BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                    Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary

                                    1953 (Figueroa)

          Hearing Date:  5/16/02          Amended: 5/1/02        
          Consultant:  Nora Lynn          Policy Vote: B&P  5-0  
          ____________________________________________________________ 
          ___
          BILL SUMMARY: 
          
          SB 1953 extends the sunset date for the Contractors State  
          License Board (CSLB) to Jan. 1, 2008; grants the CSLB the  
          authority to raise specified fees for its enforcement  
          program and to maintain a reserve equivalent to six months'  
          worth of expenditures; authorizes, effective Jan. 1, 2004,  
          the CSLB to require fingerprints from license applicants  
          for the purpose of conducting criminal history record  
          checks; authorizes the director of the Employment  
          Development Department (EDD) to release information to the  
          CSLB to verify employment histories of license applicants;  
          and makes other changes consistent with the recommendations  
          of the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee (JLSRC).

                              Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
           
          Major Provisions        2002-03             2003-04               2004-05   
           Fund  
          Report                        Minor, absorbable costsSpecial*
          Fingerprint process     294          227              227Special*
          Fees: regulations             Minor, absorbable costsSpecial*
          Fee increases      Unknown, likely significant revenuesSpecial*
          EDD info release              75             General
                        *Contractors License Fund (Fund)
          
          STAFF COMMENTS:  
          
          This bill meets the criteria to be placed on the Suspense  
          file.
          SB 1952 is one of six sunset review bills authored by the  
          chair of the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee  
          (JLSRC) intended to implement legislative changes as  
          recommended by the JLSRC.

          SB 1953 proposes increased fee caps for specified licenses  
          which would raise fees from 20 percent to 50 percent over  
          current levels.  If these fees were increased via  










          regulation to the statutorily capped limit, revenues to the  
          Fund would range from $4 million to $8 million annually.   
          CSLB staff report SB 1953's fingerprinting requirements  
          will result in $294,000 in start-up costs and $227,000 in  
          annual ongoing costs.  The required report as well as the  
          regulatory process needed to set license fees are both  
          activities the CSLB will be able to absorb within existing  
          fiscal resources. 

          EDD staff indicate General Fund costs of $75,000 to revise  
          existing contracts to accommodate the proposed change to  
          Unemployment Insurance Code Sect. 1095(t).  This cost could  
          be avoided if the proposed change to Sect. 1095(t) were  
          added at the end of this section to create instead a new  
          Sect. 1095(v).