BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 308 (Lieu)
          As Amended  August 5, 2013
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :38-0  
           
           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS       13-0                   GOVERNMENTAL  
          ORGANIZATION     16-0           
           
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          |Ayes:|Gordon, Jones, Bocanegra, |Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Bigelow,  |
          |     |Campos, Dickinson,        |     |Campos, Chesbro, Cooley,  |
          |     |Bonilla, Hagman, Holden,  |     |Gray, Hagman, Roger       |
          |     |Maienschein, Mullin,      |     |Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,  |
          |     |Skinner, Ting, Wilk       |     |Levine, Medina, Perea,    |
          |     |                          |     |V. Manuel Pérez, Salas,   |
          |     |                          |     |Waldron                   |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           APPROPRIATIONS      17-0                                        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow,   |     |                          |
          |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |     |                          |
          |     |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |     |                          |
          |     |Gomez, Hall, Holden,      |     |                          |
          |     |Linder, Pan, Quirk,       |     |                          |
          |     |Wagner, Weber             |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :   Extends until January 1, 2018, the provisions of the  
          Interior Design Law and the Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind  
          (Board), and extends until January 1, 2016, the provisions of  
          the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) and the term of its  
          executive officer, and makes various other technical changes and  
          improvements to those provisions.  Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)Specifies that nothing in the Interior Design Law shall  
            prohibit interior design or interior decorator services by any  
            person or retail activity.

          2)Requires a certified interior designer (CID) to use a written  








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            contract when contracting to provide interior design services  
            to a client as specified, and requires that the written  
            contract be executed by the CID and the client or his or her  
            representative prior to the CID commencing work, and shall  
            include but not be limited to the following provisions:

             a)   A description of the services to be provided to the  
               client by the CID;

             b)   A description of any basis of compensation applicable to  
               the contract and the method of payment agreed upon by the  
               parties;

             c)   The name, address and certification number of the CID  
               and the name and address of the client;

             d)   A description of the procedure that the CID and the  
               client will use to accommodate additional services; 

             e)   A description of the procedure to be used by any party  
               to terminate the contract; 

             f)   A three-day rescission clause; and,

             g)   A written disclosure stating whether or not the CID  
               carries errors and omissions insurance.

          3)Specifies that the above provisions do not apply to any of the  
            following:

             a)   Interior design services rendered by a CID for which the  
               client will not pay compensation; and,

             b)   Interior design services rendered by a CID to any of the  
               following:

               i)     A licensed architect;

               ii)    A licensed landscape architect; and, 

               iii)   A licensed engineer.

          4)Clarifies that a written contract includes a contract in  
            electronic form.








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          5)Clarifies that the provisions of law pertaining to interior  
            design shall be subject to review by the appropriate policy  
            committees of the Legislature.

          6)Extends the provisions relating to the interior design law  
            until January 1, 2018.

          7)Requires the meetings of an interior design organization  
            issuing interior design stamps, as specified, are subject to  
            the rules of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.

          8)Clarifies that it is an unfair business practice for any  
            person to represent or hold himself or herself out, or to use  
            the title "certified interior designer" or any other term such  
            as licensed, registered or CID that implies or suggests that  
            the person is certified, as an interior designer when he or  
            she does not hold a valid certification as specified. 

          9)Extends the provisions relating to Board of Guide Dogs for the  
            Blind until January 1, 2018.

          10)Extends the provisions relating to the arbitration procedure  
            for the resolution of disputes between guide dog users and  
            guide dog schools until January 1, 2018.

          11)Extends the provisions authorizing the BBC and the provisions  
            authorizing the appointment of an executive officer as  
            specified until January 1, 2016, and requires the BBC to be  
            reviewed by the appropriate policy committees of the  
            Legislature. 

          12)Clarifies that a school approved by the BBC is one that is  
            first approved by the BBC and subsequently approved by the  
            Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), and allows  
            both the BBC and the BPPE to simultaneously process a school's  
            application for approval.

          13)Authorizes the BBC to revoke, suspend, or deny approval of a  
            school on any of the following grounds:  

             a)   Unprofessional conduct which includes, but is not  
               limited to, any of the following:









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               i)     Incompetence or gross negligence, including repeated  
                 failure to comply with generally accepted standards for  
                 the practice of barbering, cosmetology, or electrology,  
                 or disregard for the health and safety of patrons;

               ii)    Repeated similar negligent acts; or,

               iii)   Conviction of any crime substantially related to the  
                 qualifications, functions, or duties of the owner of an  
                 approved school, in which case, the records of conviction  
                 or a certified copy thereof shall be conclusive evidence  
                 of the conviction.

             b)   Repeated failure to comply with the rules governing  
               health and safety adopted by the BBC and approved by the  
               California Department of Public Health for the regulation  
               of board-approved schools;

             c)   Repeated failure to comply with the rules adopted by the  
               BBC for the regulation of BBC-approved schools as  
               specified;

             d)   Continued practice by a person knowingly having an  
               infectious or contagious disease;

             e)   Habitual drunkenness or habitual use of, or addiction to  
               the use of, any controlled substance;

             f)   Obtaining or attempting to obtain practice in any  
               occupation licensed and regulated as specified, or money or  
               any form of compensation, by fraudulent misrepresentation;

             g)   Refusal to permit or interference with an inspection as  
               specified; or,

             h)   Any action or conduct that would have warranted the  
               denial of a school approval. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, annual fee-supported special fund costs associated  
          with continued operation of the following regulatory entities,  
          as follows:

             1)   BBC - approximately $23 million in revenue and  








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               approximately $20 million in expenditures.

             2)   Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind - approximately  
               $150,000 in revenue and approximately $200,000 in  
               expenditures.  

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Purpose of the bill  .  This bill is one of four "sunset bills"  
            which extend the operations of certain boards, bureaus and  
            committees regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs  
            (DCA) and make various other regulatory improvement.   
            Specifically, this bill extends until January 1, 2018, the  
            provisions establishing the Interior Design Law for CIDs, and  
            the Board regulating the training of guide dogs for the blind.  
             Additionally, this bill extends until January 1, 2016, the  
            provisions establishing the BBC and the term of its executive  
            officer.  This bill makes other changes regarding the Interior  
            Design Law and the regulatory programs of the Board as well.   
            This bill is sponsored by the author. 
             
          2)Author's statement  .  According to the author, "This bill is  
            one of four 'sunset review' bills.  Unless legislation is  
            carried this year to extend the sunset dates for the Board  
            [and] BBC, they will be repealed on January 1, 2014.  In  
            addition, unless legislation is carried this year to extend  
            the sunset date for the Interior Design Law, the entire  
            chapter relating to CIDs and authorizing an interior design  
            organization to issue a certification stamp to an interior  
            designer will be repealed as of January 1, 2014.  This bill  
            extends the Board and the Interior Design Law for four years  
            to January 1, 2018.  The bill would extend the BBC for two  
            years to January 1, 2016.  This bill further makes a number of  
            legislative changes recommended by the boards and the  
            California Council for Interior Design Certification (CCIDC)  
            as well as recommendations made in the Committee's background  
            paper [issued in conjunction with the joint sunset review  
            hearings held in March-April 2013]."

           3)Joint oversight hearings and sunset review of DCA licensing  
            boards  .  In March and April of 2013, the Assembly Business,  
            Professions and Consumer Protection Committee and the Senate  
            Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee  
            conducted multiple joint oversight hearings to review 14  








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            regulatory boards and other entities within the DCA.  The  
            Committees began their review of these licensing agencies in  
            March and conducted three days of hearings.  This and other  
            sunset bills are intended to implement legislative changes  
            recommended in the respective background reports drafted by  
            the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development  
            Committee for all of the agencies reviewed by the Committees  
            this year.

           4)California Council for Interior Design Certification  .  Current  
            law provides for a voluntary system whereby an interior  
            designer may become certified and obtain a stamp from an  
            interior design organization by demonstrating competency  
            through education, experience and examination.  The California  
            Council for Interior Design Certification (CCIDC) was created  
            by a coalition of professional interior design organizations  
            in January of 1992 with the intent of being the organization  
            responsible for determining whether interior designers meet  
            the education, experience and examination requirements.  The  
            law provides for an "interior design organization" to  
            administer voluntary certification.  Through 2011 CCIDC  
            certified some 2,255 interior designers. In 2011, CCIDC  
            received and approved 126 applications, and renewed  
            approximately 1,000 certificates. 

            The specific components of this bill aim to address some of  
            the issues pertaining to the CCIDC that were reviewed and  
            discussed during the sunset review of the CCIDC.  This bill  
            requires the usage of written contracts to better protect  
            consumers, extends the sunset date of the Interior Design Law  
            until January 1, 2018, and further requires meetings of the  
            CCIDC be subject to the open-meeting requirements of the  
            Bagley-Keene Act. 

           5)State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind  .  The Board was  
            established on January 1, 1948, to ensure that blind persons  
            receive well-trained guide dogs, to confirm that blind persons  
            are thoroughly trained to be effective and safe guide dog  
            users, and to assure donors to guide dog charities that their  
            donations will be used for the intended charitable purpose.   
            The Board licenses guide dog schools, guide dog instructors,  
            and fundraising programs to open new guide dog schools.  The  
            Board inspects all schools, requires new active guide dog  
            instructors to take a legally defensible written and practical  








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            examination, and requires instructors to submit proof of eight  
            hours of continuing education each year to remain licensed.   
            California is the only State with a regulatory program to  
            address guide dog instructors, trainers and schools. During  
            fiscal years 2011-12 the Board had a licensing population of  
            109 active guide dog instructors, and the Board oversees three  
            guide dog schools located throughout California.  Amendments  
            to these provisions include the extension of the dispute  
            arbitration program and extension of the Board's authorization  
            until January 1, 2018.

           6)Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC)  .  The BBC is  
            responsible for the licensing and regulation of barbers,  
            cosmetologists, estheticians, electrologists, manicurists,  
            apprentices and establishments.  The BBC is an autonomous  
            regulatory entity under DCA, with full policy and enforcement  
            authority over the practices of hair, skin and nail care, and  
            electrolysis in the state.  The Barbering and Cosmetology Act  
            (Act) regulates the practice of barbering, cosmetology and  
            electrolysis.  Title protection is provided for the use of the  
            term "cosmetologist" and "barber."  The Act also regulates the  
            specialty branches of skin care and nail care within the  
            practice of cosmetology.  The BBC currently regulates over  
            500,000 licensees.

          Because the BBC has some expertise in the educational and  
            training requirements for its licensees to safely interact  
            with clients, it is no doubt appropriate for the BBC to have  
            some form of approval over barbering, cosmetology and  
            electrology programs offered in California.  It is also  
            appropriate for the BBC to have the ability to remove its  
            approval of schools and programs that do not meet the  
            educational quality standards necessary for an individual to  
            learn how to be a safe, effective beauty practitioner.   
            However, it also appears that the BPPE serves an important  
            function in the continued approval and oversight it provides  
            to schools, as well as the student protections.  This bill  
            therefore combines the school approval role of both the BBC  
            and the BPPE, providing the BBC with the authority to close  
            down bad schools as well.  


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








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