BILL NUMBER: AB 684 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Alejo and Bonilla
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Sections 2546.2, 2546.9, 2550.1, 2554, 2556, 2567,
3010.5, 3011, 3013 of, to add Sections 2556.1, 2556.2, 3020, 3021,
3023.1 to, and to repeal and add Section 655 of, the Business and
Professions Code, relating to healing arts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 684, Alejo. State Board of Optometry: optometrists: nonresident
contact lens sellers: registered dispensing opticians.
Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist and a registered
dispensing optician from having any membership, proprietary interest,
coownership, landlord-tenant relationship, or any profit-sharing
arrangement in any form, directly or indirectly, with each other.
Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist from having any
membership, proprietary interest, coownership, landlord-tenant
relationship, or any profit-sharing arrangement in any form, directly
or indirectly, either by stock ownership, interlocking directors,
trusteeship, mortgage, trust deed, or otherwise with any person who
is engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution to physicians
and surgeons, optometrists, or dispensing opticians of lenses,
frames, optical supplies, optometric appliances or devices or kindred
products. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions by a
licensed optometrist and any other persons, whether or not a healing
arts licensee, who participates with a licensed optometrist, subject
to a crime.
Under existing law, the Medical Board of California is responsible
for the registration and regulation of nonresident contact lens
sellers and dispensing opticians. Existing law requires fees
collected from nonresident contact lens sellers to be deposited in
the Dispensing Opticians Fund, and to be available, upon
appropriation, to the Medical Board of California. Existing law
requires fees collected from registered dispensing optician to be
paid into the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California.
Existing law makes a violation of the registered dispensing optician
provisions a crime. Existing law, the Optometry Practice Act, makes
the State Board of Optometry responsible for the licensure and
regulation of optometrists. A violation of the Optometry Practice Act
is a crime. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan
Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care
service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a
willful violation of the act a crime.
This bill would repeal those prohibitions. The bill would prohibit
a licensed optometrist from having any membership, proprietary
interest, coownership, or any profit-sharing arrangement, either by
stock ownership, interlocking directors, trusteeship, mortgage, or
trust deed, with any registered dispensing optician or any optical
company, as defined, except as otherwise authorized. The bill would
authorize a registered dispensing optician or optical company to
operate, own, or have an ownership interest in a health plan, defined
as a licensed health care service plan, if the health plan does not
directly employ optometrists to provide optometric services directly
to enrollees of the health plan, and would also provide for the
direct or indirect provision of products and services to the health
plan or its contracted providers or enrollees or to other
optometrists, as specified. The bill would authorize an optometrist,
a registered dispensing optician, an optical company, or a health
plan to execute a lease or other written agreement giving rise to a
direct or indirect landlord-tenant relationship with an optometrist
if specified conditions are contained in a written agreement, as
provided. The bill would authorize the State Board of Optometry, to
inspect, upon request, an individual lease agreement, and the bill
would require the landlord or tenant to comply. Because the failure
to comply with that request would be a crime under specified acts,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would
prohibit a registered dispensing optician from having any membership,
proprietary interest, coownership, or profit sharing arrangement
either by stock ownership, interlocking directors, trusteeship,
mortgage, or trust deed, with an optometrist, except as authorized.
The bill would make a violation of these provisions a crime. By
creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
This bill would instead make the State Board of Optometry
responsible for the registration and regulation of nonresident
contact lens sellers and dispensing opticians. The bill would direct
fees collected from registered dispensing opticians and persons
seeking registration as a dispensing optician to be paid into the
Dispensing Opticians Fund, and to be available, upon appropriation,
to the State Board of Optometry. The bill would make various
conforming changes in that regard.
Existing law requires each registered dispensing optician to
conspicuously and prominently display at each registered location the
name of the registrant's employee who is currently designated to
handle customer inquiries and complaints and the telephone number
where he or she may be reached during business hours.
This bill would instead require specified consumer information to
be displayed. Because a violation of the registered dispensing
provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
Existing law makes it unlawful to, among other things, advertise
the furnishing of, or to furnish, the services of a refractionist, an
optometrist, or a physician and surgeon, or to directly or
indirectly employ or maintain on or near the premises used for
optical dispensing, a refractionist, an optometrist, a physician and
surgeon, or a practitioner of any other profession for the purpose of
any examination or treatment of the eyes.
This bill, except as specified, would make it unlawful for a
registered dispensing optician to, among other things, advertise the
furnishing of, or to furnish, the services of an optometrist or a
physician and surgeon or to directly employ an optometrist or
physician and surgeon for the purpose of any examination or treatment
of the eyes. The bill would authorize the State Board of Optometry,
by regulation, to impose and issue administrative fines and citations
for a violation of these provisions, as specified. The bill would
require all licensed optometrists in a setting with a registered
dispensing optician to report the business relationship to the State
Board of Optometry. The bill would authorize the State Board of
Optometry to inspect any premises at which the business of a
registered dispensing optician is co-located with the practice of an
optometrist for the purposes of determining compliance with the
aforementioned written lease agreement provisions. The bill would
also authorize the State Board of Optometry to take disciplinary
action against a party who fails to comply with the inspection and
would require the State Board of Optometry to provide specified
copies of the inspection results. Because would be a crime a
violation of the registered dispensing provisions would be a crime,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program
This bill, until January 1, 2019, would prohibit an individual,
corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing optician
before the effective date of the bill, or an employee of such an
entity, from being subject to any action for engaging in that
aforementioned unlawful conduct. Because a violation of the
registered dispensing provisions would be a crime, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require any
health plan subject to these provisions to report to the State Board
of Optometry in writing that certain percentages of its locations no
longer employ an optometrist by specified dates. The bill would
require the State Board of Optometry to provide those reports to the
Director of Consumer Affairs and the Legislature.
Under existing law, the State Board of Optometry consists of 11
members, 6 licensee members and 5 public members.
This bill would require one of the nonpublic members to be a
registered dispensing optician and would require the Governor to make
that appointment. The bill would establish a dispensing optician
committee to advise and make recommendations to the board regarding
the regulation of dispensing opticians, as provided. The bill would
require the advisory committee to consist of 5 members, including 2
registered dispensing opticians, 2 public members, and a member of
the State Board of Optometry.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that
limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the
writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings
demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need
for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 655 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 655 is added to the Business and Professions Code,
to read:
655. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) "Health plan" means a health care service plan licensed
pursuant to the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975
(Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code).
(2) "Optical company" means a person or entity that is engaged in
the manufacture, sale, or distribution to physicians and surgeons,
optometrists, health plans, or dispensing opticians of lenses,
frames, optical supplies, or optometric appliances or devices or
kindred products.
(3) "Optometrist" means a person licensed pursuant to Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 3000) or an optometric corporation, as
described in Section 3160.
(4) "Registered dispensing optician" means a person licensed
pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550).
(5) "Therapeutic ophthalmic product" means lenses or other
products that provide direct treatment of eye disease or visual
rehabilitation for diseased eyes.
(b) No optometrist may have any membership, proprietary interest,
coownership, or any profit-sharing arrangement, either by stock
ownership, interlocking directors, trusteeship, mortgage, or trust
deed, with any registered dispensing optician or any optical company,
except as otherwise permitted under this section.
(c) (1) A registered dispensing optician or an optical company may
operate, own, or have an ownership interest in a health plan so long
as the health plan does not directly employ optometrists to provide
optometric services directly to enrollees of the health plan, and may
directly or indirectly provide products and services to the health
plan or its contracted providers or enrollees or to other
optometrists. For purposes of this section, an optometrist may be
employed by a health plan as a clinical director for the health plan
pursuant to Section 1367.01 of the Health and Safety Code or to
perform services related to utilization management or quality
assurance or other similar related services that do not require the
optometrist to directly provide health care services to enrollees. In
addition, an optometrist serving as a clinical director may not
employ optometrists to provide health care services to enrollees of
the health plan for which the optometrist is serving as clinical
director. For the purposes of this section, the health plan's
utilization management and quality assurance programs that are
consistent with the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975
(Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code) do not constitute providing health care
services to enrollees.
(2) The registered dispensing optician or optical company shall
not interfere with the professional judgment of the optometrist.
(3) The Department of Managed Health Care shall forward to the
State Board of Optometry any complaints received from consumers that
allege that an optometrist violated the Optometry Practice Act
(Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000)). The Department of Managed
Health Care and the State Board of Optometry shall enter into an
Inter-Agency Agreement regarding the sharing of information related
to the services provided by an optometrist that may be in violation
of the Optometry Practice Act that the Department of Managed Health
Care encounters in the course of the administration of the Knox-Keene
Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Chapter 2.2 (commencing with
section 1340) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) An optometrist, a registered dispensing optician, an optical
company, or a health plan may execute a lease or other written
agreement giving rise to a direct or indirect landlord-tenant
relationship with an optometrist, if all of the following conditions
are contained in a written agreement establishing the landlord-tenant
relationship:
(1) (A) The practice shall be owned by the optometrist and in
every phase be under the optometrist's exclusive control, including
the selection and supervision of optometric staff, the scheduling of
patients, the amount of time the optometrist spends with patients,
fees charged for optometric products and services, the examination
procedures and treatment provided to patients and the optometrist's
contracting with managed care organizations.
(B) Subparagraph A shall not preclude a lease from including
commercially reasonable terms that: (i) require the provision of
optometric services at the leased space during certain days and
hours, (ii) restrict the leased space from being used for the sale or
offer for sale of spectacles, frames, lenses, contact lenses, or
other ophthalmic products, except that the optometrist shall be
permitted to sell therapeutic ophthalmic products if the registered
dispensing optician, health plan, or optical company located on or
adjacent to the optometrist's leased space does not offer any
substantially similar therapeutic ophthalmic products for sale, (iii)
require the optometrist to contract with a health plan network,
health plan, or health insurer, or (iv) permit the landlord to
directly or indirectly provide furnishings and equipment in the
leased space.
(2) The optometrist's records shall be the sole property of the
optometrist. Only the optometrist and those persons with written
authorization from the optometrist shall have access to the patient
records and the examination room, except as otherwise provided by
law.
(3) The optometrist's leased space shall be definite and distinct
from space occupied by other occupants of the premises, have a sign
designating that the leased space is occupied by an independent
optometrist or optometrists and be accessible to the optometrist
after hours or in the case of an emergency, subject to the facility's
general accessibility. This paragraph shall not require a separate
entrance to the optometrist's leased space.
(4) All signs and displays shall be separate and distinct from
that of the other occupants and shall have the optometrist's name and
the word "optometrist" prominently displayed in connection
therewith. This paragraph shall not prohibit the optometrist from
advertising the optometrist's practice location with reference to
other occupants or prohibit the optometrist or registered dispensing
optician from advertising their participation in any health plan's
network or the health plan's products in which the optometrist or
registered dispensing optician participates.
(5) There shall be no signs displayed on any part of the premises
or in any advertising indicating that the optometrist is employed or
controlled by the registered dispensing optician, health plan or
optical company.
(6) Except for a statement that an independent doctor of optometry
is located in the leased space, in-store pricing signs and as
otherwise permitted by this subdivision, the registered dispensing
optician or optical company shall not link its advertising with the
optometrist's name, practice, or fees.
(7) Notwithstanding paragraphs (4) and (6), this subdivision shall
not preclude a health plan from advertising its health plan products
and associated premium costs and any copayments, coinsurance,
deductibles, or other forms of cost-sharing, or the names and
locations of the health plan's providers, including any optometrists
or registered dispensing opticians that provide professional
services, in compliance with the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan
Act of 1975 (Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2
of the Health and Safety Code).
(8) A health plan that advertises its products and services in
accordance with paragraph (7) shall not advertise the optometrist's
fees for products and services that are not included in the health
plan's contract with the optometrist.
(9) The optometrist shall not be precluded from collecting fees
for services that are not included in a health plan's products and
services, subject to any patient disclosure requirements contained in
the health plan's provider agreement with the optometrist or that
are not otherwise prohibited by the Knox-Keene Health Care Service
Plan Act of 1975 (Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of
Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code).
(10) The term of the lease shall be no less than one year and
shall not require the optometrist to contract exclusively with a
health plan. The optometrist may terminate the lease according to the
terms of the lease. The landlord may terminate the lease for the
following reasons:
(A) The optometrist's failure to maintain a license to practice
optometry or the imposition of restrictions, suspension or revocation
of the optometrist's license or if the optometrist or the
optometrist's employee is or becomes ineligible to participate in
state or federal government-funded programs.
(B) Termination of any underlying lease where the optometrist has
subleased space, or the optometrist's failure to comply with the
underlying lease provisions that are made applicable to the
optometrist.
(C) If the health plan is the landlord, the termination of the
provider agreement between the health plan and the optometrist, in
accordance with the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975
(Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code).
(D) Other reasons pursuant to the terms of the lease or permitted
under the Civil Code.
(11) The landlord shall act in good faith in terminating the lease
and in no case shall the landlord terminate the lease for reasons
that constitute interference with the practice of optometry.
(12) Lease or rent terms and payments shall not be based on number
of eye exams performed, prescriptions written, patient referrals or
the sale or promotion of the products of a registered dispensing
optician or an optical company.
(13) The landlord shall not terminate the lease solely because of
a report, complaint, or allegation filed by the optometrist against
the landlord, a registered dispensing optician or a health plan, to
the State Board of Optometry or the Department of Managed Health Care
or any law enforcement or regulatory agency.
(14) The landlord shall provide the optometrist with written
notice of the scheduled expiration date of a lease at least 60 days
prior to the scheduled expiration date. This notice obligation shall
not affect the ability of either party to terminate the lease
pursuant to this section. The landlord may not interfere with an
outgoing optometrist's efforts to inform the optometrist's patients,
in accordance with customary practice and professional obligations,
of the relocation of the optometrist's practice.
(15) The State Board of Optometry may inspect, upon request, an
individual lease agreement pursuant to its investigational authority,
and if such a request is made, the landlord or tenant, as
applicable, shall promptly comply with the request. Failure or
refusal to comply with the request for lease agreements within 30
days of receiving the request constitutes unprofessional conduct and
is grounds for disciplinary action by the appropriate regulatory
agency. Only personal information as defined in Section 1798.3 of the
Civil Code may be redacted prior to submission of the lease or
agreement. This section shall not affect the Department of Managed
Health Care's authority to inspect all books and records of a health
plan pursuant to Section 1381 of the Health and Safety Code.
Any financial information contained in the lease submitted to a
regulatory entity, pursuant to this paragraph, shall be considered
confidential trade secret information that is exempt from disclosure
under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(16) This subdivision shall not be applicable to the relationship
between any optometrist employee and the employer medical group, or
the relationship between a medical group exclusively contracted with
a health plan regulated by the Department of Managed Health Care and
that health plan.
(e) No registered dispensing optician may have any membership,
proprietary interest, coownership, or profit sharing arrangement
either by stock ownership, interlocking directors, trusteeship,
mortgage, or trust deed, with an optometrist, except as permitted
under this section.
(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person licensed under
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) or its professional
corporation from contracting with or employing optometrists,
ophthalmologists, or optometric assistants and entering into a
contract or landlord tenant relationship with a health plan, an
optical company, or a registered dispensing optician, in accordance
with Sections 650 and 654 of this code.
(g) Any violation of this section constitutes a misdemeanor as to
such person licensed under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000)
of this division and as to any and all persons, whether or not so
licensed under this division, who participate with such licensed
person in a violation of any provision of this section.
SEC. 3. Section 2546.2 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2546.2. All references in this chapter to the division shall mean
the State Board of Optometry.
SEC. 4. Section 2546.9 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2546.9. The amount of fees prescribed in connection with the
registration of nonresident contact lens sellers is that established
by the following schedule:
(a) The initial registration fee shall be one hundred dollars
($100).
(b) The renewal fee shall be one hundred dollars ($100).
(c) The delinquency fee shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
(d) The fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or destroyed
registration shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
(e) The fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited
in the Dispensing Opticians Fund, and shall be available, upon
appropriation, to the State Board of Optometry for the purposes of
this chapter.
SEC. 5. Section 2550.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2550.1. All references in this chapter to the board or the Board
of Medical Examiners or division shall mean the State Board of
Optometry.
SEC. 6. Section 2554 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2554. Each registrant shall conspicuously and prominently display
at each registered location the following consumer information:
"Eye doctors are required to provide patients with a copy of their
ophthalmic lens prescriptions as follows:
Spectacle prescriptions: Release upon completion of exam.
Contact lens prescriptions: Release upon completion of exam or
upon completion of the fitting process.
Patients may take their prescription to any eye doctor or
registered dispensing optician to be filled.
Optometrists and registered dispensing opticians are regulated by
the State Board of Optometry. The State Board of Optometry receives
and investigates all consumer complaints involving the practice of
optometry and registered dispensing opticians. Complaints involving a
California-licensed optometrist or a registered dispensing optician
should be directed to:
California State Board of Optometry
Department of Consumer Affairs
2450 Del Paso Road, Suite 105
Sacramento, CA 95834
Phone: 1-866-585-2666 or (916) 575-7170
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.optometry.ca.gov"
SEC. 7. Section 2556 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2556. (a) Except as authorized by Section 655, it is unlawful for
a registered dispensing optician to do any of the following: to
advertise the furnishing of, or to furnish, the services of an
optometrist or a physician and surgeon, to directly employ an
optometrist or physician and surgeon for the purpose of any
examination or treatment of the eyes, or to duplicate or change
lenses without a prescription or order from a person duly licensed to
issue the same. For the purposes of this section, "furnish" does not
mean to enter into a landlord-tenant relationship of any kind.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 125.9, the board may, by regulation,
impose and issue administrative fines and citations for a violation
of this section or Section 655, which may be assessed in addition to
any other applicable fines, citations, or administrative or criminal
actions.
SEC. 8. Section 2556.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
2556.1. All licensed optometrists in a setting with a registered
dispensing optician shall report the business relationship to the
State Board of Optometry, as determined by the board. The State Board
of Optometry shall have the authority to inspect any premises at
which the business of a registered dispensing optician is co-located
with the practice of an optometrist, for the purposes of determining
compliance with Section 655. The inspection may include the review of
any written lease agreement between the registered dispensing
optician and the optometrist or between the optometrist and the
health plan. Failure to comply with the inspection or any request for
information by the board may subject the party to disciplinary
action. The board shall provide a copy of its inspection results, if
applicable, to the Department of Managed Health Care.
SEC. 9. Section 2556.2 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
2556.2. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, subsequent to the
effective date of this section and until January 1, 2019, any
individual, corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing
optician under this chapter before the effective date of this
section, or an employee of such an entity, shall not be subject to
any action for engaging in conduct prohibited by Section 2556 or
Section 655 as those sections existed prior to the effective date of
this bill, except that a registrant shall be subject to discipline
for duplicating or changing lenses without a prescription or order
from a person duly licensed to issue the same.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply or suggest
that a person registered under this chapter is in violation of or in
compliance with the law.
(c) This section shall not apply to any business relationships
prohibited by Section 2556 commencing registration or operations on
or after the effective date of this section.
(d) Subsequent to the effective date of this section and until
January 1, 2019, nothing in this section shall prohibit an
individual, corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing
optician from engaging in a business relationship with an
optometrist licensed pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
3000) before the effective date of this section at locations
registered with the Medical Board of California before the effective
date of this section.
(e) This section does not apply to any administrative action
pending, litigation pending, cause for discipline, or cause of action
accruing prior to September 1, 2015.
(f) Any health plan, as defined in Section 655, subject to this
section shall report to the State Board of Optometry in writing that
(1) 15 percent of its locations no longer employ an optometrist by
January 1, 2017, (2) 45 percent of its locations no longer employ an
optometrist by August 1, 2017, and (3) 100 percent of its locations
no longer employ an optometrist by January 1, 2019. The board shall
provide those reports as soon as it receives them to the director and
the Legislature. The report to the Legislature shall be submitted in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 10. Section 2567 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2567. (a) The provisions of Article 19 (commencing with Section
2420) and Article 20 (commencing with Section 2435) of Chapter 5
which are not inconsistent or in conflict with this chapter apply to
the issuance and govern the expiration and renewal of certificates
issued under this chapter. All fees collected from persons registered
or seeking registration under this chapter shall be paid into the
Dispensing Opticians Fund, and shall be available, upon
appropriation, to the State Board of Optometry for the purposes of
this chapter. Any moneys within the Contingent Fund of the Medical
Board of California collected pursuant to this chapter shall be
deposited in the Dispensing Opticians Fund.
(b) The board may employ, subject to civil service regulations,
whatever additional clerical assistance is necessary for the
administration of this chapter.
SEC. 11. Section 3010.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
3010.5. (a) There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs a
State Board of Optometry in which the enforcement of this chapter is
vested. The board consists of 11 members, five of whom shall be
public members and one of the nonpublic members shall be an
individual registered as a dispensing optician. The registered
dispensing optician member shall be registered pursuant to Chapter
5.5. (commencing with Section 2550) and in good standing with the
board.
Six members of the board shall constitute a quorum.
(b) The board shall, with respect to conducting investigations,
inquiries, and disciplinary actions and proceedings, have the
authority previously vested in the board as created pursuant to
former Section 3010. The board may enforce any disciplinary actions
undertaken by that board.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends
that date. Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section
renders the board subject to review by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature.
SEC. 12. Section 3011 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
3011. Members of the board, except the public members and the
registered dispensing optician member, shall be appointed only from
persons who are registered optometrists of the State of California
and actually engaged in the practice of optometry at the time of
appointment or who are members of the faculty of a school of
optometry. The public members shall not be a licentiate of the board
or of any other board under this division or of any board referred to
in Sections 1000 and 3600.
No person except the registered dispensing optician member,
including the public members, shall be eligible to membership in the
board who is a stockholder in or owner of or a member of the board of
trustees of any school of optometry or who shall be financially
interested, directly or indirectly, in any concern manufacturing or
dealing in optical supplies at wholesale.
No person shall serve as a member of the board for more than two
consecutive terms.
A member of the faculty of a school of optometry may be appointed
to the board; however, no more than two faculty members of schools of
optometry may be on the board at any one time. Faculty members of
the board shall not serve as public members.
SEC. 13. Section 3013 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
3013. (a) Each member of the board shall hold office for a term
of four years, and shall serve until the appointment and
qualification of his or her successor or until one year shall have
elapsed since the expiration of the term for which he or she was
appointed, whichever first occurs.
(b) Vacancies occurring shall be filled by appointment for the
unexpired term.
(c) The Governor shall appoint three of the public members, five
members qualified as provided in Section 3011, and the registered
dispensing optician member as provided in Section 3010.5. The Senate
Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint
a public member.
(d) No board member serving between January 1, 2000, and June 1,
2002, inclusive, shall be eligible for reappointment.
(e) For initial appointments made on or after January 1, 2003, one
of the public members appointed by the Governor and two of the
professional members shall serve terms of one year. One of the public
members appointed by the Governor and two of the professional
members shall serve terms of three years. The remaining public member
appointed by the Governor and the remaining two professional members
shall serve terms of four years. The public members appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each
serve for a term of four years.
(f) The initial appointment of a registered dispensing optician
member shall replace the optometrist member whose term expired on
June 1, 2015.
SEC. 14. Section 3020 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
3020. (a) There shall be established under the State Board of
Optometry a dispensing optician committee to advise and make
recommendations to the board regarding the regulation of a dispensing
opticians pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550).
The committee shall consist of five members, two of whom shall be
registered dispensing opticians, two of whom shall be public members,
and one of whom shall be a member of the board. Initial appointments
to the committee shall be made by the board. The board shall stagger
the terms of the initial members appointed. The filling of vacancies
on the committee shall be made by the board upon recommendations by
the committee.
(b) The committee shall be responsible for:
(1) Recommending registration standards and criteria for the
registration of dispensing opticians.
(2) Reviewing of the disciplinary guidelines relating to
registered dispensing opticians.
(3) Recommending to the board changes or additions to regulations
adopted pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550).
(4) Carrying out and implementing all responsibilities and duties
imposed upon it pursuant to this chapter or as delegated to it by the
board.
(c) The committee shall meet at least twice a year and as needed
in order to conduct its business.
(d) Recommendations by the committee regarding scope of practice
or regulatory changes or additions shall be approved, modified, or
rejected by the board within 90 days of submission of the
recommendation to the board. If the board rejects or significantly
modifies the intent or scope of the recommendation, the committee may
request that the board provide its reasons in writing for rejecting
or significantly modifying the recommendation, which shall be
provided by the board within 30 days of the request.
(e) After the
initial appointments by the board pursuant to subdivision (a), the
Governor shall appoint the registered dispensing optician members and
the public members. The committee shall submit a recommendation to
the board regarding which board member should be appointed to serve
on the committee, and the board shall appoint the member to serve.
Committee members shall serve a term of four years except for the
initial staggered terms. A member may be reappointed, but no person
shall serve as a member of the committee for more than two
consecutive terms.
SEC. 15. Section 3021 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
3021. The board shall have rulemaking authority with respect to
Chapter 5.45 (commencing with Section 2546) and Chapter 5.5
(commencing with Section 2550) in accordance with Section 3025.
Regulations adopted pursuant to Chapter 5.45 (commencing with Section
2546) and Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550) by the Medical
Board of California prior to the effective date of this section shall
continue to be valid, except that any reference to the board or
division contained therein shall be construed to mean the State Board
of Optometry, unless the context determines otherwise.
SEC. 16. Section 3023.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
3023.1. (a) The nonresident contact lens seller program
established under Chapter 5.45 (commencing with Section 2546) and the
registered dispensing optician, spectacle lens dispensing, and
contact lens dispensing programs established under Chapter 5.5
(commencing with Section 2550) are hereby transferred from the
jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California and placed under the
jurisdiction of the State Board of Optometry.
(b) All the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and
jurisdictions of the Medical Board of California under Chapter 5.45
(commencing with Section 2546) and Chapter 5.5 (commencing with
Section 2550) shall be transferred to the State Board of Optometry.
(c) For the performance of the duties and the exercise of the
powers vested in the board under Chapter 5.45 (commencing with
Section 2546) and Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550), the
State Board of Optometry shall have possession and control of all
records, papers, offices, equipment, supplies, or other property,
real or personal, held for the benefit or use by the Medical Board of
California.
SEC. 17. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this
act imposes a limitation on the public's right of access to the
meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and
agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the
California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision,
the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the
interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting
that interest:
In order to allow the State Board of Optometry and the Department
of Managed Health Care to fully accomplish its goals, it is
imperative to protect the interests of those persons submitting
information to those departments to ensure that any personal or
sensitive business information that this act requires those persons
to submit is protected as confidential information.
SEC. 18. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.