BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 822
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 18, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Richard S. Gordon, Chair
SB 822 (Business, Professions and Economic Development) - As
Amended: June 12, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Professions and vocations.
SUMMARY : Makes several technical changes to provisions within
the Business and Professions Code (BPC) related to the
regulation of various professions, including those overseen by
the California Board of Accountancy (CBA), the Contractors'
State License Board (CSLB), the Board of Guide Dogs for the
Blind (BGDB), and the Board for Professional Engineers, Land
Surveyors and Geologists (BPELSG). Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals an outdated section of the BPC requiring the Cemetery
Board and Funeral Directors and Embalmers Board to consolidate
by January 1, 1996.
2)Repeals an outdated section of the BPC that required the
Structural Pest Control Board to make certain reports and take
specific actions by January 1, 1996.
3)Makes the following changes related to the CBA:
a) Requires an out-of-state practice privilege holder
to notify the CBA of pending criminal charges in any
jurisdiction, and allows the CBA to initiate an
investigation to determine whether there is immediate
consumer harm; and,
b) Authorizes the CBA to issue citations for violations
to the BPC to out-of-state licensees practicing in
California under practice privilege.
4)Makes the following changes related to CSLB:
a) Specifies that the term "contractor" or "consultant"
does not include a certified common interest development
(CID) manager, and clarifies that a CID manager is not
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required to hold a contractor's license to perform
management services;
b) Repeals the requirement that the CSLB post a listing
of all applications approved during the previous 12
months at its quarterly meetings, and deletes a reference
to the outdated requirement to perform "field"
investigations for a specialty license;
c) Clarifies the registrar's authority to order a
licensee to make restitution for aiding or abetting
unlicensed activity; and,
d) Provides that a license renewal applicant who
submitted an incomplete renewal application prior to his
or her license expiration date will not be required to
pay the delinquency fee, if CSLB returned the incomplete
application to the applicant for corrections, and then
the licensee resubmitted the completed and acceptable
application within 30 days of the license expiration
date.
5)Makes the following changes related to the BGDB:
a) Deletes the requirement that the BGDB hold meetings
at least once a year for the purposes of administering
licensing examinations to guide dog instructor
applicants; and,
b) Deletes a reference to "seeing-eye dog" to refer
only to "guide dog."
6)Makes the following changes related to the BPELSG:
a) Establishes a retired status license for a
professional geologist or geophysicist who has been
registered by the board for a minimum of five years
within California and a minimum of 20 years within the
United States;
b) Provides that the fee for a retired registration for
a professional geologist or geophysicist shall be fixed
at not more than 50% of the license fee that is in effect
on the date of application for a retired registration;
and,
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c) Makes technical changes to BPC Sections 7851 and
7887, replacing references to the term "registration"
with "license."
EXISTING LAW
1)Required the Cemetery Board and the Funeral Directors and
Embalmers Board to consolidate, and transferred all the
duties, powers, purpose, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of
the boards to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) as of
January 1, 1996, until the consolidation. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) Section BPC 102.1)
2)Requires the Structural Pest Control Board to comply with
specific contingencies specified in the Budget Act of 1995 by
January 1, 1996, including making certain monthly reports on
progress during the 1995/1996 Budget Year. (BPC 102.2)
3)Establishes the following provisions related to the CBA:
a) Authorizes, beginning in January 1, 2013, a licensed
certified public accountant (CPA) from another state to
practice public accountancy in California without
obtaining a certificate or license, subject to certain
requirements. Requirements include notifying the CBA
within 15 calendar days of any disciplinary action
against the individual's certificate, license, or permit
from gross negligence, fraud, embezzlement, theft,
misappropriation of funds or property, or if the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board bars the individual
from practicing, or if any other governmental body or
agency suspends the right of the individual to practice.
(BPC 5096)
b) Authorizes CBA to issue citations and fines to
California licensees for specified violations. Beginning
in January 1, 2013, also authorizes CBA to revoke,
suspend, or fine a practice privilege holder for
specified violations. (BPC 5096.2, BPC 5096.12)
4)Establishes the following provisions related to the CSLB:
a) Defines the term "contractor" to include any person
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or consultant who undertakes a bid to construct a
building or home improvement project, and defines the
term "consultant," for purposes of the definition, to
include a person who oversees a bid, arranges for and
sets up work schedules, or maintains oversight of a
construction project. (BPC 7026.1)
b) Authorizes a contractor that possesses satisfactory
experience to waive the license classification exam and
obtain an additional license classification, and
specifies that at least 3% of these "waiver applications"
must undergo a "comprehensive field investigation," and
that every approved waiver application must be reported
to the CSLB and made public quarterly meetings, as
specified. (BPC 7065.3)
c) Authorizes a licensee who is found to have
participated in aiding or abetting an unlicensed practice
to be ordered to pay restitution to the injured party for
any injury resulting from the acts. (BPC 7114)
d) Requires a licensee to submit an acceptable renewal
application prior to the license expiration date. If the
license expires, the licensee may apply for renewal
within five years by filing an application for renewal,
paying the appropriate renewal fee, and paying the
delinquency fee (currently $180.00 for an active license)
for the break in time. (BPC 7141)
5)Establishes the following provisions related to the BGDB:
a) Provides that the BGDB shall hold regular meetings
at least once a year at which the examination of
applicants for certificates of registration shall be
given. (BPC 7206)
b) Refers to "guide dogs" and "seeing-eye dogs." (BPC
7210)
6)Establishes the following provisions related to the BPELSG:
a) Authorizes the BPELSG to issue, upon application and
payment of the required fee, a retired status license for
professional engineers and land surveyors. (BPC 6762.5,
BPC 8729)
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b) Authorizes the application of fixed maximum fees for
specified registrations, certificates, and license
renewals. (BPC 7887)
7)Makes various references to "married couple" throughout the
Code when dealing with fictitious business names, but
anomalously refers to "husband and wife" in BPC 17914.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill. This is a "Committee bill" authored and
sponsored by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee for the purpose of consolidating
multiple non-controversial revisions into a single bill. By
combining the provisions related to various regulatory
programs and professions governed by the BPC into one bill, SB
822 provides relief to the different licensing boards,
bureaus, professions and other regulatory agencies that would
have to otherwise separate out each measure.
2)Author's Statement. The authoring Committee states, "Many of
the provisions of this bill are minor, technical and updating
changes, while other provisions are substantive changes
intended to improve the ability of various licensing programs
and other entities to efficiently and effectively administer
their respective laws.
However, as a Committee bill, "if controversy or opposition
should arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved,
then that provision will be removed from the bill. This will
eliminate the chance of placing any of the other provisions in
jeopardy."
3)Provisions related to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau . AB 910
(Speier) Chapter 381, Statutes of 1995, added BPC 102.1, which
transferred the duties, powers, purpose, responsibilities, and
jurisdiction of the Cemetery Board and the Board of Funeral
Directors and Embalmers to the DCA as of January 1, 1996.
However, the transfer to DCA was to be operative only until
the Cemetery Board and the Funeral Directors and Embalmers
Board were consolidated. AB 2888 (Consumer Protection,
Governmental Efficiency and Economic Development Committee),
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Chapter 568, Statutes of 2000, consolidated the Cemetery Board
and Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers into the current
Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, thereby making BPC 102.1
obsolete.
4)Provisions related to the Structural Pest Board. BPC 102.2
requires the Structural Pest Control Board to make certain
reports during the 1995/1996 Budget Year, and specified that
the specific contingencies needed to occur January 1, 1996.
As this date has passed, this outdated Section in no longer
relevant.
5)California Board of Accountancy. Under current law, an
out-of-state licensee who exercises under a practice privilege
in California is required to notify the CBA within 15 calendar
days of the occurrence of any disciplinary action from another
state for fraud, gross negligence, theft, embezzlement, or
reckless accounting practice, if the licensee is barred by the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board, or if the licensee's right
to practice is suspended by any government entity. However,
an out-of-state licensee who exercises a practice privilege in
California is not currently required to notify the CBA of any
pending criminal charges, which leads to inconsistent
notifications. This bill would require such notifications.
The CBA is authorized by BPC 125.9 to issue citations and
fines to California licensees who violate specified sections
of law. Beginning July 1, 2013, BPC 5096.2 authorizes CBA to
revoke, suspend, or fine a practice privilege holder for
specified violations, but does not authorize the CBA to issue
citations to out-of-state licensees practicing in California.
This bill would rectify that situation by permitting CBA to
cite out-of-state licenses.
6)Contractors' State License Board. According to CSLB, there
are duplicative posting requirements under the Contractors'
State License Law. BPC 7080.5 requires that all applications
for licensure be posted for public review, while BPC 7065.3
requires applications for an additional license classification
to be posted for public review, before the additional license
classification is issued. CSLB also states that the required
investigations for additional license classifications do not
require review in the "field." The investigations consist
strictly of review of documents, making unnecessary the term
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"field" as used in BPC 7065.3.
CSLB states that without a change to BPC 7114, a restitution
order cannot be included in an accusation, even though the
underlying charge of aiding and abetting unlicensed practice
is included in the pleading for disciplinary action. As such,
restitution cannot be a condition for reinstatement of the
license, and the consumer must try to recoup financial losses
through other means, such as a civil action.
Finally, CSLB contends that every month a number of licensee
renewal applications are submitted with simple errors, such as
a missing signature. The applications cannot be processed with
these errors, and must be returned to the licensee to make
corrections. Even though CSLB sends renewal applications 60
days prior to the license expiration date, applications are
often postmarked a week (or less) prior to the expiration
date. This allows little time for CSLB to process and return
incomplete renewals before the deadline. In cases where
licensees must correct and resend their renewals, they often
miss the deadline and are charged the delinquency fee even
though they made a good-faith effort to submit the application
on time. SB 822 provides that an incomplete renewal
application that had originally been submitted on or before
the license expiration date may be returned within 30 days
after the license expiration date, and the delinquency fee
shall not apply.
7)Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind. According to BGDB, "In
2005, the BDGB conducted an Occupational Analysis which
created a legally defensible examination involving subject
matter experts conducting the instructor examinations, as
opposed to Board Members." For this reason, an amendment to
BPC 7203 is necessary for clarification.
Additionally, BGDB states that the term "seeing eye dog" is
trademarked by the Seeing Eye Dog School in New Jersey, and
refers to a specific type of dog from this dog school.
Updating BPC 7210 to eliminate reference to "seeing eye dog,"
and use only the term "guide dog," will bring the most current
terminology to the Code.
8)Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and
Geologists. Currently, there is no option for a retired
geologist or geophysicist to obtain a retired license status
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after he or she is no longer practicing. This means that a
geologist or geophysicist who retires from the profession must
either 1) stop paying the renewal fee which causes the license
to go to a "delinquent" status, and then after five years a
"cancelled" status; or 2) continue to pay the renewal fee
every two years to keep an "active" status. According to the
BPELSG, a delinquent or cancelled status can often have a
negative connotation because it implies that the individual
has not complied with a requirement. However, electing to
continue to pay the renewal fee every two years can be a
financial burden, especially for a retired individual who is
no longer working. Many retirees would like the opportunity
to have the choice of a retired status, which engineers and
land surveyors already have under the Professional Engineers
Act and the Professional Land Surveyors Act.
9)Fictitious Business Name Statements. According to the
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, AB
1325 (Lara), Chapter 368, Statutes of 2012, made a number of
changes relating to fictitious business names, including
making references to "married couple" rather than to "husband
and wife." SB 822 would conform BPC 17914, which still refers
to "husband and wife" to the modern terminology.
10)Related Legislation. SB 821 (Senate Committee on Business,
Professions and Economic Development) makes several
non-controversial, non-substantive, or technical changes to
various provisions pertaining to the health-related regulatory
Boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
SB 823 (Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development) revises the qualifications for certified public
accountant licensure in order to smooth the transition to the
new requirements for some applicants, and reestablishes
certain provisions regarding the administration of the
Transcript Reimbursement Fund operated by the Court Reporters
Board of California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists
Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
SB 822
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California Board of Accountancy
Contractors' State License Board
Patti Bowers, Executive Officer, California Board of Accountancy
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Pontes / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301