BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1575|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1575
Author: Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee
Amended: 4/16/12
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVEL. COMM. : 7-0, 4/23/12
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez,
Strickland, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Negrete McLeod, Vargas
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Professions and vocations
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes several non-controversial minor,
non-substantive or technical changes to various provisions
pertaining to the health-related regulatory Boards of the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for the licensing and
regulation of various professions and businesses by some 23
boards, four committees, eight bureaus, and one commission
within the DCA under various Business and Professions Code
(BPC) licensing acts. Each licensing act specifies that
protection of the public shall be the highest priority of
the Boards or Bureaus in exercising its licensing,
regulatory and disciplinary functions.
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This bill:
1. Makes the following changes relating to the Respiratory
Care Board:
A. Includes illegal possession of drug paraphernalia
as grounds to take disciplinary action. (BPC Section
3750(a))
B. Includes substandard care or negligence in the
capacity as a respiratory care practitioner (RCP) or
any capacity responsible for the care of another.
(BPC Section 3750(p))
C. Specifies that the person providing supervision to
a RCP must hold an unrestricted license. (BPC
Section 3742)
D. Ensures that all boards and bureaus can obtain
certified criminal records necessary to complete an
applicant or licensee investigation. (BPC Section
144.5)
2. Makes the following changes relating to the Board of
Behavioral Sciences:
A. Adds (licensed professional clinical counselors
(LPCCs) to the list of groups licensed by the Board.
(BPC Section 4980.34)
B. Requires the California law and professional
ethics course to be 18 hours in length. (BPC Section
4980.78)
C. Requires an 18 hour course in California law and
professional ethics if the applicant has completed a
two quarter unit or semester semester unit course
that does not meet the requirements as specified.
(BPC Section 4980.8)
D. Clarifies that if an applicant has previously
passed the standard written examination, but not the
clinical vignette examination, then under the
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examination restructure, he/she would need to pass
the new clinical examination. However, he/she would
not need to take the new California Law and Ethics
Examination because the previously passed standard
written examination had already fulfilled this
requirement. (BPC Section 4980.398, Section
4980.399, Section 4992.07 and Section 4992.09)
E. References the fingerprinting requirement in
regulations. (BPC Section 4984.4 Ýmarriage and
family therapists], Section 4989.42 Ýeducational
psychologists], Section 4996.6 (Licensed Clinical
Social Workers) and Section 4999.106 (LPCCs))
F. References the Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist Act. (BPC Section 4980.04 and Section
4999.22)
G. Deletes an obsolete reference to the 18 hour
California law and ethics course requirement as these
sections already specify that the applicant must meet
the requirements of BPC Section 4999.32 (e) which
requires the same course. (BPC Section 4999.57,
Section 4999.58 and Section 4999.59)
H. Specifies that the course content of the
California law and ethics course must contain the
elements that were previously listed in BPC Section
4999.57, Section 4999.58 and Section 4999.59. (BPC
Section 4999.32 (e) (6))
I. Replaces the term "Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act" with the clause "state and
federal laws related to confidentiality of patient
health information." (BPC Section 4999.57, Section
4999.58, Section 4999.59 and Section 4999.32)
J. Clarifies that a professional clinical counselors
(PCC) intern must renew annually in order to retain
their intern status. (BPC Section 4999.45 (d))
K. Deletes an obsolete reference in BPC Section
4999.45(e) which requires a PCC intern to cease
employment after six years unless he/she obtains a
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new intern registration as subsections (d) and (f)
already cover this requirement.
L. Adds language ensuring conformity with existing
laws regarding substance abuse, supervision and
inclusion of LPCCs. (BPC Section 4999.90)
M. Adds a provision stating that it is unprofessional
conduct for an LPCC applicant or registrant to
violate the law regarding patient access to his/her
records. (BPC Section 4999.90)
N. Removes the fee established in subsection (h) of
LPCC code. (BPC Section 4999.120)
O. Specifies the type of supervision that is required
for credited experience. (BPC Section 4980.43(c))
P. Adds LPCCs to the list of supervisors. (BPC
Section 4980.44 and 4980.48)
Q. Removes the reference to Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act and replaces it
with the clause: "state and federal laws related to
confidentiality of patient health information." (BPC
Section 4980.78, 4980.80, and 4999.62)
R. Defines the terms "clinical setting" and
"community mental health setting." (BPC Section
4999.46(b)(5))
S. Deletes the requirement that LPCCs who obtained
their license through grand parenting, and who were
not already licensed by the Board as an licensed
marriage and family therapist or licensed clinical
social workers, must complete 18 hours of annual
continuing education. If this provision is deleted,
these licensees would be required to show completion
of 36 hours of continuing education every two years
upon license renewal, as is required of all other
LPCCs. (BPC Section 4999.76)
3. Makes the following changes relating to the Board of
Optometry:
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A. Amends language to explicitly state "graduate of a
foreign university" instead of "person" when
referring to who is eligible to sit for the
examinations for a certificate of registration as an
optometrist. (BPC Section 3057.5)
4. Makes the following changes relating to the Medical
Board:
A. Clarifies existing law to make it clear that the
Board has jurisdiction over all licenses it issues
regardless of the type of license. (BPC Section
2220)
B. Adds language, similar to that in existing law for
physicians, which will create a retired license
status for licensed midwives. (BPC Section 2518)
C. Makes technical code maintenance changes. (BPC
Section 2064)
D. Clarifies that clinical training should be
included as a way an applicant may have spent time in
a postgraduate training program, in order to qualify
an applicant to have the period of validity for the
United States Medical Licensing Examination scores
extended. (BPC Section 2184)
E. Uses the term "neonate" in place of "infant" to
describe a newborn in the first four weeks of life.
(BPC Section 2516)
F. Allows physicians the choice to be sent renewal
and delinquency notices via electronic mail. (BPC
Section 2021 and Section 2424)
5. Makes the following changes relating to the Board of
Psychology:
A. Makes technical changes to the BPC Section 2904.5
dealing with telehealth services.
6. Makes the following changes relating to the Board of
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Pharmacy:
A. Streamlines the processing of applicants for the
pharmacist licensure examination, and ensures that
applicants who submit verification of intern hours
worked from another state board of pharmacy have met
the California requirements. (BPC Section 4209(a))
B. Ensures that final disciplinary action taken on a
licensee's record, even if that license is cancelled,
is documented. (BPC Section 4300.1)
7. Makes the following changes relating to the Dental
Hygiene Committee of California (DHCC):
A. Authorizes the DHCC to obtain and keep required
employment records. (BPC Section 1902.2(a))
B. Deletes BPC Section 1909.5 pertaining to
supervision and coursework as the requirements are
now obsolete.
C. Clarifies that a licensee that changes his/her
physical address and electronic mail information is
required to report this to the DHCC. (BPC Section
1934)
D. Deletes obsolete language as the State Dental
Auxiliary Fund no longer exists. (BPC Section 1945)
E. Clarifies that this section applies to dental
hygiene. Makes changes to technical terminology such
as: "radiograms" to "radiographs." Clarifies that
the DHCC is to determine permitting standards.
Conforms to Dental Board language regarding failure
to follow infection control guidelines. (BPC Section
1950.5)
F. Applies existing unprofessional conduct language
relating to dentists to dental hygienists. (BPC
Section 1958.1 (a))
8. Makes the following changes relating to the California
Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC):
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A. Allows for the investigation of a person who has
substantial authority over the operation of the
establishment including hiring and firing of
certified massage professionals. (BPC Section
4600(e))
B. Provides clarifying language to prevent someone
from qualifying without any massage training by
passing one of the examinations that require no proof
of education. (BPC Section 4601(c)(2)(B))
C. The U.S. Department of Education has issued new
rules for recognizing school credits issued.
Currently, the CAMTC converts credits to hours but
some states have recognized in rules that they will
accept both. Two schools have suggested that the
CAMTC do the same to avoid confusion regarding
student financial aid. (BPC Section 4601(b) (1)(B)
and BPC Section 4601 (c)(2)(A))
D. Standardizes practices for suspended or revoked
certifications and licenses. (BPC Section 4601(h))
E. Indicates that a city, county or city and county
may charge a massage business or establishment a
business licensing fee providing that the fee be no
higher than the fee that is uniformly applied to all
other individuals and businesses providing
professional services. (BPC Section 4612 (b)(3))
F. Clarifies relevant information for a business
license application. (BPC Section 4612(b)(7))
G. Clarifies that an owner or operator of a massage
business or establishment who is certified shall be
responsible for the conduct of all employees or
independent contractors working on the premises of
the business. (BPC Section 4612 (c))
H. Specifies what a background check of an owner of a
massage establishment may include as well as actions
taken against the establishment if the background
check results in a relevant finding. (BPC Section
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4612 (e))
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/8/12)
Medical Board of California
JJA:kc 5/8/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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