BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 179 (Bonilla) - Healing arts
          
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          |Version: June 30, 2015          |Policy Vote: B., P. & E.D. 7 -  |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015   |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 179 would extend the statutory sunset on the Dental  
          Board of California until January 1, 2020 and increase the  
          statutory caps on fees assessed by the Dental Board. The bill  
          would extend the statutory sunset of the Board of Vocational  
          Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians until January 1, 2018 and  
          merge the Vocational Nurses Account and the Psychiatric  
          Technician Examiners Account.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           No significant costs are anticipated due to the extension of  
            the sunset on the Dental Board of California (State Dentistry  
            Fund). Current law imposes a sunset on the existence of the  
            Dental Board as an appointed board. However, there is no  
            sunset on the larger body of law requiring licensure and  
            oversight of the practice of dentistry. If the Dental Board  
            was allowed to sunset, the overall licensing and regulatory  
            program would still exist in law.







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           Significant increases in licensing fee revenues to the Dental  
            Board are possible under the bill (State Dentistry Fund). The  
            bill authorizes the Dental Board, through regulation, to raise  
            a number of licensing fees currently capped in statute. If the  
            Board were to raise the fees to the maximum level authorized  
            in the bill, additional annual revenues would be about $2.8  
            million per year for dentist licensing fees and $2.7 million  
            per year for other regulatory fees (State Dentistry Fund). The  
            actual amount of fee revenue collected by the Board will  
            depend on the actual fee levels set through regulation.

           No significant costs are anticipated due to the extension of  
            the sunset on the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric  
            Technicians (Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians  
            Fund). Current law imposes a sunset on the existence of the  
            Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians as an  
            appointed board. However, there is no sunset on the larger  
            body of law requiring licensure and oversight of the practice  
            of vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians. If the Board  
            of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians was allowed  
            to sunset, the overall licensing and regulatory program would  
            still exist in law.

           Uncertain impact on licensing fee revenues paid by vocational  
            nurses and psychiatric technicians due to the merger of the  
            Vocational Nurses Account and the Psychiatric Technician  
            Examiners Account. The licensing fees assessed on vocational  
            nurses and psychiatric technicians are currently set at their  
            statutory caps. The Vocational Nurses Account is projected to  
            maintain solvent through 2020-21. However, the Psychiatric  
            Technician Examiners Account has a structural deficit and is  
            projected to be insolvent by 2017-18. Rather than propose a  
            statutory change to allow the Board to raise the licensing  
            fees assessed on psychiatric technicians, this bill would  
            merge the two accounts, effectively using the licensing fees  
            paid by vocational nurses to pay for the program costs  
            associated with licensing and regulating psychiatric  
            technicians.


          Background:  Under current law, the Dental Board licenses and regulates the  
          practice of dentistry in the state. Current law sets statutory  
          maximums for the various licensing fees assessed by the Dental  








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          Board. Current law sunsets the existence of the Dental Board on  
          January 1, 2016. There is no statutory sunset on the Dental  
          Practice Act, itself.
          Under current law the Board of Vocational Nursing and  
          Psychiatric Technicians licenses and regulates the professional  
          practice of vocational nurses and psychiatric technicians.  
          Current law sets statutory maximums for the various licensing  
          fees assessed by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric  
          Technicians. Current law sunsets the existence of the Board of  
          Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians on January 1,  
          2016. There is no statutory sunset on the larger bodies of law  
          requiring licensure of vocational nurses or psychiatric  
          technicians or regulating their respective practices. Current  
          law provides for a separate Vocational Nurses Account  and a  
          Psychiatric Technician Examiners Account, both within the  
          Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians Fund.  
          Historically, these accounts have been separately budgeted and  
          displayed in budget documents.




          Proposed Law:  
            AB 179 would extend the statutory sunset on the Dental Board  
          of California until January 1, 2020 and increase the statutory  
          caps on fees assessed by the Dental Board. The bill would also  
          make minor changes to related laws.
          The bill would extend the statutory sunset of the Board of  
          Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians until January 1,  
          2018 and merge the Vocational Nurses Account and the Psychiatric  
          Technician Examiners Account.




          Related  
          Legislation:  This bill is one of several sunset review bills  
          relating to licensing boards and bureaus within the Department  
          of Consumer Affairs.


          Staff  
          Comments:  As noted above, the proposal to merge the Vocational  
          Nurses Account and the Psychiatric Technician Examiners Account  








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          is intended to restore solvency to the Psychiatric Technician  
          Examiners Account, using fee revenues in the Vocational Nurses  
          Account. It appears that this proposal would result in licensing  
          fees paid by vocational nurses being used to subsidize the  
          licensure and regulation of psychiatric technicians.


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