BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1467
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Date of Hearing: June 24, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Susan A. Bonilla, Chair
SB 1467 (Business, Professions and Economic Development) - As
Amended: June 16, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Professions and vocations.
SUMMARY : This bill makes numerous minor, non-controversial,
and substantive changes as well as technical changes to the
Business and Professions Code (BPC). Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following changes relating to the California Board
of Accountancy (CBA):
a) Authorizes the CBA to collect, but not require, a valid
electronic mail address from applicants or those renewing a
license;
b) Provides that an electronic mail address collected by
the CBA shall be treated as confidential;
c) Makes legislative findings and declarations that the
electronic addresses provided to the CBA are confidential;
d) Removes the requirement that two of the Governor's seven
appointees to the CBA must represent a small public
accounting firm, and removes the definition of a small
public accounting firm;
a) Authorizes the CBA to, by regulation, allow experience
in academia to satisfy the one-year experience requirement
for a Certified Public Accountant license;
b) Clarifies that a CPA who is licensed in another state
and who holds and exercises a practice privilege in
California, must notify the CBA in writing of any pending
criminal charges within 30 days; and,
c) Require, until January 1, 2019, that the CAB consult
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with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
1)Revises the existing provisions establishing a Contractors
State License Board (CSLB) enforcement division and makes
technical, non-substantive changes.
2)Makes the following changes relating to the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists
(BPELSG):
a) Incorporates cross-references to Education Code and
Health and Safety Code sections that require structural
engineers to prepare plans for hospitals and schools;
b) Adds language to specify that the engineer designated as
the person in responsible charge of professional
engineering work of a public agency is responsible for
ensuring compliance with monument preservation
requirements;
c) Requires that at least one person authorized to practice
land surveying be designated as the person in responsible
charge of professional land surveying work practiced in any
public agency;
d) Updates the second division examination requirement for
professional engineers to delete the requirement that the
examination be an 8-hour examination;
e) Removes references to the obsolete title of "petroleum
geologist;" and,
f) Adds a section to the Geologist and Geophysicist Act
which specifically addresses petitions for reinstatement of
revoked licenses and petitions for reduction or
modification or penalty probations orders.
3)Makes the following changes relating to general businesses:
a) Allows unincorporated associations to apply for
fictitious business name registration;
b) Simplifies the process to apply for fictitious business
name registration; and,
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c) Clarifies that professional photocopiers must maintain a
valid notary commission throughout their certificate of
registration period.
4)Makes other clarifying and technical changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of various
professions and businesses by some 23 boards, four committees,
nine bureaus, and one commission within the Department of
Consumer Affairs under various licensing acts within the
Business and Professions Code.
2)Prohibits a person from engaging in the practice of public
accountancy in California unless he or she holds either a
valid CPA license issued by the CBA, or a practice privilege,
as specified. An applicant for registration or renewal must
furnish satisfactory evidence that the applicant is entitled
to registration. (BPC 5070, 5070.5)
3)Establishes education, examination, and experience
requirements for a CPA license, and requires an applicant to
show that he or she has one year of qualifying experience.
Requires the experience to have been performed in accordance
with applicable professional standards, and to be completed
under the supervision or employ of a licensed CPA, as
specified. (BPC 5093)
4)Authorizes, until January 1, 2019, a CPA licensed in another
state to engage in the practice of public accountancy in
California under a practice privilege without obtaining a
California CPA license, as specified. CPAs who hold a
practice privilege must notify the CBA of any pending criminal
charges, other than a minor traffic violation, in any
jurisdiction in which they practice. (BPC 5096)
5)Authorizes the CBA to suspend an individual's practice
privilege right by an order issued by the CBA or its executive
officer, without prior notice or hearing, in order to conduct
a disciplinary investigation concerning the individual's
competence or qualifications to practice under a practice
privilege. Requires the CBA to consult the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the United States
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Securities and Exchange Commission on a six-month basis to
identify out-of-state licensees who may have disqualifying
conditions, or may be obliged to cease practice. (BPC 5096.4)
6)Provides that persons employed as enforcement representatives
in the enforcement division within the CSLB, and designated by
the Director of DCA, are not peace officers and are not
entitled to safety member retirement benefits. (BPC 7011.4)
7)Contains the following provisions relating to Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists
(BPELSG):
a) Requires a registered engineer be designated the person
responsible in charge of engineering for each practicing
government department or agency. (BPC 6730.2)
b) Provides protections for monuments used for land
surveying. (BPC 8771)
c) Specifies the requirements for civil engineering plans.
(BPC 6735)
d) Provides for the BPELSG to issue an engineer's license
to an engineer licensed in another state or country without
a written examination if the applicant's qualification is
equivalent to the requirements of California law. Provides
that an equivalent second division examination must be an
eight hour written examination, as specified. (BPC 6759)
e) Authorizes BPELSG to issue a certification as a
petroleum geologist to a geologist that meets certain
requirements. (BPC 7842)
f) Authorizes the BPELSG to investigate certificate holders
and suspend or revoke certificates. (BPC 7860)
8)Provides for the registration of fictitious business names, as
specified. (BPC 17901, 17913, 17914, 17916)
9)Requires a professional photocopier to have at the time of
certification a valid notary commission. (BPC 22454)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose . This bill is one of two committee bills authored by
the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development
Committee (Committee) and is intended to consolidate
non-controversial provisions related to various regulatory
programs and professions governed by the BPC. Consolidating
the provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various
licensing boards, bureaus, professions and other regulatory
agencies from the necessity and burden of having separate
measures for non-controversial revisions.
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. This bill is sponsored by the California Board of
Accountancy California; the Land Surveyors Association
Structural Engineers Association of California; the Board for
Professional Engineers, the Land Surveyors and Geologists, the
Contractors State Licensing Board; and the California
Association of Clerks and Election Officials
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "Consolidating
the provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various
licensing boards, agencies and professions from the necessity
and burden of having separate measures for a number of
non-controversial revisions. Many 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." This bill is author
sponsored.
3)CBA . Created by statute, the California Board of
Accountancy's legal mandate is to regulate the accounting
profession for the public interest by establishing and
maintaining entry standards of qualification and conduct
within the accounting profession, primarily through its
authority to license. In California, the accounting
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profession's licensed practitioners are the Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) and the Public Accountant (PA). The CBA
currently regulates over 81,000 licensees, the largest group
of licensed accounting professionals in the nation, including
individuals, partnerships, and corporations.
According to CBA, the vast majority of licensees has an e-mail
address and prefers e-mail communications. While the e-mail
addresses that are allowed to be collected by this bill would
never be used for sensitive communications, it is anticipated
that an e-mail list could be used for communicating important
and timely information regarding a wide range of topics that
could include urgent legislation and regulation issues,
problems with computer systems, or other unforeseen
emergencies, according to CBA.
CBA contends that allowing experience in academia to count
towards the general experience requirement for CPA licensure
would begin to bridge the gap between theory and practice by
allowing more accounting professors to obtain a CPA license.
Bringing practical experience into the classroom benefits
students, the accounting profession, and most importantly, the
consumers of California.
This bill adds the phrases "in writing" and "within 30 days of
the date the individual has knowledge of such charges" to
existing law. This change mirrors the wording and timeframe
of other sections of law which establish reporting
requirements for licensees. In addition, the section
clarifies that it applies only to those exercising the
practice privilege in California. Adding the timeframe will
eliminate the possibility of practice privilege holders
putting off notifying CBA of pending criminal charges which
will assist CBA in protecting the consumers of California. It
will also avoid unnecessary reporting by those who never
intend to practice in California, according to CBA.
In addition, this bill would corrects a drafting error by
moving the requirement that the CAB consult, until January 1,
2015, with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to
practice privilege requirements which are in effect only until
January 1, 2019.
4)CSLB . CSLB protects consumers by licensing and regulating
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California's construction industry. There are about 300,000
licensed contractors in the state, in 43 different licensing
classifications. In addition to educating consumers about
contractors and construction law, CSLB activities include
administering examinations to test prospective licensees,
issuing licenses, investigating complaints against licensed
and unlicensed contractors, issuing citations, suspending or
revoking licenses, and seeking administrative, criminal, and
civil sanctions against violators. In fiscal year 2012-13,
CSLB helped recover nearly $44 million in ordered restitution
for consumers.
According to CSLB, in 2012 the CSLB sponsored legislation (AB
2554, Berryhill, Chapter 85) which provided all CSLB
enforcement representatives with the authority to issue a
notice to appear for misdemeanor violations of the Contractors
State License Law. This bill will further revise existing
code, as recommended by CSLB's legal counsel, to more clearly
provide that all CSLB enforcement representatives may issue a
written notice to appear.
5)BPELSG . BPELSG has the authority to investigate complaints of
violations of the Professional Engineers Act, the Professional
Land Surveyors' Act, and the Geologist and Geophysicist Act,
such as fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, negligence,
incompetence, breach of contract, failure to use a written
contract, failure to record of survey map, aiding and
abetting, violating the Codes of Professional Conduct, and
practicing without a license. Enforcement actions include, but
are not limited to, suspending licenses, revoking licenses,
placing licensees on probation, issuing administrative
citations, and referring the matter to the district attorney
for criminal prosecution.
BPELSG regulates the practices of professional engineering,
professional land surveying, professional geology, and
professional geophysics and licenses professional engineers,
professional land surveyors, professional geologists, and
professional geophysicists.
BPELSG proposes removing the reference to an "eight-hour"
examination in current law, stating that since BPELSG has
changed how the examination is administered, the reference to
the timeframe is no longer relevant. Since October 2011,
BPELSG has utilized computer-based testing centers to
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administer its licensing examinations. Examinations are
offered at a multitude of testing sites throughout the nation.
BPELSG states that the main purpose in developing and
administering exams is to test the examinees knowledge and
experience.
BPELSG states that existing code section referring to petroleum
geologists has existed since the inception of the Geology Act
in 1968, but there has never been a known consumer or industry
need to provide for a separate certification of petroleum
geology. A professional geologist license authorizes a person
to perform petroleum geology, so a separate certification
appears to be redundant. This bill removes the reference to
that obsolete certification.
According to the California Land Surveyors Association,
monuments used in land surveying are frequently disturbed or
altered, and the statutory responsibility for replacing and
perpetuating these monuments for the public is ambiguous.
This bill adds language to identify that "designated person in
responsible charge" is responsible for monument preservation
for work."
This bill also provides under the Geologist and Geophysicist Act
the same provisions that apply under the Professional
Engineers Act and the Professional Land Surveyors Act relating
to petitions for reinstatement of revoked licenses and
petitions for reduction or modification or penalty probations
orders.
This bill also amends the Professional Engineers Act to
reference provisions that require plans to be prepared by a
structural engineer for school structures, in accordance with
existing provisions of the Education Code, and for hospital
structures, in accordance with relevant provisions of the
Health and Safety Code. Currently, laws relating structural
engineers span three different Codes, with none of the codes
referencing the others. These amendments would make this
information more accessible and clear.
6)Fictitious business licenses . According to California
Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO), current
law does not provide an appropriate process for
"unincorporated associations" to complete the fictitious
business name (FBN) registration. The current law also
requires a higher level of scrutiny than is needed to identify
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corporations and LLC's, which creates a more expensive and
time-consuming process than is necessary to carry out the
intent of AB 1325 (Lara), Chapter 368, Statutes of 2012).
This bill creates a subcategory for "unincorporated
associations" that will facilitate their registration, and
provides a less costly/time consuming process for
corporations/LLC's to properly identify themselves for FBN
registration.
7)Professional photocopiers . According to CACEO, current law
only requires a person registering as a professional
photocopier with the county clerk to possess a "current
commission to act as a notary from the Secretary of State."
Since the notary commission expires after 4 years, there is a
possibility that it could lapse during the course of the 2
year professional photocopier registration with the county.
This bill requires a professional photocopier to maintain a
valid notary commission.
8)Arguments in Support . CACEO writes in support, "[This]
measure allows for a more streamlined and timely registration
process by allowing counties to verify the status of a
corporation through documents already available on the
Secretary of State's website?These clean up provisions will
take important steps to allow county clerks to better serve
the public."
The CSLB writes, "[T]his bill [would] clearly provide that all
CSLB enforcement representatives may issue a written notice to
appear (NTA). This bill benefits consumers and licensees by
providing an opportunity to refer more criminal complaints to
prosecutors through NTAs."
The Structural Engineers Association of California writes,
"[T]he public, California engineers, and out-of-state
engineers seeking licensure here, would all benefit from
having the restrictions referenced where they could more
easily be found - in the Professional Engineers Act in the
[BPC] alongside the rest of an engineer's practice and
licensure requirements. The added references in no way change
existing law. But they would make the law more accessible and
clear."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
California Board of Accountancy
California Land Surveyors Association
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
Contractors State License Board
Structural Engineers Association of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Bjerke and Eunie Linden / B.,P.
& C.P. / (916) 319-3301