BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 186 Page 1 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, AB 186 Page 2 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 AB 186 Page 3 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. AB 186 Page 4 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 FN: 0000896