BILL ANALYSIS
SB 724
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Date of Hearing: August 29, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Carole Migden, Chairwoman
SB 724 (Senate Business and Professions Committee) - As
Amended: August 23, 2001
Policy Committee: HealthVote:17-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes in the laws and licensing boards
regulating health care professionals, architects, and
contractors. Among other provisions, this bill:
1)Makes technical and clarifying changes, extends sunsets,
and/or clarifies the enforcement authority of the Medical
Board of California, Dental Board of California,
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board, Board of
Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, Board of
Pharmacy, Board of Behavioral Sciences, California Architects
Board, and Contractors State Licensing Board.
2)Repeals provisions establishing an examining committee of the
Dental Board of California to investigate licensure applicants
and instead requires the board to use examiners who meet
specified criteria, including possession of a state dental
license.
3)Reduces the biennial license renewal fee by 50%, upon request,
for any licensee unable to practice dentistry because of a
disability.
4)Extends the January 1, 2002 sunset date on provisions
governing administration of general anesthesia by a physician
or surgeon in a dentist's office by two to four years.
5)Extends the July 1, 2002 sunset date for the Speech-Language
Pathology and Audiology Board by two years, to July 1, 2004.
6)Requires persons whose license has been revoked, suspended,
SB 724
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surrendered, or placed on probation by the Board of Vocational
Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians to wait for specified time
periods ranging from one to three years before petitioning for
reinstatement.
7)Limits to 180 days, temporary permits issued by the Board of
Pharmacy to a pharmacy that has changed ownership. Current
law does not have any time limit.
8)Adds counseling with an emphasis in marriage and family
therapy to the list of qualifying degrees for licensure as a
marriage, family and child counselor. Requires applicants for
licensure as a clinical social worker to have completed
specified contact hours of training or coursework in human
sexuality and child abuse assessment and reporting.
9)Adds to the definition of "contractor," persons who install,
repair, maintain or calibrate monitoring equipment for
underground storage tanks.
10)Requires county clerks to issue temporary identification
cards, valid for 120 days, to applicants seeking to register
as process servers and whose federal and state criminal
background checks are pending.
FISCAL EFFECT
Insignificant to moderate fiscal impact on the affected
regulatory boards.
The dentistry provisions would have moderate impact-less than
$100,000 annually-on the Dental Board. The provisions relating
to the use of expert examiners are estimated to cost $40,200 in
FY 2001-02 (half year) and $69,400 in FY 2002-03 and annually
thereafter (State Dental Auxiliary Fund). The 50% reduction in
biennial renewal fees for disabled licensees would result in
$29,500 revenue loss annually (State Dentistry Fund).
The requirement for county clerks to issue temporary ID cards is
likely not state-reimbursable because there would be offsetting
savings in clerks' time to retrieve ID cards of persons not
passing the criminal background check.
COMMENTS
SB 724
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1)Purpose . This bill is an omnibus measure to enact
non-controversial provisions relating to various professional
licensing boards. It updates statutes to reflect changes to
programs over the past year, makes technical and minor
changes, and improves the administration of the various boards
by clarifying ambiguous provisions or enhancing enforcement
authority. The author indicates any provisions generating
controversy will be either amended or deleted.
2)Recent Amendments . The August 23rd amendments: (a) add, and
make minor amendments to, provisions previously contained in
SB 771 (Senate Business and Professions Committee), as amended
July 3, 2001, relating to architects and contractors; and (b)
amend the prior version of SB 724 to remove the opposition of
the California Medical Association and to respond to
amendments requested by several of the affected licensing
boards. The SB 771 provisions added to this bill do not have
any registered opposition and were approved on July 10th by
the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on a 12-0
vote, with a consent recommendation. (SB 771, also set for
today, now deals with unsolicited and unwanted telephone
solicitations.)
3)Suggested Conforming Amendment . The sunset date on provisions
permitting a physician to administer general anesthesia in a
dentist's office is extended by four years, to January 1,
2006, but the sunset date on the Medical Board's authority to
take action against a physician violating the provisions is
extended only two years, to January 1, 2004. For conformity,
the latter sunset date should be changed to 2006. (page 30,
lines 4-6).
4)Related Bill . SB 134 (Figueroa), also set for hearing today,
repeals and re-establishes the Dental Board of California
until January 1, 2005 (inoperative on July 1, 2004).
Analysis Prepared by : Joyce Iseri / APPR. / (916) 319-2081