BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON
          BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
                              Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:            AB 2859         Hearing Date:    June 13,  
          2016
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          |Author:   |Low                                                   |
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          |Version:  |February 19, 2016                                     |
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          |Urgency:  |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant|Sarah Huchel                                          |
          |:         |                                                      |
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              Subject:  Professions and vocations:  retired category:   
                                      licenses


          SUMMARY:  Authorizes any board within the Department of Consumer Affairs  
          (DCA) to 
          establish, by regulation, a system for a retired license for an  
          individual not actively engaged in the practice of his or her  
          profession or vocation.

          Existing law:
          
          1) Establishes the DCA, which is comprised of 40 regulatory  
             entities (25 boards, nine bureaus, three committees, two  
             programs, and one commission) that license and regulate  
             various professions. (Business and Professions Code (BPC)  
             Sections 100, 101)

          2) Authorizes boards within the DCA to develop regulations to  
             establish an inactive license category for persons who are  
             not actively engaged in the practice of their profession or  
             vocation. (BPC §§ 462, 701)

          3) Establishes a retired license for the following professions:   
             physician and surgeon (BPC § 2439); midwifery (BPC § 2518);  
             occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant (BPC §  
             2570.17); physical therapy (BPC § 2648.7); optometrists (BPC  
             § 3151); physician assistant (BPC § 3251.3); respiratory  
             therapist (BPC § 3775.3);  pharmacist (BPC § 4200.5);  







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             marriage and family therapist (BPC § 4984.41); licensed  
             educational psychologist (BPC § 4989.45); licensed  
             professional clinical counselor (BPC § 4999.113); licensed  
             clinical social worker (BPC § 4997.1); accountant (BPC §  
             5070.1); architect (BPC § 5600.4); fiduciary (BPC § 6542);  
             professional engineer (BPC § 6762.5); and geologist,  
             geophysicist (BPC § 7851). 

          4) Establishes that "board," as used in any provision of the  
             BPC, refers to the board in which the administration of the  
             provision is vested, and unless otherwise expressly provided,  
             shall include "bureau," "commission," "committee,"  
             "department," "division," "examining committee," "program,"  
             and "agency." (BPC § 22) 

          This bill:

          1)Authorizes any DCA boards, bureaus, commissions, or programs  
            to promulgate regulations to establish a retired license  
            category for persons who are not actively engaged in the  
            practice of their profession or vocation.

          2)Requires the regulations to contain the following:

             a)   The holder of a retired license shall not engage in any  
               activity for which a license is required, unless the board,  
               by regulation, specifies the criteria for a retired  
               licensee to practice his or her profession or vocation.

             b)   The holder of a retired license shall not be required to  
               renew that license.

             c)   In order for the holder of a retired license to restore  
               his or her license to an active status, the holder of that  
               license shall meet all the following:

               i)     Pay a fee established by statute or regulation.

               ii)    Certify, in a manner satisfactory to the board, that  
                 he or she has not committed an act or crime constituting  
                 grounds for denial of licensure.

               iii)   Comply with the fingerprint submission requirements  
                 established by regulation.








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               iv)    If the board requires completion of continuing  
                 education for renewal of an active license, complete  
                 continuing education equivalent to that required for  
                 renewal of an active license, unless a different  
                 requirement is specified by the board.

               v)     Complete any other requirements as specified by the  
                 board by regulation.

          3)Authorizes a board to investigate the actions of any licensee,  
            including a person with a license that either restricts or  
            prohibits the practice of that person in his or her profession  
            or vocation, including, but not limited to, a license that is  
            retired, inactive, canceled, revoked, or suspended. 
          
          FISCAL  
          EFFECT:  This bill is keyed "fiscal" by Legislative Counsel.   
          According to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations analysis  
          dated April 27, 2016, this bill will result in minor and  
          absorbable costs to the DCA to update regulations, add license  
          status designations, and update applications as well as minor  
          and absorbable costs to DCA for one-time workload increases  
          associated with IT/BreEZe modifications.
          
          COMMENTS:
          
          1. Purpose.  The Author is the Sponsor of this bill.  According  
             to the Author's office, "Some licensees disfavor the inactive  
             license designation and would prefer a retired license  
             designation."  Some DCA boards have current statutory  
             authority to issue a retired license, and this bill would  
             enable the remainder to do so. 

          2. Background.  Current law authorizes all boards to establish  
             an "inactive" license, which allows an individual to hold a  
             license but not practice in their profession.  An inactive  
             license may be reactivated under terms specified by the  
             issuing board.

             An occupational license can be sent to inactive status for  
             various reasons, including disciplinary.  For those  
             individuals who have a clean license at retirement and want  
             to cease renewal because they no longer practice, "inactive"  








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             status may have a stigma.  The following boards have  
             statutory authorization to establish a retired license:  

            1)     Board of Accountancy
            2)     Architects Board
            3)     Board of Behavioral Sciences 
            4)     Medical Board of California
            5)     Board of Pharmacy 
            6)     Professional Fiduciaries Bureau
            7)     Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and  
                 Geologists 
            8)     Respiratory Care Board 
            9)     Occupational Therapy Board
            10)    Physical Therapy Board
            11)    Board of Optometry
            12)    Physician Assistant Board

             This bill would allow the remaining boards to do this as  
             well, as long as their regulations require a licensee to pay  
             a fee, certify that he or she has not committed an act or  
             crime constituting grounds for denial of licensure, comply  
             with the fingerprint submission requirements established by  
             regulation, complete continuing education and any other  
             requirements specified by the board, as necessary.

          1. Related Legislation.   SB 1194  (Hill) of 2016 authorizes the  
             Board of Psychology to issue a retired license.  (  Status  :   
             This bill is currently pending in the Assembly Committee on  
             Business and Professions.)  

          2. Prior Legislation.   AB 750  (Low) of 2015 would have allowed  
             all DCA boards to issue a retired license.  (  Status  :  AB 750  
             was held in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.) 

              AB 1253  (Steinorth, Chapter 125, Statutes of 2015)  
             established educational and training requirements for an  
             optometrist seeking a license with retired volunteer service  
             designation (volunteer license) who has not held an active  
             license in more than three years.   













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              AB 2024  (Bonilla, Chapter 336, Statutes of 2014) authorized  
             the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau to establish, by  
             regulation, a system for a retired category of licensure. 





              AB 404  (Eggman, Chapter 339, Statutes of 2013) clarified who  
             qualifies for a retired license by specifying that a license  
             must be either active or inactive, and reduces the timeline  
             to restore a retired license from retired to active status  
             from five to three years.





              SB 1215  (Emmerson, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2012) established  
             a retired license status and a retired license with a  
             volunteer service designation for optometrists.





              AB 431  (Ma, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2011) authorized the  
             California Board of Accountancy to establish, by regulation,  
             a system for a retired category of licensure.





              SB 2191  (Emmerson, Chapter 548, Statutes of 2010) authorized  
             the Board of Behavioral Sciences to issue a retired license  
             as a marriage and family therapist, educational psychologist,  
             clinical social worker or professional clinical counselor to  
             an applicant who holds a current license or a license  
             eligible for renewal, and established a $40 fee for a retired  
             license.


             








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          3. Recommended Amendments.  This bill uses the terms "boards,  
             bureaus, commissions, or programs," in one section of the  
             bill, and then the term "board" throughout.  For consistency,  
             "board" suffices for all.
             
                       On page 2, line 3, delete ", bureaus, commissions,  
                  or programs"

             Although this bill seeks to separate the possible stigma of a  
             license placed on inactive status for disciplinary reasons  
             from those who go inactive due to retirement, there is  
             nothing in the bill that would prevent an individual whose  
             license is on inactive status due to disciplinary reasons to  
             transfer it into a retirement status.  The Author may wish to  
             consider the following amendment:

                       On page 2, between lines 7 and 8, insert:

              "(1) A retired license shall be issued to a person with  
             either an active license or an inactive license that was not  
             placed on inactive status for disciplinary reasons." 
              
             This bill establishes a baseline for retired license  
             regulations that do not comport with several boards' existing  
             regulations on this topic.  To ensure that this bill only  
             affects boards prospectively, the following amendment is  
             recommended:  

                       On page 3, line 4, insert:

              "(d) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to boards with  
             statutory authority to establish a retired license as of  
             January 2, 2017." 
              
          1. Arguments in Support.  The  Contractors State License Board   
             (CSLB) writes, "CSLB licenses approximately 285,000 licensed  
             contractors.  While CSLB does currently have an inactive  
             license option, CSLB believes creating a retired license  
             category would be of interest to its licensees."

              California Board of Accountancy  (CBA) writes, "The CBA  
             presently has regulations that allow for a licensee to obtain  
             a retired status license. When comparing the CBA's provisions  
             to that which is being proposed in AB 2859, the CBA has  








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             additional requirements including: 

                       Submission of a $75 application fee.

                        Submission of a renewal application every two  
                  years (no fee) to ensure current contact information.

                       Licensee must have had a certified public  
                  accountant license for a minimum of 20 years, of which a  
                  minimum of five are with the CBA.

               "AB 2859 and the CBA provisions for a retired status  
               license are similar in that those in a retired status are  
               not allowed to practice their profession. 

               "The CBA respectfully requests that the ? language be  
               amended to exclude entities within DCA that have their own  
               laws regarding retired license status. For these reasons,  
               the CBA has taken a support if amended position on AB  
               2859."
          

          SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
          
           Support:  

          California Board of Accountancy
          Contractors State License Board

           Opposition:  

          None on file as of June 7, 2016.


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