BILL NUMBER: AB 1253	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 3, 2015
	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

    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 5 years. The bill would
  recast those provisions to  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 5 years or more,
  or a license that was issued, or that has expired and
has gone unrenewed, for specified periods, including over 5 years,
 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.   specified requirements.  The
bill would also require an applicant for a license with retired
volunteer service designation  who has held a retired license
  whose retired license had been issued, or whose
license had been expired,   for  more than
 3   3, but less than 5,  years  ago
 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: 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 five years or a license that is
current and active.   satisfies any of the following:
 
   (1) The applicant holds any of the following:  
   (A) A retired license issued within the last three years. 

   (B) A license that has not been renewed and has expired within the
last three years.  
   (C) A license that is current and active.  
   (2) The applicant holds either of the following, and the applicant
certifies on the application that he or she has completed an
additional 50 hours of formal continuing optometric education
coursework:  
   (A) A retired license issued more than three, but less than five,
years ago.  
   (B) A license that has not been renewed and has expired more than
three, but less than five, years ago.  
   (3) The applicant holds either of the following, and satisfies the
requirements set forth in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, of
Section 3147.6:  
   (A) A retired license issued more than five years ago.  
   (B) A license that has not been renewed and has expired more than
five years ago.  
   (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 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. 

   (b) The board shall not issue a license pursuant to this section
to an applicant whose application would be subject to denial pursuant
to Section 480.  
   (d) 
    (c)  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) 
    (d)  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  (d). 
 (c).  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.