BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       AB 804


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          804 (Roger Hernández)


          As Amended  March 23, 2015


          Majority vote


           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                   |Noes                 |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
          |Business &      |14-0 |Bonilla, Jones, Baker, |                     |
          |Professions     |     |Bloom, Campos, Chang,  |                     |
          |                |     |Dodd, Eggman, Gatto,   |                     |
          |                |     |Holden, Mullin, Ting,  |                     |
          |                |     |Wilk, Wood             |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
          |Appropriations  |16-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bonta, |                     |
          |                |     |Calderon, Chang, Daly, |                     |
          |                |     |Eggman, Gallagher,     |                     |
          |                |     |Eduardo Garcia,        |                     |
          |                |     |Holden, Jones, Quirk,  |                     |
          |                |     |Rendon, Wagner, Weber, |                     |
          |                |     |Wood                   |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
          |                |     |                       |                     |
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                                                                       AB 804


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          SUMMARY:  Requires the Court Reporters Board of California (CRB)  
          to establish continuing education (CE) requirements for renewal of  
          a shorthand reporter certificate.  Specifically, this bill: 


          1)Requires the CRB to adopt regulations that establish minimum CE  
 
            requirements for renewal of a Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR)  
 
            certificate by July 1, 2016.





          2)Requires certificate holders, six months after the effective  
 
            date of the regulations, to certify completion of minimum CE  
 
            requirements to the CRB when renewing a certificate.





          3)Requires the CRB to ensure that the CE requirement is relevant  
 
            to the practice of shorthand reporting.





          4)Requires the CRB to establish a procedure for approving CE  
 
            course providers, and requires CE providers to comply with  
 
            procedures established by the CRB.









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          5)Authorizes the CRB to establish a fee, as specified, for the  
 
            approval of CE providers.





          6)Permits the CRB to revoke or deny the right of a CE provider for  
 
            failure to comply with requirements or regulations as specified.  
 
             





          7)Authorizes the CRB to establish exceptions to the CE  
 
            requirements for individuals who cannot meet the CE requirements  
 
            for reasons of health, military service, or undue hardship.





          8)Requires that the requirements comply with the guidelines for  
 
            mandatory CE established by the Department of Consumer Affairs  
 
            (DCA).










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          9)Authorizes the CRB to adopt regulations to implement the above  
 
            provisions.





          FISCAL EFFECT:  According the Assembly Appropriations Committee,  
          minor and absorbable costs to the CRB to implement the changes.   
          Any additional costs incurred to approve continuing education  
          providers could be covered by the fee authority granted in the  
          bill.


          COMMENTS


          1)Purpose.  This bill is co-sponsored by the California Court  
 
            Reporters Association and the Deposition Reporters Association  
 
            of California.  According to the author, this bill "requires the  
 
            [CRB] to adopt regulations to establish continuing education  
 
            requirements for renewal of a shorthand reporter's certification  
 
            that are relevant to the practice of shorthand reporting, and  
 
            requires the board to establish a procedure for approving  
 
            providers of [CE] courses.











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            "Once a shorthand reporter passes their initial test for  
 
            licensing, they do not ever have to be retested in order to  
 
            renew their license.  The only time a CSR is ever retested for a  
 
            license is if the CSR relinquishes their licenses then decides  
 
            down the road to begin working again or becomes re-licensed."





          2)Background.  There are two types of CSRs (commonly known as  
 
            court reporters).  "Official" reporters are individuals who work  
 
            as employees of the court system.  "Freelance" reporters are  
 
            individuals hired privately by court reporting businesses,  
 
            firms, or attorneys to report depositions.  In order to obtain a  
 
            license, CSRs must attend a CRB-approved court reporting school  
 
            and pass two written exams and a performance exam.  There are 14  
 
            shorthand reporting schools in California and approximately  
 
            7,000 CSRs.  





            Enforcement Data.  Currently, the CRB receives about 100  








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            consumer complaints a year, which is divided between untimely  
 
            production of transcripts, inaccuracy, and other deficiencies.   
 
            In the 2013-14 Fiscal Year, the CRB received 106 complaints.  





            For the same year, other similarly-sized boards received similar  
 
            numbers: the acupuncture board received 189; the board of  
 
            optometry received 238; the osteopathic medical board received  
 
            360; and the physician assistant board received 351.





            Judicial Counsel CE Requirement.  In 2007, the Judicial Counsel  
 
            of California adopted a CE requirement for all personnel  
 
            employed by the Court, including court reporters (California  
 
            Rules of Court, Title 10, Division 2, Chapter 7).  It requires  
 
            court employees to take at least eight hours of CE every two  
 
            years.  The CE does not have to be related to court reporting.













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            CE Issues During Sunset Oversight Hearings.  In the CRBs 1996  
 
            sunset review, the Joint Committee's recommendation did not  
 
            include pursuing CE.  The issue was again raised in the 2004-05  
 
            review of the Board; however, the joint oversight committee did  
 
            not recommend establishing a CE requirement.





            Necessity of CEs for CSRs.  The CRB has noted industry changes  
 
            that may lead to consumer harm.  It noted that the court  
 
            reporting business model has changed, which now results in a  
 
            larger percentage of independent contractors working for large  
 
            corporate firms owned by non-licensees.  Because the larger  
 
            conglomerates tend not to provide as much oversight of CSRs,  
 
            CSRs working as independent contractors have less incentive to  
 
            stay current with the profession.  





            However, the CRB does not track the number of CSRs that work as  
 
            independent contractors, for firms, or for courts.  Further, the  
 
            enforcement data shows that CRB has not received a particularly  








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            high number of consumer complaints.  Therefore, it is not clear  
 
            what impact this industry change has made.  





            Nonetheless, imposing CE may be a useful preventive measure,  
 
            given the risk to a litigant's legal rights.  Therefore, the  
 
            benefits to the profession and consumers will have to be weighed  
 
            against the costs of a CE requirement to the consumers,  
 
            licensees, and the CRB.





            Policy Issues for Consideration.  Legislation requiring CE's for  
 
            CSRs has been passed and vetoed two separate times in past  
 
            legislative sessions.  The most recent was SB 671 (Price) of  
 
            2011.  The provisions of SB 671 were substantially similar to  
 
            those contained in this bill; however, it was vetoed by Governor  
 
            Brown, citing concerns about the burden of CE requirements. 













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          Arguments in Support:  The California Court Reporters Association  
          (co-sponsor) writes in support, "Under current law, there are no  
          requirements in place to ensure that a CSR is maintaining the  
          education needed to stay updated on rules, regulations, statutes  
          and advancing technologies that affect the profession. Continuing  
          education requirements ensure that every CSR can produce a  
          verbatim record that continues to be held to the highest possible  
          standard. " 


          The Deposition Reporters Association of California (co-sponsor)  
 
          wrote six arguments in support of this measure:  1) CSRs are  
 
          important to the legal system, but are not required to take CE  
 
          like other legal professionals;  2) CE is a useful consumer  
 
          protection tool.  CEs would address key differences between  
 
          freelance and official court reporters; 3) CE was addressed in the  
 
          2005 Joint Committee sunset report; 4) New technology and laws  
 
          necessitate CE; 5) Many states also require CE for court  
 
          reporters; and 6) The CEs will be left to the CRB and the CRB will  
 
          be able to absorb the cost.









          Arguments in Opposition:  None on file.








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          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301  FN:  
          0000156