BILL NUMBER: AB 1253 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Steinorth
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 3151.1 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to optometry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1253, as amended, Steinorth. Optometry: license: retired
volunteer service designation.
The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and
regulation of the practice of optometry by the State Board of
Optometry and makes a violation of the act a crime. The act requires
the board to issue, upon application and payment of a specified fee,
a retired license to an optometrist with a current and active
license, and prohibits the holder of a retired license from engaging
in the practice of optometry. The act authorizes the holder of a
retired license issued for less than 3 years to reactivate the
license to active status if certain requirements have been met,
including, the filing of an application for reactivation on a form
prescribed by the board. The act authorizes the holder of a retired
license issued for more than 3 years to reactivate the license to
active status if certain additional requirements have been met,
including, that the holder of the retired license passes both the
National Board of Examiners in Optometry's Clinical Skills
examination, or other clinical examination approved by the board, and
the board's jurisprudence examination. The act requires the board to
issue a license with retired volunteer service designation to an
optometrist who holds a retired license or a license that is current
and active upon application and payment of a specified fee if the
applicant certifies that he or she has completed the required
continuing education hours. The act requires the applicant for a
license with retired volunteer service designation to, among other
things, certify that the sole purpose of the license with retired
volunteer service designation is to provide voluntary, unpaid
optometric services at health fairs, vision screenings, and public
service eye programs.
This bill would limit the existing requirement that the board
issue a license with retired volunteer service designation to an
optometrist who holds a retired license to an optometrist who holds a
retired license issued for less than 3 5
years. The bill would require the board to issue, upon
application and payment of a specified fee, a license with retired
volunteer service designation to an optometrist who holds a retired
license issued for 3 5 years or more,
if that licensee meets all the requirements for an optometrist to
reactivate his or her retired license issued for more than 3 years,
as described above, and satisfies all other requirements of an
applicant for a license with retired volunteer service designation.
The bill would also require an applicant for a license with
retired volunteer service designation who has held a retired license
for more than 3 years to complete, and certify on the application
that he or she has completed, an additional 50 hours of formal
continuing education coursework. By expanding the scope of the crime
of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3151.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
3151.1. (a) The board shall issue, upon application and payment
of the fee described in Section 3152, a license with retired
volunteer service designation to an optometrist who holds a retired
license issued for less than three five
years or a license that is current and active.
(b) The board shall issue, upon application and payment of the fee
described in Section 3147.6, a license with volunteer service
designation to the holder of a retired license issued for
three five years or more if he or she satisfies
all the requirements of Section 3147.6.
(c) The applicant shall certify on the application that he or she
has completed the required number of continuing education hours
pursuant to Section 3059. If the applicant has held a retired
license for more than three years, the applicant shall complete, and
certify on the application that he or she has completed an
additional 50 hours of formal continuing optometric education
coursework.
(d) The applicant shall certify on the application that the sole
purpose of the license with retired volunteer service designation is
to provide voluntary, unpaid optometric services at health fairs,
vision screenings, and public service eye programs.
(e) The holder of the retired license with volunteer service
designation shall submit a biennial renewal application, with a fee
fixed by this chapter and certify on each renewal that the required
number of continuing education hours pursuant to Section 3059 were
completed, and certify that the sole purpose of the retired license
with volunteer service designation is to provide voluntary, unpaid
services as described in subdivision (c).
(d). Pursuant to Section 3146, the license expires at midnight
on the last day of the licenseholder's birth month every two years if
not renewed.
SEC. 2. 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.