BILL ANALYSIS
SB 724
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 724 (Business Committee)
As Amended September 10, 2001
2/3 vote
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
HEALTH 17-0 APPROPRIATIONS 21-0
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|Ayes:|Thomson, Aanestad, Bates, |Ayes:|Migden, Bates, Alquist, |
| |Chan, Cohn, Chu, Frommer, | |Aroner, Ashburn, Cedillo, |
| |Koretz, Negrete McLeod, | |Corbett, Correa, Daucher, |
| |Robert Pacheco, Richman, | |Goldberg, Maldonado, |
| |Runner, Salinas, | |Robert Pacheco, Papan, |
| |Steinberg, Wayne, Wesson, | |Pavley, Runner, Simitian, |
| |Zettel | |Thomson, Wesson, Wiggins, |
| | | |Wright, Zettel |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes various changes to the laws regulating various
licensed health care professionals. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds the Board of Chiropractic Examiners to a provision of law
permitting regulatory boards to recover costs associated with
the investigation and enforcement of disciplinary cases, to a
provision permitting regulatory boards to adopt a cite and
fine system, and to a provision of law prohibiting the
acceptance of rebates or other considerations for the referral
of patients.
2)Makes the following changes pertaining to the Medical Board of
California (MBC):
a) Requires that certain reports relating to settlements or
judgements against the licensee of more than $30,000
include the name and license number of the physician;
b) Clarifies that an exemption from licensure as a
physician and surgeon during postgraduate training is
cancelled and participation in the program must cease if
MBC denies the individual's application for licensure;
c) Clarifies that MBC must approve an application for
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exemption from licensure for out-of-state physicians and
surgeons who are recruited to practice in state and county
institutions;
d) Repeals a requirement relative to providing
documentation of specified coursework prior to entering
medical school; and,
e) Repeals an obsolete reference to verification of
citizenship in relation to applicants for a physician and
surgeon's certificate.
3)Extends the sunset date of the provision of law establishing
various licensure-related fees for podiatrists, from January
1, 2002, to January 1, 2004.
4)Makes the following changes pertaining to the Dental Board of
California (DBC):
a) Repeals an obsolete provision allowing certification in
oral conscious sedation for minor patients by documentation
of 10 cases of oral conscious sedation satisfactorily
performed;
b) Requires DBC to utilize in the administration of its
licensure examinations only examiners whom it has appointed
and who meet specified criteria, including practicing in
their licensure category for at least five years;
c) Provides for a disabled inactive status and reduced
license fee for any licensee who can demonstrate, to the
satisfaction of DBC, that they are unable to practice
dentistry due to a disability; and,
d) Extends the sunset dates of provisions of law permitting
physicians to administer general anesthesia in dental
offices, from January 1, 2002, to January 1, 2007.
5)Requires applicants for licensure as a psychologist that are
trained in an educational institution outside of the United
States or Canada to demonstrate that he or she possesses a
doctorate degree in psychology which is equivalent to such a
degree earned from an accredited university in the United
States or Canada.
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6)Extends the sunset date of the Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology (SLPA) Board from July 1, 2002, to July 1, 2004, and
makes clarifying changes to the continuing education
requirements of the SLPA Board.
7)Requires persons whose license under the Board of Vocational
Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians has been revoked,
suspended, surrendered, or placed on probation, to wait for
specified time periods before petitioning for reinstatement.
The time periods vary from one to three years, depending on
the condition placed on the license.
8)Makes the following changes pertaining to the Board of
Pharmacy (BOP):
a) Revises the requirements governing persons obtaining a
certificate of exemption from the requirement to obtain a
pharmacist license in order to work for a manufacturer,
veterinary food-animal drug retailer, or wholesaler, by
requiring these exemptees to have one year of work
experience, complete a training program addressing
knowledge of specified subjects, and permitting these
exemptees to work for any licensed manufacturer, veterinary
food-animal retailer, or wholesaler. Requires wholesalers
and veterinary food-animal drug retailers to designate an
exemptee-in-charge;
b) Revises a provision of law governing the issuance of a
retired license to a pharmacist by deleting a requirement
that a license be current and not be disciplined or subject
to discipline, and instead simply prohibiting the issuance
of a retired license to a pharmacist whose license has been
revoked;
c) Adds Medi-Cal fraud, and knowingly selling or furnishing
of drugs under a specified federal discount drug program to
ineligible recipients, to the list of violations that
enable BOP to take action against a licensee;
d) Deletes an obsolete reference to medical device
retailers;
e) Specifies that "manufacturer" does not mean a pharmacy
that, at the patient's request, repackages a drug
previously dispensed to the patient or the patient's agent
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pursuant to a prescription;
f) Modifies BOP's authority to issue a temporary permit to
a pharmacy by limiting the time of the temporary permit to
180 days, and specifying that the temporary permits may be
subject to conditions or restrictions as BOP deems
necessary;
g) Deletes obsolete language providing an exception to the
registration requirements for pharmacy technicians;
h) Clarifies who is required to obtain an out-of-state
dangerous drug or dangerous device distributor's license;
i) Eliminates an obsolete provision regarding the
processing fee for remodeling plans and inspecting a
remodeled pharmacy; and,
j) Permits a pharmacy, at a patient's request, to repackage
a drug previously dispensed to the patient pursuant to a
prescription. Requires pharmacies providing repackaging
services to have in place policies and procedures for
repackaging these drugs and to label the repackaged
prescription container with specified information.
9)Revises the requirements in order for a person exempt from
licensure as a pharmacist (exemptee) to be in charge of a home
medical device retail facility, by eliminating the requirement
that these exemptees pass an examination administered by the
Department of Health Services, and instead requires the
exemptee to be a high school graduate, have a minimum of one
year of paid work experience related to the distribution of
prescription drugs or devices, and have completed a training
program that addresses specified knowledge areas.
10)Makes the following changes pertaining to the Board of
Behavioral Sciences (BBS):
a) Revises the doctor's or master's degree requirements for
marriage and family therapist licensure applicants to
eliminate degrees in social work with an emphasis in
clinical social work from qualifying for licensure as a
marriage and family therapist;
b) Specifies that a degree program must be a single,
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integrated program that is designed to train marriage and
family therapists;
c) Requires registered marriage and family therapist
interns and associate clinical social workers, applying for
renewal, to notify BBS if they have been convicted of a
crime since their last renewal and to pay a renewal fee of
$75. Prohibits renewal of registration if the application
is made more than six years after the registration was
initially issued;
d) Prohibits applicants from being eligible to participate
in an oral examination if his or her passing score on the
written examination occurred more than seven years before;
e) Clarifies the current prohibition against licensed
clinical social workers having sexual relations with
patients by specifying that such conduct is also prohibited
with former clients within two years following the
termination of therapy;
f) Repeals a section of law regarding the rights of a blind
person in relation to education and licensure as a licensed
clinical social worker;
g) Clarifies BBS's authority to deny a license to
applicants who are subject to an order of registration as a
sexual offender;
h) Requires applicants for licensure as a clinical social
worker to provide evidence of completion of 10 contact
hours of training or coursework in human sexuality, as
specified in regulations, and a minimum of seven contact
hours of training or coursework in child abuse assessment
and reporting, as specified in regulations;
i) Deletes the requirement that a supervisor of a
registered associate clinical worker submit evidence of
satisfactory completion of supervised experience gained by
an associate clinical social worker; and,
j) Revises the criteria by which required experience must
be obtained for licensure as a clinical social worker by
specifying that a minimum of 750 hours of the required
experience must consist of face-to-face individual or group
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psychotherapy provided to clients in the context of
clinical social work services.
11)Specifies that the use of the words "certify" or
"certification" by a licensed architect in the practice of
architecture constitutes an expression of professional
opinion, and does not constitute a warranty or guarantee.
12)Makes the following changes to provisions of law regulated by
the Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB):
a) Authorizes CSLB members to meet once every fiscal
quarter for the purpose of conducting specified official
business;
b) Supplements the meaning of " contractor" to include
persons who perform installation, repairs, maintenance, or
calibration of monitoring equipment for underground storage
tanks;
c) Authorizes the Registrar (executive officer) at CSLB to
issue citations to unlicensed individuals, once probable
cause is determined that an individual violated existing
law;
d) Requires revenues that are collected from administrative
fines to be placed in a separate account within the
Contractors State Licensing Fund and mandates that the
revenue only be used upon an appropriation by the
Legislature for purposes of administering the Contractor's
State License Law;
e) Authorizes the Registrar at CSLB to delegate the
collection of civil penalties to legally authorized
collection agencies;
f) Extends the statue of limitations that allows a legal
action to be brought against a contractor's cash deposit or
bond to three years (instead of two years);
g) Prohibits, if CSLB is notified of a complaint relative
to a claim against a cash deposit or bond, the initial
claim from being released until the complaint is
adjudicated;
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h) Permits a license application to be extended up to 90
days, or one examination to be rescheduled, without a fee,
if the applicant can show documented evidence that the
failure to complete the application process or appear for
an examination was due to a medical emergency or
circumstances beyond his or her control; and,
i) Expands the grounds for disciplinary action during the
license application and renewal process to include
"omission" of material facts.
1)Makes the following changes to provisions of law pertaining to
fictitious business names and procedures that allow the
issuance of temporary identification (ID) cards by county
clerks:
a) Permits the use of "limited" or "company" or their
abbreviations as long as the use does not imply a limited
liability company;
b) Requires applications requesting a fictitious business
name to be signed under a personal declaration that all the
information appearing on the application is true and
correct;
c) Specifies that the submission for renewal of a
fictitious business name will not be republished if the
renewal statement was submitted within 40 days after the
expiration; and,
d) Requires county clerks to issue temporary ID cards,
valid only for 120 days, instead of permanent ID cards, to
applicants seeking registration as process servers who are
required to submit fingerprints for background checks that
are conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
and the Department of Justice (DOJ), and requires county
clerks to issue permanent ID cards once fingerprints are
cleared by the FBI and DOJ.
2)Requires the California Tax Education Council to establish a
process by which two individuals who are tax preparers are
appointed to the council with full voting privileges to serve
terms as determined by the council.
3)Deletes references to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and
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Vocational Education in provisions of law relating to
standards for tax preparer education providers.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis:
1)Insignificant to moderate fiscal impact on the affected
regulatory boards.
2)The dentistry provisions would have moderate impact, less than
$100,000 annually, on DBC. The provisions relating to the use
of expert examiners are estimated to cost $40,200 in fiscal
year (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).
3)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 : According to the author, this is one of the Senate
Business and Professions Committee's omnibus bills that makes
changes to various provisions of licensing statutes for health
professionals. The author states that at any time, if
provisions in this bill become controversial, they will be
removed. According to the author, this bill is intended to
address "housekeeping" items for various regulatory boards, by:
1) updating statutes to reflect various changes to programs over
the past year; 2) attending to code maintenance by doing
technical clean-up and deleting obsolete references; or, 3)
improving the administration of the various boards by clearing
up ambiguity or enhancing enforcement authority.
Analysis Prepared by : Vincent D. Marchand / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0003147