BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2741
          Author:   Bonilla (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/10/14 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVELOP. COMM.  :  8-0, 6/23/14
          AYES:  Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,  
            Hill, Torres
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Block

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-1, 8/14/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NOES:  Gaines
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  61-10, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Professional Fiduciaries Bureau

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill extends until January 1, 2019, the sunset  
          date on the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau (Bureau) and Chief  
          of the Bureau.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Licenses and regulates professional fiduciaries under the  
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            Professional Fiduciaries Act (Act) by the Bureau within the  
            Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), and makes the Bureau  
            inoperative and repealed on January 1, 2015. 

          2.Establishes a Chief of the Bureau who is appointed by the  
            Governor, subject to confirmation of the Senate, and provides  
            that the Chief shall serve under the direction and supervision  
            of the Director and at the pleasure of the Governor.  

          3.Vests the duty of administering and enforcing the Act with the  
            Bureau and the Chief, and provides that the Chief shall have  
            all the powers and responsibilities of the head of a  
            department, as specified. 

          4.Provides that if the Bureau is repealed, the responsibilities  
            and jurisdiction of the Bureau shall be transferred to the  
            Professional Fiduciaries Advisory Committee, and that  
            Committee shall be established as a board within DCA.  

          This bill:

          1.Extends the sunset date on the Bureau and the Bureau Chief  
            from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2019.

          2.Makes technical, conforming changes.

           Background
           
          In 2014, the Senate Business, Professions and Economic  
          Development Committee and the Assembly Business, Professions and  
          Consumer Protection Committee conducted joint oversight hearings  
          to review nine regulatory entities, among them the Bureau.

          The committees began their review of the licensing agencies in  
          March 2014 and conducted two days of hearings.  This bill, and  
          the accompanying sunset bills, are intended to implement  
          legislative changes as recommended by the committees and which  
          are reflected in the Background Papers prepared by committee  
          staff for each agency and program reviewed by the committees for  
          this year.

           Review of the Bureau:  issues identified and recommended  
          changes  .  The following are some of the major recommendations  
          made pertaining to the Bureau or areas of concern reviewed and  

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          discussed by the committees during the review of the Bureau.   
          The Sunset review report drafted by the Assembly committee  
          recommended that the Bureau continue operations until the next  
          review in 2019, and in the meantime:

           The Bureau should consider reducing fees sufficient to avoid  
            accumulating a 24-month reserve if the Bureau cannot get  
            budget authority to hire additional staff;

           Brief the Legislature on the potential pool of new  
            professional fiduciaries and provide reasonable yearly targets  
            for attracting new licensees;

           Discuss with the Legislature and DCA whether to maintain the  
            Bureau independently if its current staffing and licensing  
            levels do not change.

          Committee staff recommended that the Bureau be reviewed by the  
          Committees again in four years.

          The current language in this bill extends the sunset date on the  
          Bureau and the Bureau Chief to January 1, 2019.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, projected  
          expenditures of approximately $600,000 annually (Professional  
          Fiduciaries Fund), supporting 2.7 positions until January 1,  
          2019, offset by specified fee revenues of $593,000, based on the  
          2014-15 Budget.

          DCA that the provisions of this bill that extend the sunset on  
          the PFB are minor and absorbable and within existing resources.   
          According to the fund condition statement published with the  
          2014-15 proposed budget, the Professional Fiduciaries Fund,  
          which supports the activities of the Bureau, is in relative  
          balance with a reserve of approximately 10 months ($481,000) at  
          the end of the budget year.  

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/13/14)

          Professional Fiduciary Association of California


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           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Professional Fiduciary Association  
          of California (PFAC) states that PFAC sponsored the original  
          legislation that created the Professional Fiduciaries Act and  
          the Bureau within DCA.  Since their inception, these state  
          licensure laws, which include state oversight and enforcement,  
          have been in place to protect the public.  The Bureau regulates  
          non-family member professional fiduciaries, including  
          conservators, guardians, trustees, and agents under durable  
          power of attorney.  "PFAC supports the provisions of AB 2741  
          that would extend the sunset on the Act from January 1, 2015 to  
          January 1, 2019.  The continuation of the Act will serve to  
          protect consumers by ensuring the continuation of the Bureau  
          that is charged with the following responsibilities:  Educating  
          consumers about their rights; Promoting legal and ethical  
          standards of professional conduct; Investigating the background  
          of applicants; Administering licensing examinations; Licensing  
          [professional fiduciaries]; Investigating complaints from  
          consumers; and, Taking disciplinary action and issuing  
          citations."

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  61-10, 5/27/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,  
            Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly,  
            Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,  
            Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina,  
            Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A.  
            Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski,  
            Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NOES:  Chávez, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey,  
            Jones, Logue, Mansoor, Olsen
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bigelow, Dahle, Gorell, Melendez, Patterson,  
            Quirk-Silva, Wagner, Waldron, Vacancy


          MW:nl  8/16/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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