 620 (John Perez, Chapter 458, Statutes of 2009) removed the
requirement that identification cards issued to photocopying
partnerships or corporations have a photograph on the lower left
corner. The bill additionally revised the minimum size
requirements for identification cards for unlawful detainer
assistants, legal document assistants, and process servers, as well
as for professional photocopiers.
4. Arguments in Support. The California Association of Clerks and
Election Officials , the Sponsor of both AB 620 and this bill,
writes that after the enactment of AB 620, the new process for
issuing professional photocopier identification cards to employees
of corporations revealed an unclear provision in the law. "The
language clearly stated the parameters for corporation cards (no
photo) and for 'individual' cards (photo to be contained in the
bottom left corner) but did not clearly direct the clerk how to
configure the card for employees of corporations." According to
the Sponsor, the Author's office was contacted by numerous
companies who employ professional photocopiers with complaints that
those counties who were issuing cards without photos were causing
problems for employees of photocopier services who were unable to
verify their identity. The Sponsor states that, "AB 214 will
insert language in the Business and Professions Code to direct
counties to include a photograph on the professional photocopier
identification card for employees of corporations. This will
ensure that the policy and procedure will be uniform across the
State."
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support: California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
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(Sponsor)
Opposition: None on file as of June 8, 2011
Consultant:G. V. Ayers