BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|Hearing Date:April 25, 2011 |Bill No:SB |
| |773 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
Bill No: SB 773Author:Negrete McLeod
As Amended:April 14, 2011 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Accountants.
SUMMARY: Revises the requirement for the Board of Accountancy to
broadcast Board meetings over the Internet to require video
broadcasts; makes a correcting and conforming change.
Existing law:
1) Licenses and regulates some 40,000 certified public accountants
(CPAs) under the Accountancy Act by the California Board of
Accountancy (Board) within the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA).
2) Establishes an Advisory Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum
within the Board to recommend to the Board ethics study guidelines,
as specified, and authorizes the committee to determine that a
course or a portion of a course of accounting education satisfies
the ethics study requirement. (Business and Professions Code (BPC)
§ 5094.5)
3) Requires all Board meetings to be open to the public, and provides
that the Board may hold executive sessions to deliberate on a
decision upon the evidence in a case under the Administrative
Procedure Act, and to take action on examinations or administrative
matters as specified in the Government Code. (BPC § 5017)
4) Requires the Board to provide a live audio or video broadcast of
Board meetings on its Internet Website, as specified, and requires
the audio or video recordings of broadcasts or a link to the
recordings to remain on the Website for at least 3 years. (BPC §
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5017.5)
This bill:
1) Makes a conforming change by correcting a reference the Advisory
Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum.
2) Revises the existing requirement to instead require the Board to
provide a live video broadcast of Board meetings, and to maintain
the video recording on the Board's Internet Website for at least 3
years.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the California Society of
Certified Public Accountants (Sponsor) to make updating and
conforming changes to the law governing public accountancy in
California. The bill makes a correction to appropriately refer to
the Advisory Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum which was
established by legislation in 2009. The bill would also update
provisions relating to webcasting Board meetings to better reflect
actual practice by requiring the Board to video broadcast meetings
rather than to provide either an audio or video broadcast.
2. Background. Legislation enacted in 2009, established the Advisory
Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum to make recommendations
on ethics study guidelines to the Board by June 1, 2012. That
legislation, SB 819 (Yee, Chapter 308, Statutes of 2009), revised
the CPA license standards to increase the amount of education from
120 hours to 150 hours effective January 1, 2014. In increasing
the required hours, the legislation required that the education
include a minimum of 10 units of ethics study and 20 units of
accounting study, as specified. The 10 units of ethics study must
meet the guidelines established by the Board upon the advice of the
Advisory Committee.
The Accountancy Act was further amended by AB 1005 (Block, Chapter
379, Statutes of 2009) to increase public access and transparency
as it relates to the regulation of the accounting profession by
requiring the Internet broadcasting of public Board meetings, the
posting of Board minutes and notices of formal accusations on the
Board's Website. In adding these requirements, the legislation
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authorized the Board to provide either an audio or a video
broadcast of the Board meeting over the Internet. In meeting these
requirements the Board has chosen to video broadcast its meetings.
This bill amends the law to reflect the practice of the Board.
3. Related Legislation. SB 819 (Yee, Chapter 308, Statutes of 2009)
increased the education requirement to obtain a CPA license from
120 hours to 150 hours effective January 1, 2014. These provisions
were originally introduced in SB 961 (Yee) in 2009.
AB 1005 (Block, Chapter 379, Statutes of 2009) required the Board to
broadcast public Board meetings live over the Internet, and to also
post Board minutes and notices of formal accusations on the Board's
Website.
AB 138 (Hayashi, Chapter 312, Statutes of 2009) required, until
January 1, 2014, California-licensed accounting firms to undergo a
peer review of their accounting and auditing services every three
years.
SB 542 (Price) extends the sunset date on the Board of Accountancy
from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2016; and extends the CPA peer
review provisions to correspond with the Board's sunset date. That
bill is set for hearing on May 2 in this Committee.
SB 103 (Liu) requires a state body that operates an Internet Website
to provide a supplemental live audio or video web-broadcast of each
of its meetings that are open to the public. That bill passed the
Senate Governmental Organization Committee 12-0 on April 12, 2011.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support: California Society of Certified Public Accountants
(Sponsor)
Opposition: None received as of April 20, 2011.
Consultant:G. V. Ayers
SB 773
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