BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1479|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1479
Author: Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development
Introduced:3/10/16
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/18/16
AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Business and professions
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes several non-controversial, minor,
non-substantive or technical changes to various provisions
within the Business and Professions Code relating to the
non-health regulatory boards or bureaus of the Department of
Consumer Affairs.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of various
professions and businesses by some 26 boards, 10 bureaus, two
committees, one program, and one commission within the
Department of Consumer Affairs under various licensing acts
within the Business and Professions Code (BPC).
SB 1479
Page 2
2)Contains the following provisions relating to the California
Board of Accountancy (CBA):
a) Provides that an applicant for certified public
accountant licensure is required to complete 10 semester
units or 15 quarter units of ethics study with specific
terms in the course title. (BPC § 5094.3 (d))
3)Contains the following provisions relating to the California
Architects Board (CAB):
a) Provides that CAB may grant eligibility, based on an
eligibility point determined by the Additional Path to
Architectural Licensing Program, for a candidate to take
the examination for a license to practice architecture if
he or she is enrolled in an Additional Path to
Architectural Licensing Program that integrates the
experience and examination components offered by a National
Architectural Accrediting Board-accredited degree program.
(BPC § 5550.2)
4)Contains the following provisions relating to the Contractors
State License Board (CSLB):
a) Requires that an application for an original license,
for an additional classification, or for a change of
qualifier become void when:
(1) The applicant or examinee for the applicant has
failed to appear for the scheduled qualifying
examination and fails to request and pay the fee for
rescheduling within 90 days of notification of failure
to appear, or, after being rescheduled, has failed to
appear for a second examination.
SB 1479
Page 3
(2) The applicant or the examinee for the applicant has
failed to achieve a passing grade in the scheduled
qualifying examination, and fails to request and pay the
fee for rescheduling within 90 days of notification of
failure to pass the examination. (BPC § 7074(a))
5)Contains the following provisions relating to the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists
(BPELSG):
a) Requires that an examination for registration be held at
the times and places within the state as the Board
determine; provides that the scope of examinations and the
methods of procedure be prescribed by rule of the Board.
(BPC § 7844)
6)Contains the following provisions relating to the Governor's
Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz):
a) Establishes the California Tourism Marketing Act.
(Government Code (GC) § 13995 et seq.)
b) Makes various findings and declarations regarding the
importance of California's tourism industry, need for
marketing of the industry and importance in funding the
marketing of the industry, including:
(1) An industry-approved assessment provides a
private-sector financing mechanism that, in partnership
with state funding, will provide the amount of marketing
necessary to increase tourism marketing expenditures by
California.
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(2) The goal of the assessments is to assess the least
amount per business, in the least intrusive manner,
spread across the greatest practical number of tourism
industry segments. (GC § 13995.1)
This bill:
1) Makes the following changes relating to CBA:
a) Provides flexibility to the courses that fall under the
ethics education requirement without expanding the
disciplines in which the education is earned.
2) Makes the following changes relating to CAB:
a) Clarifies the language of BPC Section 5550.2 to allow
students enrolled in any program accepted by the National
Council of Architectural Registration Boards to receive
early eligibility to take the Architectural Registration
Examination.
3) Makes the following changes relating to CSLB:
a) Eliminates the two conditions in existing law that void
an application because of exam scheduling.
4) Makes the following changes relating to BPELSG:
a) Authorizes the Board to make arrangements with a public
or private organization to conduct the examination and to
contract with a public or private organization for
materials or services related to the examination.
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5) Makes the following changes relating to GO-Biz:
a) Deletes the obsolete reference to "secretary" of the
California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and
instead inserts the word "Director".
Background
This bill is one of two "committee bills" authored by the Senate
Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee
(Committee) and is intended to consolidate a number of
non-controversial provisions related to various regulatory
programs and professions governed by the BPC. Consolidating the
provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various
licensing boards, bureaus, professions and other regulatory
agencies from the necessity and burden of having separate
measures for a number of non-controversial revisions.
Many of the provisions of this bill are minor, technical, and
updating changes, while other provisions are substantive changes
intended to improve the ability of various licensing programs
and other entities to efficiently and effectively administer
their respective laws.
However, as a Committee bill, if controversy or opposition
should arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved,
then that provision will be removed from the bill. This will
eliminate the chance of placing any of the other provisions in
jeopardy.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/10/16)
California Board of Accountancy
SB 1479
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OPPOSITION: (Verified5/10/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The California Board of Accountancy
writes, "The CBA would like to thank you for including our
proposal to amend the CBA's ethics study education requirements
for Certified Public Accountant licensure to provide a level of
flexibility by changing the current course title requirement to
a subject requirement in SB 1479."
Prepared by:Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
5/11/16 15:58:21
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