BILL ANALYSIS
AB 877
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 877 (Emmerson) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
Policy Committee: Business &
Professions Vote: 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Director of the Department of Consumer
Affairs (DCA) to appoint a scope of practice committee (SOPC)
and specifies the membership of the five-member committee.
Requires SOPC to perform occupational analyses and prepare
written reports on legislation that may substantively expand the
scope of a healing arts practice. Requires Business &
Professions legislative policy committees to submit bills for
SOPC analysis and requires the SOPC analysis to be completed
within 90 days of receipt of a request for legislative analysis.
FISCAL EFFECT
Annual fee-supported special fund costs (charged to various DCA
healing arts Boards) of $300,000 to $600,000 for analysis and
reporting established by this bill. Actual costs will depend on
the number of analyses required by the SOPC.
Under current law, the California Health Benefits Review Program
(CHBRP) analyzes mandates related to health insurance (CHBRP)
has an annual budget of $2 million.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill requires the establishment of an
analytical group to review scope of practice bills introduced
in the California Assembly and Senate. The term scope of
practice refers to statutory and regulatory authorization for
medical professionals to care for patients, including
procedures, actions, and processes as well as specified
educational and licensure requirements. This bill addresses
scope of practice reporting for more than a dozen healing arts
boards within DCA, including those with oversight of nurses,
AB 877
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physicians, and pharmacists. According to the author, numerous
scope of practice bills are introduced each year with no
uniform and objective review. The author indicates this area
requires additional uniformity and has modeled this bill on
CHBRP established in statute in 1996.
2)Balance of Powers Concerns . Although the author indicates this
bill has been modeled on CHRBP, this bill and CHBRP are
distinctly different. CHBRP, although created by the
Legislature, is an academically-oriented group, with dozens of
medical, public health, and quantitative academics and
professionals throughout California and across the country
supporting about one dozen in-depth analyses each year. In
addition, CHBRP governance includes numerous checks and
balances to reduce and eliminate potential conflicts of
interest and analytical bias. In contrast, this bill requires
DCA, an Executive Branch department, to appoint SOPC with only
five members, no legislative input, and no checks and balances
to ensure balanced analytical review and reporting.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081