BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 969 (Vargas) - Pet groomers.
Amended: April 26, 2012 Policy Vote: BP&ED 5-3
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 14, 2012 Consultant: Jennifer Douglas
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 969 would establish a certification program for
pet groomers and would create the California Pet Grooming
Council (council) as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization for the
purpose of certifying pet groomers and pet bathers and brushers
who meet specified education, examination, training and
experience requirements. This bill also specifies that it is an
unfair business practice for anyone to call themselves a
"certified pet groomer" or a "certified pet bather and brusher"
unless they have been certified by the council.
Fiscal Impact:
California Pet Grooming Council, tax-exempt nonprofit
organization, non-governmental funds.
Unknown enforcement costs to Department of Justice (DOJ),
likely less than $75,000 annually, based on enforcement
activities of other similar entities.
Background: Existing law provides for the licensure and
regulation of veterinarians and registered veterinary
technicians by the Veterinary Medical Board.
Proposed Law: SB 969 would enact, until January 1, 2017,
provisions governing the certification of pet groomers and
creating the council, a nonprofit organization, to administer
the certification process. This bill would establish the
requirements necessary to obtain a certificate as a pet groomer
or a pet bather and brusher and set forth the duties and
obligations of a certified pet groomer or a pet bather and
brusher, as specified. This bill would set forth the duties of
the council with regard to the regulation of pet groomers and
pet bathers and brushers and require the board to adopt a fee
schedule that would apply to certificate holders. This bill
SB 969 (Vargas)
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would set forth standards for discipline and authorize the
council to impose administrative penalties for a violation of
these provisions. This bill would also make it an unfair
business practice for any person engaged in pet grooming to
advertise or hold themselves out as a registered, certified, or
licensed pet groomer without being certified and regulated by
the council.
Related Legislation: SB 731 (Oropeza) Chapter 384/2008 created
the Message Therapy Organization as a nonprofit organization and
provides for the certification of message therapists. SB 731
served as a template for this bill.
AB 762 (Koretz) of 2005 would have prohibited an animal groomer,
as defined, from engaging in the practice of veterinary
medicine. The bill would also have set specified standards for
a person that operates an animal grooming facility and would
have made a person who violates those standards guilty of a
misdemeanor. The bill was never heard.
Staff Comments: As a result of the new certification process for
pet groomers, the number of cases sent to the DOJ for processing
and handling of disciplinary actions could increase. By way of
comparison, disciplinary actions of cosmetologists, which have a
similar certification program, resulted in approximately 10-12
case referrals in the second year of its existence, averaging
$4,200 per case, or $40,000 to $50,000 in billings generated by
the DOJ to the agency.
Recommended Amendments: This bill establishes the council as a
tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Staff recommends this bill
be amended to clarify that the council may commence activity
once it has submitted a request to the Internal Revenue Service
and the Franchise Tax Board seeking this exemption.