BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 186
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 186 (Maienschein)
          As Amended  May 24, 2013
          Majority vote 

           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS     10-1 APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Gordon, Jones, Bocanegra, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow,   |
          |     |Campos,                   |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |
          |     |Eggman, Hagman,           |     |Calderon, Campos,         |
          |     |Maienschein,              |     |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,  |
          |     |Mullin, Ting, Wilk        |     |Hall, Ammiano, Linder,    |
          |     |                          |     |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Dickinson                 |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Requires boards under the Department of Consumer  
          Affairs (DCA) to issue a 12-month temporary license to the  
          spouse or domestic partner of a military servicemember on active  
          duty licensed in another state if they are eligible to have  
          their application for a permanent license expedited.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires a board under DCA to issue a 12-month temporary  
            license to an applicant who is a military spouse or domestic  
            partner while the license application is being processed, if: 

             a)   The applicant submits an affidavit attesting that the  
               information submitted in the application is accurate; 

             b)   The applicant submits written verification from the  
               applicant's original licensing jurisdiction stating that  
               the applicant's license is in good standing; 

             c)   The applicant, upon the board's request, submits  
               fingerprints for a background check; 

             d)   The applicant has not committed any act in any  
               jurisdiction that constitutes grounds for the denial,  
               suspension, or revocation of the professional license by  
               the respective board under the Business and Professions  
               Code at the time the act was committed; and, 








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             e)   The applicant has not been disciplined by a licensing  
               entity in another jurisdiction and is not the subject of an  
               unresolved complaint, review procedure, or disciplinary  
               proceeding conducted by a licensing entity in another  
               jurisdiction.

          2)Requires the temporary license to expire 12 months after  
            issuance, upon issuance of an expedited permanent license, or  
            upon denial of a permanent license, whichever occurs first.

          3)Authorizes a board to conduct an investigation or criminal  
            background check on the applicant. 

          4)Exempts boards that have established a temporary licensing  
            process prior to January 1, 2014, from the provisions of this  
            bill. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, if the BreEZe system is fully implemented prior to  
          the completion of the regulations for the new provisional  
          license type, the cost to DCA would be under $100,000.  However,  
          if there are delays in the implementation of BreEZe, one-time  
          costs to DCA would be approximately $500,000. 

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Purpose of this bill  . This bill would require a licensing  
            board, bureau, commission or other regulatory entity under DCA  
            to issue a 12-month temporary license to the spouse or  
            domestic partner of a military member on active duty if he or  
            she is eligible to have their application for a permanent  
            license expedited.  The intent of this bill is to assist  
            military families who are moving to California from another  
            state by allowing military spouses and domestic partners to  
            begin working in their professional occupations with a  
            temporary license while they work to meet any California  
            licensing requirements.  This bill is author-sponsored.  

           2)Federal efforts to facilitate occupational licensure of  
            military spouses  .  The U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury  
            Department) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a  
            joint report in 2012 highlighting the impact of state  
            occupational licensing requirements on the careers of military  








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            spouses who frequently move across state lines.  Released in  
            February 2012, the report, "Supporting our Military Families:   
            Best Practices for Streamlining Occupational Licensing Across  
            State Lines" revealed that approximately 35% of military  
            spouses work in professions that require state licensure or  
            certification and that military spouses are 10 times more  
            likely to have moved to another state in the last year  
            compared to their civilian counterparts. 

           3)Professional licensure of military spouses and the effect on  
            military re-enlistment  .  The Treasury Department and DOD  
            report highlighted the employment problems of military spouses  
            and the correlation to a military member's decision to remain  
            active in the military:  "More than half of all active duty  
            military personnel are married, and 91% of employed military  
            spouses indicated that they wanted to work and/or needed to  
            work.  Research suggests that [spousal] dissatisfaction with  
            the ability to pursue career objectives may hinder  
            re-enlistment.  Not only are military spouses highly  
            influential regarding re-enlistment decisions, but more than  
            two-thirds of married service members reported that their  
            decision to re-enlist was largely or moderately affected by  
            their spouses' career prospects."

            The report issued several recommendations, including the  
            authorization of temporary licenses for military spouses if  
            the applicant has met state requirements.  That recommendation  
            stated, "Temporary licenses allow applicants to be employed  
            while they fulfill all of the requirements for a permanent  
            license, including examinations or endorsement, applications  
            and additional fees.  In developing expedited approaches that  
            save military spouses time and money, DOD does not want to  
            make licensure easier for military spouses to achieve at the  
            expense of degrading their perceived value in their  
            profession."

           4)Temporary licenses  .  Temporary licenses are typically issued  
            to applicants seeking permanent licensure within a  
            professional occupation who meet some - but not yet all - of  
            the qualifications for permanent licensure in that state.  For  
            example, applicants who hold an active professional license in  
            another state and have passed a national licensing examination  
            may still have educational requirements to meet in order to  
            become licensed in California.  








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          Licensing boards under DCA have been required to expedite the  
            applications of military spouse and domestic partners since  
            January 1, 2013.  DCA has indicated that there are few  
            professional boards or bureaus under their jurisdiction that  
            issue temporary licenses, but the precise number is currently  
            unknown.  It is also not known how many military spouses or  
            domestic partners have applied for licensure and have been  
            unable to obtain a license in a timely manner.

           5)Expedited licensure for military spouses  .  AB 1904 (Block),  
            Chapter 399, Statutes of 2012, requires boards under DCA to  
            issue an expedited license to the spouse or domestic partner  
            of a military member on active duty, beginning January 1,  
            2013.  This bill attempts to take the provisions of AB 1904  
            further by requiring boards to issue a 12-month temporary  
            license to the spouse or domestic partner of a military member  
            on active duty if they are eligible to have their application  
            for a permanent license expedited.

          It should be noted that that by requiring boards to issue  
            temporary licenses, as this bill does, the total number of  
            licenses that would need to be processed will increase.  Such  
            an increase in workload could delay the processing time for  
            permanent licenses for all other applicants.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)  
          319-3301 


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