BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 543|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 543
Author: Steinberg (D) and Price (D), et al.
Amended: 9/2/11
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
SENATE FLOOR : 37-1, 05/31/11
AYES: Alquist, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, De
León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,
Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La
Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NOES: Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Correa
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Business and professions: regulatory boards
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date of a number of
boards, committees and commissions within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) and makes programmatic and
administrative changes to some of these entities.
Assembly Amendments : 1) add provisions to the bill
relating to the California Board of Accountancy, and the
Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, and the Physical Therapy
Board, and 2) authorizes the Department of Finance (DOF) to
augment the budgets of the boards, bureaus and other
entities that comprise the Department of Consumers Affairs
for expenditure of non-General Fund moneys to pay BreEZe
project costs, as specified, limit the fingerprinting
requirements for the Board of Professional Engineers, Land
Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG) to initial applicants
who have never been registered or licensed by BPELSG or to
applicants for a new licensure or registration category,
add Senator Steinberg as the bill's lead author, and add
double-jointing language with SB 933 (Runner).
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1. Provides for the licensing and regulation of
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 and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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
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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
1. Establishes the California Architects Board (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 the Landscape Architects Technical
Committee (LATC) under CAB until January 1, 2012 and
authorizes LATC to: assist CAB in the examination of
candidates for a landscape architect's license;
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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.
10. Creates the Professional Engineer and Land
Surveyor's Fund.
11. Establishes the Contractors State License Board
(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
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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 must submit a full set of
fingerprints for the purposes of conducting criminal
history record checks. This requirement is limited to
initial applicants who have never been registered or
licensed by BPELSG or to applicants for a new
licensure or registration category.
2. Authorizes DOF to augment the budgets of the
boards, bureaus and other entities that comprise DCA
for expenditure of non-General Fund moneys to pay
BreEZe project costs, as specified. At least 30-days
written notice must be made to the Legislature, as
specified, before any augmentation may be made. The
amount of funds augmented shall be consistent with
project cost increases approved by the Secretary of
California Technology, as specified. This provision
becomes inoperative when the Budget Act of 2012 is
enacted.
3. Provides that no physical therapist shall be
subject to discipline by the Physical Therapy Board of
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California (PT Board) for providing physical therapy
services as a professional employee of a medical
corporation, podiatric medical corporation or
chiropractic corporation. This provision shall not be
construed to imply or suggest that a physical
therapist providing physical therapy services as a
professional employee of these types of corporations
is in violation of or compliance with the law, and
sunsets January 1, 2013.
4. Extends the operation of the California Board of
Accountancy (CBA) and related provisions until January
1, 2016, and subjects CBA to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature.
5. Provides that any restatement of a financial
statement that is included in any report filed with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
shall be exempt from existing law requiring an
accountant licensee to report to CBA any restatement
of a financial statement and related disclosures by a
client audited by the licensee.
6. Deletes the repeal date of CBA's peer review
program and its peer review oversight committee.
7. Extends to January 1, 2015, the date by which CBA
must submit a report to the Legislature and the
Governor regarding peer review requirements and
revises the contents of the report, as specified.
8. Extends the operation of CAB and related provisions
until January 1, 2016, and removes the July 1, 2012,
sunset date of CAB's authority to implement an intern
development program, granting CAB permanent authority
to do so.
9. Extends the operation of LATC and related
provisions until January 1, 2016.
10. Extends the operation of the Professional
Fiduciaries Bureau, until January 1, 2015, and
subjects the Bureau to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature.
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11. Extends the operation of BPELSG and related
provisions until January 1, 2016, and subjects BPELSG
to review by the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature.
12. Extends the operation of CSLB and related
provisions until January 1, 2016, and subjects CSLB to
review by the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature.
13. Extends the operation of the State Board of Guide
Dogs for the Blind and related provisions, including a
pilot project to resolve disputes between guide dog
users and guide dog schools, until January 1, 2014,
and subjects the Board to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature.
14. Deletes the $450 cap on the examination fee for
registration as a geologist, maintaining the BPELSG's
authority to set the fee at an amount equal to the
actual cost of administering the examination.
15. Extends the operation of the State Athletic
Commission and related provisions until January 1,
2014, and subjects the Commission to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
16. Extends to July 30, 2012, the date by which the
Commission must provide a report to the Governor and
the Legislature on the condition of the Neurological
Examination Account and the Boxers' Pension Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1.Providing DOF with the authority to augment the budgets
of various boards in order to fund early phases of the
BreEZe project will likely result in $2 to $4 million in
funding for the automation project in 2012. When
completed, that project is estimated to cost
approximately $50 million.
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2.One-time costs between $450,000 and $580,000 for the
workload associated with requiring current Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists
licensees to submit fingerprints for a criminal history
record check. (Professional Engineers', Land Surveyors',
Geologists' and Geophysicists' Fund).
3.On-going costs of approximately $150,000 per year for the
costs associated with requiring licensing applicants to
submit fingerprints for background checks. The costs are
primarily associated with investigating applicants who
have a criminal conviction. Costs for the BPELSG would be
in excess of $60,000 annual and costs for the Attorney
General's Office of Administrative Hearings could range
from $50,000 to $100,000 per year. (Professional
Engineers', Land Surveyors', Geologists' and
Geophysicists' Fund).
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/7/11)
American Society of Landscape Architects
American Council of Engineering Companies of California
Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists
California Landscape Contractors Association
California State Pipe Trades Council
Contractors State License Board
Engineering and Utility Contractors Association
Golden State Builders Exchanges
Guide Dog Users, Inc.
Guide Dogs of America
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Professional Fiduciaries Association of California
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/7/11)
California Physical Therapy Association
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
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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
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.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Physical Therapy
Association (CPTA) states in opposition, "As you are aware,
there has been quite a battle this past year over AB 783,
which sought to legalize that employment of physical
therapists by medical and podiatric corporations and SB
924, which sought to give consumers direct access to
physical therapist services just as is done in all of the
western states surrounding California. CPTA strongly
opposed AB 783 because the real intent of this legislation
was to legalize medical, chiropractic, and podiatric
medical corporations in employing physical therapists. In
effect, under this legislation, medical corporations could
control the point of access to physical therapist services
and then refer patients only to themselves. This poses an
inherent conflict of interest, removes choice for the
consumer, and runs counter to studies showing that
self-referral by physicians to services in which they have
an ownership interest results in unnecessary and inadequate
care and higher costs for both consumers and payers. The
amendments to SB 543 grant leverage to the medical
corporations and their activities relative to any future
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outcome on these issues, while also giving them another
year to operate outside the boundaries of the law. At a
minimum, they get to continue a scheme that shows up time
and time again as taking way more dollars out the health
care delivery system than is necessary and provides
inadequate care."
JJA:nl 9/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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