BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó







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        |Hearing Date:May 2, 2011           |Bill No:SB                         |
        |                                   |944                                |
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                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS 
                               AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
                          Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
                                           

               Bill No:        SB 944Author: Business, Professions and 
                                     Economic Development
                     As Introduced:     March 31, 2011  Fiscal:Yes

        
        SUBJECT:  Business and Professions.
        
        SUMMARY:  Makes several non-controversial, minor, non-substantive or 
        technical changes to various miscellaneous provisions pertaining to 
        regulatory boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs and 
        professions regulated primarily under the Business and Professions 
        Code.

        Existing law:
        
       1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of various professions and 
          businesses by some 
       23 boards, 4 committees, 7 bureaus, and 1 commission within the 
          Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) under various licensing acts 
          within the Business and Professions Code (BPC).

       2)Contains the following provisions relating to the Contractors State 
          License Board (CSLB): 

           a)   Refers to the effective date or "operative" or "effective" 
             date of various sections of law. (BPC §§ 7027, 7030, 7058.6, 
             7058.8)

           b)   Refers to the specialty contractor classification of 
             electrical sign contractors. (BPC § 7029.5, Labor Code (LC) § 
             3099.2)

           c)   Provides that a person may obtain blank applications, renewal, 
             or reinstatement forms from the Department of Consumer Affairs. 





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             (BPC § 7066.5)

       3)Contains the following provisions relating to the Board of Guide Dogs 
          for the Blind (BGDB):

           a)   Provides that the board "secretary" bears the record keeping 
             responsibilities of the board.  (BPC § 7024)

           b)   Provides that license applications and fees are to be 
             submitted to the secretary of the board. (BPC § 7211)

           c)   Refers to "seeing eye dog," and provides that a dog must be 
             neutered. (BPC § 7215).

       4)Defines a weighmaster as any person who, for hire or otherwise, 
          weighs, measures, or counts any commodity and issues a statement or 
          memorandum of the weight, measure, or count used as the basis for 
          either the purchase or sale of that commodity, and describes those 
          persons who are not deemed weighmasters. (BPC § 12701). 

       5)Refers to the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer 
          Protection which was repealed by  AB 2130  (Huber, Chapter 670, 
          Statutes of 2010). (Government Code (GC) § 9148.8)

       6)Requires any public works contract of any public entity to include an 
          affidavit, as specified, affirming that the bidder has not 
          participated in various collusive activities. (Public Contract Code 
          § 7106)

        
        This bill:

       1)Makes the following changes relating to the Contractors State License 
          Board (CSLB):

           a)   Makes technical cleanup and conforming changes, by deleting 
             references to outdated effective dates. (BPC §§ 7027, 7030, 
             7058.6, 7058.8)

           b)   Deletes "electrical" in reference to sign contractors since 
             the term was eliminated from regulatory title of the C-45 license 
             in 2009; adds alphanumeric classification identifiers for clarity 
             purposes. (BPC § 7029.5, Labor Code § 3099.2)

           c)   Clarifies that blank application forms are available from the 
             board rather than from the Department of Consumer Affairs. (BPC § 





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             7066.5)

       2)Makes the following changes relating to the Board of Guide Dogs for 
          the Blind (BGDB): 

           a)   Clarifies terminology to more accurately refer to the 
             "executive officer" and to the "board" as appropriate. (BPC §§ 
             7204, 7211)

           b)   Updates archaic terms, to refer to "guide dog" rather than 
             "seeing eye dog" and to refer to "spayed or neutered;" clarifies 
             that the veterinarian certification is made at the time the dog 
             is assigned to a blind person rather than at time of delivery of 
             the dog. (BPC § 7215)

       3)Would provide that medical waste haulers, as specified, are not 
          deemed weighmasters. (BPC § 12701)

       4)Deletes an outdated reference to the Joint Committee on Boards, 
          Commissions, and Consumer Protection which was repealed by  AB 2130  
          (Huber, Chapter 670, Statutes of 2010). (Government Code 9148.8)

       5)Updates the Noncollusion Affidavit required in public works contract 
          bids to reflect current terminology and usage and makes technical 
          changes. (Public Contract Code § 7106)


        FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown.  This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by 
        Legislative Counsel.

        

        COMMENTS:
        
        1. Purpose.  This bill is one of two "committee bills" authored by the 
           Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and is 
           intended to consolidate a number of non-controversial provisions 
           related to various regulatory programs and professions governed 
           primarily by the Business and Professions Code.  Consolidating the 
           provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various licensing 
           boards, bureaus and professions from the necessity and burden of 
           having separate measures for a number of non-controversial 
           revisions.

        Many of the provisions of this bill are minor, technical and updating 
           changes, while other provisions are substantive changes intended to 





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           improve the ability of various licensing programs and other 
           entities to efficiently and effectively administer their respective 
           laws.

        However, as a Committee bill, if controversy or opposition should 
           arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved, then that 
           provision will be removed from the bill.  This will eliminate the 
           chance of placing any of the other provisions in jeopardy.

       2.Background.  The following is background and reasons for the more 
          significant and substantive provisions in this measure:

           a)   Contractors State License Board.  According to the CSLB, over 
             time, various provisions of the Contractors License Law have 
             become outdated or obsolete or must be changed to reflect other 
             recent law changes.  Each year, CSLB staff identify as many of 
             these provisions as possible, as well as sections that require 
             minor corrections or clarifications.  The bill deletes phrases 
             that are no longer needed, referring to the effective, or 
             operative date of the section.  The bill deletes "electrical" in 
             reference to sign contractors because CSLB amended the regulatory 
             title of the C-45 contractor, effective December 30, 2009, and 
             add the alphanumeric classification for clarity purposes.  The 
             bill also clarifies that blank application forms are available 
             from the Board as opposed to the DCA.

           b)   Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind.  According to the BGDB, the 
             law refers to the secretary keeping all records of the board, and 
             also requires applicants to file an application and fee with the 
             secretary of the board.  These references should be clarified to 
             refer instead to the Executive Officer and provide that 
             applications are filed with the board.  Additionally, BGDB states 
             that although guide dog schools currently spay female dogs, the 
             law as currently written creates an unintended loophole that 
             permits a licensed school or instructor to provide an 
             unsterilized female guide dog to the consumer, by referring only 
             to a neutered dog.  Additionally, current law is unclear when the 
             health verification documents are to be delivered to the 
             consumer.

           c)   Sunset Review Cleanup.  This bill deletes references in the 
             Government Code to the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, 
             and Consumer Protection which was repealed by AB 2130 (Huber, 
             Chapter 670, Statutes of 2010).

           d)   Noncollusion Affidavit.  According to the Engineering 





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             Contractors Association, the amendments would update the 
             Noncollusion Affidavit required in public works contract bids to 
             reflect current terminology and usage and make technical changes. 
              The existing form requires a notary, instead of a simple 
             declaration and contains ungrammatical and cumbersome 19th 
             century language which needs to be updated.

        3. Technical Author's Amendment.  As a Committee omnibus bill, the 
           commitment by the Committee and the boards and professions offering 
           the amendments is that if controversy should arise regarding any 
           provision that cannot be resolved, then that provision will be 
           removed from the bill.  Therefore, a technical Author's amendment 
           will be offered in Committee to remove the weights and measures 
           provision (BPC § 12701) from the bill (on page 7, strike out lines 
           32 through 40, inclusive; strike out page 8; and on page 9, strike 
           out lines 1 through 14, inclusive).

        
        SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
        
         Support:   

        Contractors State License Board
        Engineering Contractors Association
        State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind

         Opposition:   

        None received as of April 27, 2011



        Consultant:G. V. Ayers