BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2859|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2859
Author: Low (D)
Amended: 8/3/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/13/16
AYES: Hill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/1/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Professions and vocations: retired category:
licenses
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill 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.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the DCA, which is comprised of 40 regulatory
entities (25 boards, nine bureaus, three committees, two
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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);
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 board 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) 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.
b) The holder of a retired license shall not engage in any
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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.
c) The holder of a retired license shall not be required to
renew that license.
d) A board shall establish an appropriate application fee
for a retired license to cover the reasonable regulatory
cost of issuing a retired license.
e) 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.
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.
4)Exempts boards with other statutory authority to establish a
retired license from specified provisions of this bill.
Background
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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" 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 allows 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis dated
August 1, 2016, there are 25 boards, bureaus, and other
licensing entities within the DCA that currently do not have a
retired license category. For any of those entities that chose
to create a retired license category, the following costs are
likely to occur:
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Minor one-time costs to adopt regulations establishing a
retired license category (various special funds).
One-time costs between $15,000 and $75,000 to make changes to
the licensing system to accommodate a new retired license
category (various special funds). The potential cost to update
information technology systems used to process license
applications and renewals will depend both on the size of the
board's license population and whether or not the board is
using the BreEze licensing system or an internal licensing
system.
Minor revenue losses due to individuals with active licenses
shifting to a retired license (various special funds).
Currently, there are indications that individual licensees who
are effectively retired continue to renew their active license
because shifting to an inactive license or allowing their
active license to lapse implies that the licensee may have
been subject to some kind of disciplinary action. Therefore,
there are likely to be licensees who give up their active
license (which requires a biennial renewal with a fee) and
apply for a retired license (which is likely to be accompanied
by a one-time fee). There are 15 boards within the DCA that
currently have a retired license category. The ratio of
retired licensees to active licensees for those boards is
small (typically less than 1%). Therefore it is likely that
the number of licensees who would give up an active license
for a retired license would be fairly small as would be any
resulting revenue loss. There would also be some revenue loss
from individuals giving up an inactive license (who are not
inactive due to disciplinary action) in exchange for a retired
license.
To the extent that licensees shift to a retired license that
does not require renewal and are not engaged in the practice of
their profession, the impacted board is likely to see a
commensurate reduction in licensing and enforcement activity.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/3/16)
California Board of Accountancy
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Contractors State License Board
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/3/16)
None received
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."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
Prepared by:Sarah Huchel / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
8/15/16 10:12:32
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