BILL ANALYSIS
AB 797
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 797 (Ma) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
SUBJECT : Accountants: discipline: Internet posting.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) to
publish disciplinary decisions on its website for a period of
ten years. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CBA to publish disciplinary decisions against a
certified public accountant, public accountant, accountancy
partnership, or accountancy corporation for a period of 10
years from the date the decision was issued.
2)Requires published disciplinary decisions to be accessible by
the name of the accountant, partnership, or corporation that
is the subject of the decision.
EXISTING LAW provides for the licensing and regulation of
accountants and accounting firms by CBA, and prohibits a person
from engaging in the practice of public accountancy in this
state unless he or she holds either a license issued by CBA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office,
"Current policy of the California Board of Accountancy is to
post a summary of disciplinary decisions on its website for a
period of seven years. This bill would require the CBA to post
the full text of its disciplinary decisions for a period of ten
years. This would increase consumer protection by providing the
full text of the disciplinary decisions so that all proven
allegations are readily available and a full description of the
proven allegations can be accessed easily and for a longer
period of time."
Background . The documents related to a pending accusation
against a licensee are considered a public record and obtainable
upon request to any of the 43 consumer protection entities in
the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
AB 797
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As a matter of administrative policy, the CBA publishes the
final documents of final disciplinary decisions on its website
for a minimum of seven years, but in some cases may publish that
information indefinitely.
The committee may wish to consider whether the bill should
clarify that CBA will continue to have the administrative
discretion to publish documents on its website related to a
final disciplinary decision for longer than the 10 year period
prescribed by this bill.
Related Legislation . AB 1005 (Block) of 2009 requires the
California Board of Accountancy to publish documents related to
pending disciplinary accusations, minutes of it's meeting, and
provide a live webcast, on it's website, as specified.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Society of Certified Public Accountants
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ross Warren / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301