BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1246
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 6, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                     SB 1246 (Lieu) - As Amended:  June 15, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             Business and  
          Professions  Vote:                            11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill modifies statutes related to the California  
          Acupuncture Board (CAB). Specifically, this bill:

          1)Extends the sunset date of the CAB and the authorization to  
            appoint an executive officer to January 1, 2017.

          2)Revises acupuncture educational program approval requirements,  
            repealing CAB's authority to approve schools and replacing  
            this process with standards that include national  
            accreditation, as well as repealing fees schools currently  
            must pay to CAB for approval.

          3)Specifies that any executive officer (EO) appointed on or  
            after January 1, 2015 shall not have served as an executive  
            officer for the CAB prior to January 1, 2015.  

          4)Requires the CAB to establish standards for the acceptance of  
            educational training and clinical experience received outside  
            of the United States and Canada beginning on January 1, 2017.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Ongoing costs of about $3.3 million per year to support the  
            California Acupuncture Board's licensing activities, supported  
            by licensing fees (all costs/revenues are Acupuncture Fund).

          2)Minor reduction in costs and revenues after January 1, 2017  
            due to the elimination of the Board's authority to approve  
            educational programs.









                                                                  SB 1246
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          3)Staff costs to promulgate regulations, potentially in the  
            range of $100,000, to address internationally trained  
            applicants.

          4)By changing the process for accrediting schools by the Board,  
            it is possible that an increased number of individuals would  
            meet the state's licensing requirement to have graduated from  
            an accredited school. This could increase the number of  
            applicants for licensure. This could result in a potential  
            increase in licensing costs in the range of $100,000 or more  
            due to increased applications (Acupuncture Fund), and a  
            commensurate one-time revenue spike due to increased fee  
            revenues from exam fees as well as higher revenues ongoing. 


           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill extends the sunset date of the CAB and  
            makes other in order to address issues identified during the  
            CAB's 2014 sunset review. This bill is author-sponsored.  
           
          2)The 2014 sunset review  background paper for the CAB identified  
            multiple issues relating to the administration and oversight  
            of the CAB and its ability to properly regulate and license  
            acupuncturists.  These issues include: a lack of communication  
            to its licensees through CAB's Web site and listserv,  
            application backlogs, failure to query a National Practitioner  
            Databank to check the history of licensees, failure to  
            complete an audit of a national licensing examination, and  
            concerns with the CAB's school approval process.  

           3)Main Provisions  .  The most significant change this bill makes  
            in CAB's authority relates to its approval of schools. Instead  
            of requiring CAB approval of schools, this bill retains CAB's  
            approval of curriculum but requires schools be accredited by  
            the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental  
            Medicine (ACAOM). In order for a school or training program to  
            be approved, it would need CAB approval of its curriculum and  
            accreditation by the ACAOM, as well as approval by the Bureau  
            of Private Postsecondary Education.  This bill provides a  
            two-year implementation delay in order to provide schools, CAB  
            and ACAOM time to review standards and implement the joint  
            process.  All other states require ACAOM accreditation in lieu  
            of state-specific approval processes.









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            This bill also extends the CAB's authority for an additional  
            two years, rather than four, as is typical.  The sunset time  
            frame has been shortened due to concerns about whether CAB is  
            addressing numerous issues raised by the Legislature.   
            According to the 2014 Sunset Review background paper, the  
            CAB's report to the Joint Sunset Review Committee indicates  
            little progress in addressing issues identified in the 2012  
            Sunset Review background paper.  

           4)Support and Opposition  . Several schools, students,  
            practitioners and organizations are in support. A number of  
            organizations oppose the bill due to concerns about changing  
            the current CAB school approval process.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081