BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1479|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1479
Author: Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development
Amended: 8/18/16
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
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 5/12/16 (Consent)
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/22/16 - See last page for vote
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.
SB 1479
Page 2
Assembly Amendments specify that in all home improvement
contracts, as defined, a licensee shall be licensed in this
state in an active status for not less than two years prior to
submitting an Application for Approval of Blanket Performance
and Payment Bond. Additionally, these amendments require
cemetery authorities under the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to
adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in
their annual financial reporting on Endowment Care and Special
Care Trust Funds.
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).
2)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)Provides that the California Architect Board 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)Requires that an application for an original license from the
SB 1479
Page 3
Contractors State License Board (CSLB), for an additional
classification, or for a change of qualifier become void under
specified circumstances. (BPC § 7074(a))
5)Requires that an examination for registration by the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists
(BPELSG) be held at the times and places within the state
BPELSG determines and provides that the scope of examinations
and the methods of procedure be prescribed by BPELSG rule.
(BPC § 7844)
6)Establishes the California Tourism Marketing Act and 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. (Government Code § 13995 et seq.)
7)Requires each cemetery authority that the Cemetery and Funeral
Bureau (Bureau) regulates to file a written report to the
Bureau each year. Requires cemetery authorities to provide an
annual audit report of their Endowment Care and Special Care
Trust Funds that is signed by a certified public accountant or
public accountant. (BPC § 7612.6)
This bill:
1)Provides flexibility to the courses that fall under the ethics
education requirement by the California Board of Accountancy
without expanding the disciplines in which the education is
earned.
2)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.
SB 1479
Page 4
3)Eliminates the two conditions in existing law that void a CSLB
application because of exam scheduling.
4)Specifies that in all home improvement contracts, as defined,
a licensee shall be licensed in this state in an active status
for not less than two years prior to submitting an Application
for Approval of Blanket Performance and Payment Bond.
5)Authorizes BPELSG 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.
6)Deletes an obsolete reference to "secretary" of the California
Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and instead
inserts the word "Director".
7)Requires cemetery authorities under the Bureau to adhere to
GAAP in their annual financial reporting on Endowment Care and
Special Care Trust Funds.
Background
This bill is one of two "committee bills" authored by the Senate
Business, Professions, and Economic Development 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
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Page 5
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
will have negligible state fiscal impact.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/22/16)
California Board of Accountancy
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/22/16)
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."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/22/16
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, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
SB 1479
Page 6
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, 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: Melendez
Prepared by: Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
8/29/16 10:27:34
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