BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 180
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
180 (Bonilla)
As Amended September 4, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 80-0 | (June 1, |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 9, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: B. & P.
SUMMARY: Merges the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law and the
Cemetery Act into one Cemetery and Funeral Act and merges the
State Funeral Directors and Embalmers Fund and the Cemetery Fund
into the combined Cemetery and Funeral Fund, and further
requires the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau (Bureau) to report to
the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, before
January 1, 2020, and conduct a review of endowment care fund
requirements, as specified, by January 1, 2018. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires the powers and duties of the Bureau be reviewed by
the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature before
January 1, 2020.
2)Requires the Bureau to conduct a study of endowment care funds
as specified, by January 1, 2018.
AB 180
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3)Merges the State Funeral Directors and Embalmers Fund and the
Cemetery Fund into one Cemetery and Funeral Fund beginning
July 1, 2016.
4)Merges the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law and the
Cemetery Act into the Cemetery and Funeral Act.
5)Adds language to avoid chaptering out issues with AB 177
(Bonilla) and AB 179 (Bonilla), of the current legislative
session.
6)Makes other technical, non-substantive, and clarifying
amendments.
The Senate amendments add provisions to merge the Funeral
Directors and Embalmers Law and the Cemetery Act into the
combined Cemetery and Funeral Act and merge the State Funeral
Directors and Embalmers Fund and the Cemetery Fund into the
Cemetery and Funeral Fund, and delay the implementation of the
fund merger until July 1, 2016; move the due date for the
endowment care fund report from November 1, 2018, to January
1, 2018; add chaptering out language with AB 177 (Bonilla) and
AB 179 (Bonilla), of the current legislative session; and,
make other technical and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in:
1)No significant ongoing operational costs are anticipated under
the bill. Under current law, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau
enforces both the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law and the
Cemetery Act. Neither body of law has a statutory sunset and
this bill does not impose a new sunset on the combined body of
law.
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2)No significant costs are anticipated by the Bureau to conduct
the required study of endowment care funds. According to the
Bureau, it already intends to conduct the required study and
will be able to do so within existing resources.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is one of five author-sponsored sunset
bills. According to the author, "Although the Bureau is
subject to sunset review, and was subject to a sunset review
oversight hearing on March 18, 2015, its statutory provisions
does not contain a sunset review provision. This bill simply
seeks to make clear that the Bureau is subject to sunset
review, and to reinforce the recommendations contained in the
Bureau's sunset review report, including a review of endowment
care funds, in order to increase accountability."
Background. The Bureau licenses and regulates more than 11,000
licensees in 13 different licensing categories. The Bureau
has the oversight responsibility for both fiduciary and
operational activities of its licensing population and has the
statutory authority to enforce the licensing and practice acts
in the Business and Professions Code (BPC) along with
jurisdiction over specified provisions of the Health and
Safety Code (HSC) dealing specifically with human remains,
cemetery, and crematory provisions.
Joint Oversight Hearings and Sunset Review of Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) Licensing Boards. In March of 2015,
the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Senate
Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee
(Committees) conducted multiple joint oversight hearings to
review 10 regulatory boards and other entities within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). This and other sunset
bills are intended to implement legislative changes
recommended in the respective background reports drafted by
the Committees for all of the agencies reviewed this year.
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The Sunset Review Process. The sunset review process provides a
formal mechanism for the DCA; the Legislature; the regulatory
boards, bureaus and committees; interested parties; and
stakeholders to make recommendations for improvements to the
authority of consumer protection boards and bureaus. This is
performed on a standard four-year cycle and was mandated by SB
2036 (McCorquodale), Chapter 908, Statutes of 1994. An
eligible agency is allowed to sunset unless the Legislature
enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or reorganize the
eligible agency. The legislation pertaining to this bill was
based on specific issues raised and addressed in the
background report prepared by the Assembly Business and
Professions Committee. This is the Bureau's second sunset
review.
Cemetery Bureau. Prior to regulation as a Bureau, cemetery and
funeral issues were handled by two separate entities, the
California State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers and
the California State Cemetery Board, which were created in
1939 and 1949, respectively. Ultimately, the Legislature
determined that the DCA was the best structure for managing
the Programs, and through a memorandum of understanding with
the Cemetery Board, the DCA assumed responsibility for the
Cemetery Program in October 1995. The DCA was vested with all
of the duties, powers, purpose, responsibilities, and
jurisdiction of both the Cemetery Board and the Board of
Funeral Directors and Embalmers, and consolidated the
functions into the Bureau.
During the sunset review of the Bureau, several issues were
identified in the Assembly Business and Professions
Committee's background paper, and suggestions were raised by
Committee staff regarding the functions and operations of the
Bureau, including: the fund condition of both the Cemetery
Fund and the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Fund and the
accompanying practice acts; ensuring compliance with required
General Price List (GPL) disclosure information for consumers
by funeral establishments; the enforcement for cemeteries with
disciplinary concerns; the need for a review of endowment care
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funds requirements; and, the Bureau's preparation for the
changing death care industry.
While an increase in funding for endowment care was enacted in
2008. It was recommended in the background paper that the
Bureau conduct an updated study on endowment care fund
requirements and needs. This bill will require the Bureau to
conduct a study of endowment care funds and report back to the
Legislature by January 1, 2018.
Funds and Practice Acts Merger. Because the Bureau was
established as the result of the consolidation of two separate
autonomous boards in the late 1990s, the Bureau operates by
two separate funds. The urgency legislation which transferred
the regulatory operations of both Boards to the DCA in 1996
did not provide for the combination of funds, and yet, the
Bureau is responsible for enforcement, licensing, promulgating
regulations and has regulatory authority over all licensees.
Currently, the Bureau is responsible for administering both
the Cemetery Fund and the Funeral Fund. Licensing fees,
citations and other administrative costs are collected and
deposited into the appropriate fund in accordance with current
statute. Although the Bureau reports that it attempts to
capture and separate the appropriate expenditures and revenues
based on the fund, there are times when the administration may
overlap in auditing, field staff, licensing and enforcement.
Because the Bureau administers two separate funds, there may
be duplicate administrative work, such as reviewing two
separate fund expenditure and revenue reports, and the
administrative time to review and separate each application,
audit report, or fine to make sure it was charged to the
appropriate fund. This bill merges the State Funeral
Directors and Embalmers Fund and the Cemetery Fund into the
combined Cemetery Fund in addition to merging the practice
acts into one single practice act.
This bill will authorize the continued operation of the Bureau
as it is currently functioning under the DCA, and request the
Bureau to be reviewed by the Legislature again in four years.
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By continuing the functions of the Bureau, this bill will
allow the Bureau to continue in its regulatory capacity for
the protection of consumers and the regulation of all aspects
of the funeral and cemetery industries.
Analysis Prepared by: Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916)
319-3301 FN: 0002356