BILL ANALYSIS Ó
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 543|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 543
Author: Price (D)
Amended: 4/14/11
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF & ECON DEVELOP COMM : 9-0, 05/02/11
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Negrete
McLeod, Vargas, Walters, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 05/16/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Business and professions: regulatory boards
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date of the
California Architects Board (CAB), Contractors State
License Board (CSLB), Landscape Architects Technical
Committee (LATC), Board for Professional Engineers, Land
Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG), State Board of Guide
Dogs for the Blind (Guide Dog Board), State Athletic
Commission (Commission), and makes programmatic and
administrative changes to some of the boards, committees
and commissions whose operation is being extended.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1. Provides for the licensing and regulation of
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
2
various professions and businesses by some 23 boards,
4 committees, 8 bureaus, and 1 commission within the
Department of Consumer Affairs under various Business
and Professions Code licensing acts.
2. Requires the licensing applicants of specified
boards to submit a full set of fingerprints for the
purposes of conducting criminal history record checks,
and authorizes the licensing boards to obtain and
receive, at its discretion, criminal history
information from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The boards
subject to this requirement are:
California Board of Accountancy
State Athletic Commission
Board of Behavioral Sciences
Court Reporters Board
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
California State Board of Pharmacy
Board of Registered Nursing
Veterinary Medical Board
Registered Veterinary Technician Committee
Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric
Technicians
Respiratory Care Board of California
Hearing Aid Dispensers Advisory Commission
Physical Therapy Board
Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board
of California
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board
Medical Board of California
State Board of Optometry
Acupuncture Board
Cemetery and Funeral Bureau
Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
Division of Investigation
Board of Psychology
The California Board of Occupational Therapy
Structural Pest Control Board
Contractors State License Board
Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine
The Professional Fiduciaries Bureau
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
3
1. Establishes CAB until January 1, 2012.
2. Authorizes CAB to appoint an Executive Officer (EO)
until January 1, 2012.
3. Authorizes the CAB to regulate and implement an
intern development program until January 1, 2012.
4. Specifies that licenses issued or renewed by CAB
expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the birth
month of the license holder in each odd numbered year
following the issuance or renewal of the license.
Clarifies that to renew an unexpired license, the
license holder shall apply for renewal before the time
at which the license would otherwise expire.
5. Establishes LATC under CAB until January 1, 2012
and authorizes LATC to: assist CAB in the examination
of candidates for a landscape architect's license;
investigate, assist and make recommendations to CAB
about the regulation of landscape architects; perform
delegated duties and functions and; send a
representative to CAB meetings to report on
activities.
6. Establishes BPELSG until January 1, 2012.
7. Authorizes BPELSG to appoint an EO until January 1,
2012.
8. Prohibits use of the title "structural engineer" by
any person unless he or she is a licensed civil
engineer in California and has been deemed qualified
as a structural engineer according to rules and
regulations established by BPELSG.
9. Specifies that an applicant to use the title
"structural engineer" must pass a written exam that
incorporates a national exam by a nationally
recognized entity approved by BPELSG and must pass a
supplemental California specific exam that tests the
applicant's knowledge of state laws, rules and
regulations, seismicity and structural engineering
unique to this state.
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
4
10. Creates the Professional Engineer and Land
Surveyor's Fund.
11. Establishes CSLB, subject to review by DCA limited
only to unresolved issues identified by the Joint
Committee on Boards, Commissions and Consumer
Protection, until January 1, 2012.
12. Authorizes CSLB to appoint, with DCA director
approval, a registrar of contractors as EO until
January 1, 2012.
13. Establishes the Guide Dog Board until January 1,
2012.
14. Establishes a pilot project for arbitration of
disputes between dog users and dog schools over
continued custody and use of dogs until January 1,
2012.
15. Establishes the Geologists and Geophysics Fund.
16. Requires applicants for registration as a geologist
to pay an exam fee set by the board, not to exceed
$450.
17. Establishes BPELSG as the entity responsible for
carrying out the Professional Land Surveyors Act until
January 1, 2012.
18. Establishes the Commission until January 1, 2012.
19. Requires the Commission to provide a report to the
Legislature by July 30, 2010 on the condition of the
Neurological Examination Account and the Boxers'
Pension Fund.
This bill:
1. Adds BPELSG to the list of specified boards whose
licensing applicants are required to submit a full set
of fingerprints for the purposes of conducting
criminal history record checks.
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
5
2. Extends the date of operation of CAB until January
1, 2014.
3. Removes the sunset date on CAB's authority to
implement an intern development program, granting
permanent authority to CAB.
4. Amends CAB's license renewal process to clarify
that licenses expire no more than 24 months after the
issue date and to clarify that the expiration date of
the original license shall be set by CAB in a manner
to best distribute renewal procedures throughout each
year. Specifies that to renew and unexpired license,
the license holder shall apply for a renewal on or
before the expiration date of the license.
5. Extends the date of operation of LATC until January
1, 2014.
6. Extends the date of operation of BPELSG until
January 1, 2014.
7. Deletes the requirement for a California specific
exam for structural engineers.
8. Adds "Geologist's and Geophysicist's" to the name
of the BPELSG fund, creating the "Board of
Professional Engineer's, Land Surveyor's, Geologist's
and Geophysicist's Fund."
9. Removes the cap on the exam fee set by the BPELSG
for registration as a geologist.
10. Extends the operation of CSLB until January 1, 2012
and deletes an obsolete reference to the Joint
Committee on Boards, Commissions and Consumer
Protection.
11. Extends the operation of the Guide Dog Board and
arbitration pilot project until January 1, 2014.
12. Extends the operation of the Commission until
January 1, 2014 and requires the Commission to provide
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
6
a report to the Legislature by July 30, 2012 on the
condition of the Neurological Examination Account and
the Boxers' Pension Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
Board fingerprinting Up to $140 Up to
$160 Up to $160 Special*
requirement
Sunset extensions Costs offset
by fee revenues Special**
* Professional Engineer's, Land Surveyor's, Geologist's,
and Geophysicist's Fund
**Professional Engineer's, Land Surveyor's, Geologist's,
and Geophysicist's Fund, State Athletic Commission
Neurological Examination Account, Contractors' License
Fund and the Boxers' Pension Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/17/11)
California Landscape Contractors Association
Contractors State License Board
Guide Dog Users Inc.
Guide Dog Users of America
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Contractors State License
Board (CSLB) writes in support of SB 543, noting that "CSLB
believes we are working hard to fulfill our consumer
protection mandate, and we look forward to continuing to
work with the Legislature, consumers and other interested
parties to further our efforts."
The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA)
believes that CSLB has made remarkable progress in its
mission to protect consumers and provide contractors with a
fair and competitive marketplace for their services. CLCA
states that allowing CSLB to sunset and be replaced by a
CONTINUED
SB 543
Page
7
bureau would be step backward and a serious blow to open
and responsive governance of the construction industry.
Guide Dog Users Inc., Guide Dog Users of America and the
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind write in support of
extending the date of operation for the Guide Dog Board,
noting that the Board provides important services to
licensed instructors and visually impaired consumers.
Supporters believe that the work of the Guide Dog Board has
resulted in improved training standards for training of
guide dogs for the blind and an improved process for
licensing dog trainers and that it is important for the
Board to continue providing consumer protection.
JJA:nl 5/18/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED