BILL NUMBER: SB 1243 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bonilla)
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Sections 149, 201, 312, 453, 4800, 4804.5, 11506,
and 22259 of, and to add Sections 101.7, 154.1, 211, and 312.1 to,
the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and
vocations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1243, as amended, Lieu. Professions and vocations.
(1) Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs is
comprised of various boards, bureaus, commissions, committees, and
similarly constituted agencies that license and regulate the practice
of various professions and vocations. Existing law requires those
agencies to hold public meetings and provide public notice of a
meeting.
This bill would require each of those agencies to offer a person
requesting to receive notice of a meeting the option to receive that
notice by regular mail, email, or both regular mail and email, and
would require the agency to comply with that request. The bill would
require an agency that intends to Web cast a meeting, to provide
notice of intent to Web cast the meeting.
(2) Existing law authorizes certain agencies within the
department, upon investigation and with probable cause to believe
that a person is advertising in a telephone directory with respect to
the offering or performance of services, without being properly
licensed by or registered with the agency, to issue a citation
including an order of correction. Existing law authorizes those
agencies to notify the Public Utilities Commission if a person does
not comply with a final order of correction, and requires the
commission to require the telephone corporation providing the
telephone services to disconnect the service.
This bill would apply those provisions to all agencies that
comprise the department, and would delete the requirement that the
advertising appear in a telephone directory.
(3) Existing law imposes specified duties on the department and
allows the department to levy a charge for the estimated
administrative expenses in advance on a pro rata share basis against
funds of an agency comprising the department.
This bill would require the department to conduct a study of its
system for prorating administrative expenses and to submit a report
to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, on or before
July 1, 2015, and on or before July 1 of each subsequent year,
including the findings of the study and an accounting of the pro rata
calculation. The bill would also require the department, if it
engages a third-party consultant to assess the department's
operations, to promptly, upon receipt of the consultant's final
report on that assessment, to submit that report to the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature including the entire study upon
its completion.
The bill would require the department to develop an enforcement
academy, as specified, and to provide an opportunity for an employee
of an agency comprising the department who performs enforcement
functions to attend an enforcement academy, at least annually, to
provide a solid, standard baseline of knowledge and practices for all
employees who perform enforcement functions.
(4) Existing law requires an agency comprising the board
department to investigate a consumer accusation
or compliant against a licensee and, where appropriate, the agency is
authorized to impose disciplinary action against a licensee. Under
existing law, an agency comprising the board
department may refer a compliant to the Attorney General or
Office of Administrative Hearings for further action. Existing law
requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to submit an annual report
to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before January 1, that
includes information regarding consumer complaints and the action
taken on those complaints.
This bill would require the director's report to include specific,
detailed information regarding those complaints and actions. The
bill would require the Attorney General to submit a report to the
department, the Governor, and the appropriate policy committees of
the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2016, and on or before
January 1 of each subsequent year, that includes specified
information regarding the actions taken by the Office of the Attorney
General pertaining to accusations and cases relating to consumer
complaints against a person whose profession or vocation is licensed
by an agency comprising the department. The bill would require the
Office of Administrative Hearings to submit a report to the same
parties in the same timeframe as described above that includes
actions taken by that office with respect to cases pertaining to
those complaints.
(5) Existing law requires a newly appointed member of a board
comprising the department to, within one year of assuming office,
complete a training and orientation program offered by the
department.
This bill would require the department to develop a board member
mentor program to assign an experienced board member to mentor a new
board member serving on a different board.
(6) Existing law regulates the practice of veterinary medicine.
Existing law, until January 1, 2016, provides for a Veterinary
Medical Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing
law, until January 1, 2016, authorizes the board to appoint a person
exempt from civil service to be designated as an executive officer of
the board, as specified.
This bill would extend those provisions until January 1, 2017.
(7) Existing law regulates the practice of common interest
development managers, and makes those provisions effective only until
January 1, 2015.
This bill would extend the effectiveness of those provisions until
January 1, 2019, and subject those provisions to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would also
delete an obsolete reference.
(8) Existing law establishes the California Tax Education Council,
a nonprofit organization, and requires the council to register and
regulate tax preparers. Existing law makes those provisions effective
only until January 1, 2015.
This bill would extend the effectiveness of those provisions until
January 1, 2019.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 101.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
101.7. (a) An agency within the department that is required to
provide a written notice pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11125
Government Code, may provide that notice by regular mail, email, or
by both regular mail and email. An agency shall give a person who
requests a notice the option of receiving the notice by regular mail,
email, or by both regular mail and electronic mail. The agency shall
comply with the requester's chosen form or forms of notice.
(b) An agency that plans to Web cast a meeting shall include in
the meeting notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
11125 of the Government Code a statement of the board's intent to Web
cast the meeting. An agency may Web cast a meeting even if the
agency fails to include that statement of intent in the notice.
SEC. 2. Section 149 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
149. (a) If, upon investigation, an agency designated in Section
101 has probable cause to believe that a person is advertising with
respect to the offering or performance of services, without being
properly licensed by or registered with the agency to offer or
perform those services, the agency may issue a citation under Section
148 containing an order of correction that requires the violator to
do both of the following:
(1) Cease the unlawful advertising.
(2) Notify the telephone company furnishing services to the
violator to disconnect the telephone service furnished to any
telephone number contained in the unlawful advertising.
(b) This action is stayed if the person to whom a citation is
issued under subdivision (a) notifies the agency in writing that he
or she intends to contest the citation. The agency shall afford an
opportunity for a hearing, as specified in Section 125.9.
(c) If the person to whom a citation and order of correction is
issued under subdivision (a) fails to comply with the order of
correction after that order is final, the agency shall inform the
Public Utilities Commission of the violation and the Public Utilities
Commission shall require the telephone corporation furnishing
services to that person to disconnect the telephone service furnished
to any telephone number contained in the unlawful advertising.
(d) The good faith compliance by a telephone corporation with an
order of the Public Utilities Commission to terminate service issued
pursuant to this section shall constitute a complete defense to any
civil or criminal action brought against the telephone corporation
arising from the termination of service.
SEC. 3. Section 154.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
154.1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The department is currently providing opportunities for
employees of agencies comprising the department who perform
enforcement functions to attend an enforcement academy.
(2) It is in the best interest of consumers in the state for the
department to continue to provide these opportunities for employees
performing enforcement functions for each agency comprising the
department.
(b) The department shall provide an opportunity for an employee of
an agency comprising the department who performs enforcement
functions to attend an enforcement academy, at least annually, to
provide a solid, standard baseline of knowledge and practices for all
employees who perform enforcement functions. The department shall
encourage an agency executive officer, registrar, executive director,
bureau chief, enforcement manager, supervisor, or staff member to
attend an enforcement academy.
(c) The department shall develop the enforcement academy curricula
in consultation and cooperation with the Office of the Attorney
General and the Office of Administrative Hearings. The curricula
shall include, but not be limited to, complaint intake, determining
which cases should be referred for investigation, preparing a case
suitable for filing an accusation, and the Administrative Procedure
Act.
(d) The department shall develop and implement a measure of
training outcomes that includes a pretest and posttest of an employee'
s knowledge of the training subject matter, and any other performance
measures that the department deems appropriate.
SEC. 4. Section 201 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
201. (a) A charge for the estimated administrative expenses of
the department, not to exceed the available balance in any
appropriation for any one fiscal year, may be levied in advance on a
pro rata share basis against any of the boards, bureaus, commissions,
divisions, and agencies, at the discretion of the director and with
the approval of the Department of Finance. The department shall
submit a report of the accounting of the pro rata calculation of
administrative expenses to the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature on or before July 1, 2015, and on or before July 1 of
each subsequent year.
(b) The department shall conduct a study of its current system for
prorating administrative expenses to determine if that system is the
most productive, efficient, and cost-effective manner for the
department and the agencies comprising the department. The study
shall include consideration of whether some of the administrative
services offered by the department should be outsourced or charged on
an as-needed basis and whether the agencies should be permitted to
elect not to receive and be charged for certain administrative
services. The department shall include in its report pursuant to
subdivision (a) the findings of the study.
SEC. 5. Section 211 is added to the Business and Professions Code,
to read:
211. If the department hires a third-party consultant to assess
the department's operations, the department shall, promptly upon
receipt of the consultant's final report on that assessment, submit
that report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
SEC. 6. Section 312 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
312. (a) The director shall submit to the Governor and the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2003, and annually thereafter, a
report of programmatic and statistical information regarding the
activities of the department and its constituent entities. The report
shall include information concerning the director's activities
pursuant to Section 326, including the number and general patterns of
consumer complaints and the action taken on those complaints.
(1) The report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following
information:
(2) The total number of temporary restraining orders or interim
suspension orders sought by each constituent entity to enjoin
licensees pursuant to Sections 125.7 and 125.8, the circumstances in
each case that prompted the constituent entity to seek that
injunctive relief, and whether a restraining order or interim
suspension order was issued.
(3) Information relative to the performance of each constituent
entity, including all of the following:
(A) Number of consumer calls received.
(B) Number of consumer calls or letters designated as
discipline-related complaints.
(C) Number of complaint forms received.
(D) Number of convictions of licensees reported to the
board constituent entity .
(E) Number of criminal filings reported to the constituent entity.
(F) Number of complaints and referrals closed, referred out, or
resolved without discipline, respectively, prior to accusation.
(G) Number of accusations filed and final disposition of
accusations through the constituent entities and court review,
respectively.
(H) Final discipline by category.
(I) Number of citations issued with and without fines.
(J) Number of cases in process more than six months after a
constituent entity receives information regarding the acts relevant
to a filed accusation.
(K) The average and median times in processing complaints from
when a constituent entity receives a complaint to each stage of
discipline and court review.
(L) Final discipline by category.
(M)
( L) Number of public reprimands issued.
(N)
(M) Probation violation reports and probation
revocation filings and dispositions.
(O)
( N) Number of petitions for reinstatement
and the dispositions of those petitions.
(P)
( O) Caseloads of investigators for both
original cases and probation cases.
(Q)
( P) Number of reports pursuant to Section
805 or Section 805.01 by type of peer review body reporting and,
where applicable, the type of health care facility involved and the
number and type of administrative or disciplinary actions taken by a
constituent entity with respect to those reports.
(R)
( Q) Number of reports pursuant to Section
801.01 or 803.
(S)
(R) The number of malpractice settlements in excess of
thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) reported pursuant to Section
801.01.
(T)
( S) Number of coroner's reports received by
a board constituent entity .
(U)
(T) Average length of time for a constituent entity to
reach each of the following milestones in the enforcement process:
(i) Average number of days from when a constituent entity receives
a complaint until the board constituent
entity assigns an investigator to the complaint.
(ii) Average number of days from a constituent entity opening an
investigation conducted by the constituent entity staff or the
Division of Investigation to closing the investigation regardless of
outcome.
(iii) Average number of days from a constituent entity closing an
investigation to imposing formal discipline.
(iv) Average number of days for a constituent entity to conduct a
supplemental investigation for a case that was rereferred by the
constituent entity to the Attorney General to file an accusation.
(b) "Action," for purposes of this section, means a proceeding
brought by, or on behalf of, a constituent entity against a licensee
for unprofessional conduct that has not been finally adjudicated, and
a disciplinary action taken by a constituent entity against a
licensee.
(c) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 7. Section 312.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
312.1. (a) The Attorney General shall submit a report to the
department, the Governor, and the appropriate policy committees of
the Legislature on or before January 1, 2016, and on or before
January 1 of each subsequent year that includes, at a minimum, all of
the following:
(1) Number of cases referred to the Attorney General by each
constituent entity comprising the department.
(2) Number of cases referred by the Attorney General back to each
constituent entity with no further action.
(3) Number of cases rereferred by a constituent entity to the
Attorney General after each constituent entity or the Division of
Investigation completes a supplemental investigation.
(4) Number of accusations filed by each constituent entity.
(5) Number of accusations a constituent entity withdraws.
(6) Average number of days from the Attorney General receiving a
case to filing an accusation on behalf of each constituent entity.
(7) Average number of days to prepare an accusation for a case
that is rereferred to the Attorney General after a supplemental
investigation is conducted by staff of a constituent entity or the
Division of Investigation for each constituent entity.
(8) Average number of days from filing an accusation to
transmitting a stipulated settlement for each constituent entity.
(9) Average number of days from filing an accusation to
transmitting a default decision for each constituent entity.
(10) Average of days from filing an accusation to scheduling a
hearing for each constituent entity.
(11) Average numbers of days from scheduling a hearing to
conducting a hearing for each constituent entity.
(b) The Office of Administrative Hearings shall submit a report to
the department, the Governor, and the Legislature on or before
January 1, 2016, and on or before January 1 of each subsequent year
that includes, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Number of cases referred by each constituent entity to each
office of the Office of Administrative Hearings for a hearing.
(2) Average number of days from receiving a request to setting a
hearing date at each office of the Office of Administrative Hearings.
(3) Average number of days from setting a hearing to conducting
the hearing.
(4) Average number of days after conducting a hearing to
transmitting the proposed decision by each office of the Office of
Administrative Hearings.
SEC. 8. Section 453 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
453. (a) Every newly appointed board member shall, within one
year of assuming office, complete a training and orientation program
offered by the department regarding, among other things, his or her
functions, responsibilities, and obligations as a member of a board.
The department shall adopt regulations necessary to establish this
training and orientation program and its content.
(b) The department shall develop a board member mentor program
through which experienced board members will be trained to act as
mentors to newly appointed board members. A mentor member should be
assigned to a new board member who serves on a different board. A
mentor may be a current or former board member.
SEC. 9. Section 4800 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4800. (a) There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs a
Veterinary Medical Board in which the administration of this chapter
is vested. The board consists of the following members:
(1) Four licensed veterinarians.
(2) One registered veterinary technician.
(3) Three public members.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section
renders the board subject to review by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature. However, the review of the board shall
be limited to those issues identified by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature and shall not involve the preparation
or submission of a sunset review document or evaluative
questionnaire.
SEC. 10. Section 4804.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4804.5. The board may appoint a person exempt from civil service
who shall be designated as an executive officer and who shall
exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the board and
vested in him or her by this chapter.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 11. Section 11506 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
11506. This part shall be subject to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature. This part shall remain in
effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,
2019, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 12. Section 22259 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
22259. (a) This chapter shall be subject to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
(b) This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.