BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 602
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 22, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                    AB 602 (Price) - As Amended:  March 25, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Business &  
          Professions  Vote:                            11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes registered dispensing opticians (RDO) to  
          receive license renewal materials provided by the Medical Board  
          of California (MBC) at an address other than the place of  
          business.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          No direct fiscal impact to MBC to continue biennial license  
          renewals and distribution of renewal materials. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by LensCrafters to allow  
            license renewal materials to be mailed by MBC to a central  
            address. Under current law renewal materials are mailed to  
            hundreds of locations statewide, including large businesses  
            such as Kaiser, WalMart, and LensCrafter. This bill authorizes  
            the aggregation of renewal materials to a corporate mailing  
            address, for example. This bill increases the efficiency of  
            licensure renewal. 

           2)Background  . The RDO Program, administered by the MBC, is  
            comprised of four sections: registered dispensing opticians,  
            registered spectacle lens dispensers, registered contact lens  
            dispensers, and registered nonresident contact lens sellers.  
            Registration is required for individuals, corporations, and  
            firms filling prescriptions of physicians licensed by MBC or  
            optometrists licensed by the Board of Optometry. Technicians  
            who work for a physician or optometrist do not need to  
            register in California. The supervising physician's license  








                                                                  AB 602
                                                                  Page  2

            covers technicians' liabilities. 



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081