BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 483
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
483 (Patterson) - As Amended April 9, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the initial license fee for the following
licensing categories to be prorated on a monthly basis:
dentists, dental hygienists, physicians and surgeons, hearing
aid dispensers, occupational therapists, physical therapists,
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veterinary technicians, veterinarians, acupuncturists, and
architects.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Revenue loss to affected boards attributable to lower average
initial licensure fees of at least several hundred thousand
dollars annually (various special funds). This may increase
pressure on boards to raise fees. However, in some cases,
fees are already set at their statutory maximums.
2)Minor and absorbable costs to affected licensing boards
associated with changing cashiering procedures, forms and
materials (various special funds).
3)$140,000 in Information Technology expenditures due to
licensing system modifications. (various special funds).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill requires initial licensing fees for
specified healing arts practitioners and architects to be
prorated on a monthly basis, to ensure that licensees are
charged fees in a fair manner and are not disadvantaged based
on their birth month. This bill is author-sponsored.
2)Birth Date Renewal Program. Many boards and bureaus under
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) operate a birth date
renewal program. Instead of basing license renewals on the
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date of issuance of the initial license, which would result in
the boards facing the same influx of applications year after
year, most boards renew licenses based on birth date, rather
than the date the license was issued, which allows the boards
to spread out that work throughout the year.
3)Related Legislation. AB 773 (Baker), pending on the Assembly
Floor, makes psychologist's initial licensure for a 2-year
period, with expiration based on licensure date instead of
birthdate.
4)Previous Legislation.
a) AB 1758 (Patterson) of 2014 as introduced was similar to
this bill. AB 1758 was amended in this committee to address
concerns related to mismatch of initial licensure workload
and revenue, and was ultimately held in Senate
Appropriations Committee.
b) SB 2014 (Machado) of 2002 directed the MBC to prorate
its annual licensing fees in cases where the initial
licensure period is less than two years, and deleted an
obsolete oral examination fee authority. That bill was
held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
c) SB 1045 (Murray) of 2000 would have directed the MBC to
prorate its annual licensing fees in cases where the
initial licensure period is less than two years. That bill
was held in the Senate.
d) SB 663 (Maddy), Chapter 626, Statutes of 1992,
authorized the Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) to adopt
regulations for the waiver or refund of initial
registration fees if the registration is issued less than
45 days before it will expire.
1)Staff Comments. As currently drafted, this bill may result in
a mismatch between fees and workload. The fee for initial
licensure must support initial licensure workload, such as
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initial verification of education and experience, as well as
ongoing oversight workload for the period of the license. Some
level of proration appears reasonable, but in some cases where
the initial licensures will only be in effect for a short
period of time, fees prorated on a monthly basis may not be
adequate to cover the workload costs of initial licensure.
Initial licensure requires a set amount of workload regardless
of the length of the license. The Medical Board for example,
charges an application fee in addition to initial licensure
fee to cover the costs of establishing a license. Initial
licensure and/or application fees should be adequate to cover
the cost of establishing a license. The author may wish to
ensure that is the case for each board when moving to a
prorated system.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081