BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 483 (Patterson) - Healing arts: initial license fees:
proration
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|Version: June 22, 2015 |Policy Vote: B., P. & E.D. 8 - |
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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 does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 483 would require several licensing boards and
committees within the Department of Consumer Affairs to prorate
initial license fees on a monthly basis.
Fiscal Impact (as proposed to be
amended):
Minor administrative costs to revise regulations and update
forms and procedures for collecting initial license fees by
several boards and committees within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (various special funds).
One-time costs of about $140,000 for information technology
upgrades to the computer system used to process license
applications (various special funds).
Ongoing revenue loss of about $120,000 per year in reduced
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licensing fees (various special funds). The following boards
and committees would experience reduced license fee revenues:
Architects Board ($16,000), Dental Hygiene Committee
($19,000), Osteopathic Medical Board ($10,000), Physical
Therapy Board ($29,000), Veterinary Medical Board ($76,000).
Background: Under current law, various boards and committees within the
Department of Consumer Affairs license certain professionals and
enforce educational and profession standards for those
professions. In general, applicants for licensure pay an initial
license fee upon application and pay a fee upon renewal of a
license. Professional licenses are typically valid for two
years.
Historically, licensing boards and committees experienced a
large number of applications for initial licensure based on
academic schedules. For example, most applicants for an initial
license would apply for licensure soon after undergraduate or
graduate training programs are completed and/or accredited
professional examinations have taken place. Thus, licensing
boards and commissions must typically process most of their
applications for initial licensure at the same time every year.
To avoid the same influx of applications for license renewal,
licensing boards and committee's often require licensees to
renew their license during the licensee's birth month, rather
than on the anniversary of the initial licensure. This is done
to spread out the workload for license renewal across the
calendar year. Over time, many boards have experienced a shift
in workload as changes in academic requirements or applicant
preferences mean that an influx of applications for initial
licensure does not always take place at one time of year.
Proposed Law:
AB 483 would require several licensing boards and committees
within the Department of Consumer Affairs to prorate initial
license fees on a monthly basis.
Specifically, the bill would require the following boards and
committees to prorate initial license fees:
The Dental Board of California;
The Dental Hygiene Committee of California;
The Osteopathic Medical Board of California;
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The Occupational Therapy Board of California;
The Physical Therapy Board of California;
The California Veterinary Medicine Board;
The California Acupuncture Board;
The California Architecture Board.
Related
Legislation:
AB 773 (Baker) would revise require the Medical Board and
the Board of Psychology to issue initial licenses for a full
two calendar years. That bill is on this committee's
Suspense File.
AB 179 (Bonilla) would extend the sunset of the Dental
Board and raise the existing statutory caps on fees imposed
by the Dental Board. That bill will be heard in this
committee.
AB 1758 (Patterson, 2014) was substantially similar to this
bill, but also included the Medical Board and Board of
Psychology. That bill was held on this committee's Suspense
File.
Staff
Comments: Typically, licensing fees charged by Department of
Consumer affairs boards and committees are either explicitly set
in statute or statute provides for the maximum fee that a board
or committee may charge. In cases where the license fee is set
at or near the maximum statutory fee, a board or committee
impacted by this bill may not be able to raise fees on all
license applicants to offset the revenue reduction required by
this bill. As noted above, for several boards and committees,
the revenue reduction is expected to be minor and can likely be
absorbed by the board or committee. Of the boards impacted by
this bill, some (such as the Acupuncture Board and the Dental
Board) already prorate initial licenses. Other boards (such as
the Physical Therapy Board and the Veterinary Board) have set
their initial license fees below the statutory cap and therefore
have some capacity to raise fee levels to offset revenue losses
under the bill.
Author's amendments: Would remove the Physical Therapy Board
from the bill.
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