BILL NUMBER: AB 1174 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 7, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 800 Sections 9882
and 9 882.5 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to healing arts. automotive repair.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1174, as amended, Bonilla. Healing arts: licensee
records. Automotive Repair Act: violations: response.
The Automotive Repair Act provides for the licensure and
regulation of automotive repair dealers, among others, by the Chief
of the Bureau of Automotive Repair under the supervision and control
of the Director of Consumer Affairs. The act requires the director,
on the director's initiative or in response to a complaint, to
investigate a violation of the act, or of any regulation adopted
pursuant to the act, by any automotive repair dealer, automotive
technician, or employee, partner, officer, or member of any
automotive repair dealer. The act authorizes the director to adopt
and enforce the rules and regulations that the director determines
are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of the act and
declaring the policy of the bureau, including a system for the
issuance of citations pursuant to a specified law.
This bill would clarify that the specified law under which the
director may adopt and enforce rules and regulations under the
Automotive Repair Act authorizes any board, bureau, or commission
within the Department of Consumer Affairs to establish, by
regulation, a system for the issuance to a licensee of a citation
when the licensee is in violation of the applicable licensing act or
any regulation adopted pursuant thereto. The bill would require the
director to publicly post on the bureau's Internet Web site the
findings of, and specified information related to, each investigation
completed by the director in response to a complaint.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various
professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer
Affairs. Existing law requires various state licensing boards,
including the Medical Board of California and the Board of
Psychology, to create and maintain a central file of the names of
licensees to provide an individual historical record for each
licensee with information on acts of licensee misconduct and
discipline, as specified.
This bill would add the California Board of Podiatric Medicine to
the list of state licensing boards required to create and maintain
such records.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9882 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
9882. (a) There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs a Bureau
of Automotive Repair under the supervision and control of the
director. The duty of enforcing and administering this chapter is
vested in the chief who is responsible to the director. The director
may adopt and enforce those rules and regulations that he or she
determines are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of this
chapter and declaring the policy of the bureau, including a system
for the issuance of citations for violations of this chapter as
specified in Section 125.9. 125.9, which
authorizes any board, bureau, or commission within the department to
establish, by regulation, a system for the issuance to a
licensee of a citation when the licensee is in violation of the
applicable licensing act or any regulation adopted pursuant thereto.
These rules and regulations shall be adopted pursuant to
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the powers and duties of the
bureau, as set forth in this article and under the Automotive Repair
Act, shall be subject to review by the appropriate policy committees
of the Legislature. In that review, the bureau shall have the burden
of demonstrating a compelling public need for the continued existence
of the bureau and its regulatory program, and that its function is
the least restrictive regulation consistent with the public health,
safety, and welfare. The review shall be performed as if this chapter
were scheduled to be repealed as of January 1, 2019.
SEC. 2. Section 9882.5 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
9882.5. (a) The director shall on his or
her own initiative or in response to complaints, investigate on a
continuous basis and gather evidence of violations of this chapter
and of any regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter, by any
automotive repair dealer or automotive technician, whether registered
or not, and by any employee, partner, officer, or member of any
automotive repair dealer. The director shall establish procedures for
accepting complaints from the public against any dealer or
automotive technician. The director may suggest measures that, in the
director's judgment, would compensate for any damages suffered as a
result of an alleged violation. If the dealer accepts the suggestions
and performs accordingly, such fact shall be given due consideration
in any subsequent disciplinary proceeding.
(b) For each investigation the director completes in response to a
complaint pursuant to subdivision (a), the director shall publicly
post on the bureau's Internet Web site both of the following:
(1) The findings of the completed investigation.
(2) The name, business address, and, if applicable, the
registration type and number, of the investigated automotive repair
dealer, automotive technician, or employee, partner, officer, or
member of an automotive repair dealer.
SECTION 1. Section 800 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
800. (a) The Medical Board of California, the Board of
Psychology, the Dental Board of California, the Dental Hygiene
Committee of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California,
the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the Board of Registered
Nursing, the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians
of the State of California, the State Board of Optometry, the
Veterinary Medical Board, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, the
Physical Therapy Board of California, the California State Board of
Pharmacy, the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid
Dispensers Board, the California Board of Occupational Therapy, the
Acupuncture Board, the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, and
the Physician Assistant Board shall each separately create and
maintain a central file of the names of all persons who hold a
license, certificate, or similar authority from that board. Each
central file shall be created and maintained to provide an individual
historical record for each licensee with respect to the following
information:
(1) Any conviction of a crime in this or any other state that
constitutes unprofessional conduct pursuant to the reporting
requirements of Section 803.
(2) Any judgment or settlement requiring the licensee or his or
her insurer to pay any amount of damages in excess of three thousand
dollars ($3,000) for any claim that injury or death was proximately
caused by the licensee's negligence, error or omission in practice,
or by rendering unauthorized professional services, pursuant to the
reporting requirements of Section 801 or 802.
(3) Any public complaints for which provision is made pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(4) Disciplinary information reported pursuant to Section 805,
including any additional exculpatory or explanatory statements
submitted by the licentiate pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section
805. If a court finds, in a final judgment, that the peer review
resulting in the 805 report was conducted in bad faith and the
licensee who is the subject of the report notifies the board of that
finding, the board shall include that finding in the central file.
For purposes of this paragraph, "peer review" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 805.
(5) Information reported pursuant to Section 805.01, including any
explanatory or exculpatory information submitted by the licensee
pursuant to subdivision (b) of that section.
(b) (1) Each board shall prescribe and promulgate forms on which
members of the public and other licensees or certificate holders may
file written complaints to the board alleging any act of misconduct
in, or connected with, the performance of professional services by
the licensee.
(2) If a board, or division thereof, a committee, or a panel has
failed to act upon a complaint or report within five years, or has
found that the complaint or report is without merit, the central file
shall be purged of information relating to the complaint or report.
(3) Notwithstanding this subdivision, the Board of Psychology, the
Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the Respiratory Care Board of
California shall maintain complaints or reports as long as each board
deems necessary.
(c) (1) The contents of any central file that are not public
records under any other law shall be confidential except that the
licensee involved, or his or her counsel or representative, shall
have the right to inspect and have copies made of his or her complete
file except for the provision that may disclose the identity of an
information source. For the purposes of this section, a board may
protect an information source by providing a copy of the material
with only those deletions necessary to protect the identity of the
source or by providing a comprehensive summary of the substance of
the material. Whichever method is used, the board shall ensure that
full disclosure is made to the subject of any personal information
that could reasonably in any way reflect or convey anything
detrimental, disparaging, or threatening to a licensee's reputation,
rights, benefits, privileges, or qualifications, or be used by a
board to make a determination that would affect a licensee's rights,
benefits, privileges, or qualifications. The information required to
be disclosed pursuant to Section 803.1 shall not be considered among
the contents of a central file for the purposes of this subdivision.
(2) The licensee may, but is not required to, submit any
additional exculpatory or explanatory statement or other information
that the board shall include in the central file.
(3) Each board may permit any law enforcement or regulatory agency
when required for an investigation of unlawful activity or for
licensing, certification, or regulatory purposes to inspect and have
copies made of that licensee's file, unless the disclosure is
otherwise prohibited by law.
(4) These disclosures shall effect no change in the confidential
status of these records.