BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1005|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1005
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 7/16/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SEN. BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 5-3 (FAIL),
7/6/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Corbett, Correa, Florez, Romero
NOES: Wyland, Aanestad, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Yee
SEN. BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 6-3, 7/13/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Corbett, Correa, Florez, Romero, Yee
NOES: Wyland, Aanestad, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-3, 8/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Runner, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California Board of Accountancy
SOURCE : Center for Public Interest Law
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Board of
Accountancy (CBA) to post finalized board meeting minutes
CONTINUED
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on its Internet web site within a specified time. The bill
requires CBA to provide a live audio or video broadcast, on
its Internet web site, of its board meetings. CBA will be
required to maintain on the Internet web site the posted
minutes and broadcast or a link to both for at least three
years. In addition, CBA will be required to post on its
Internet web site notice of all formal CBA accusations
filed against a licensee and require a link whereby a
person may request a copy of the accusation and alleged
violations. Persons requesting the information will be
provided with a statement that informs that the allegations
are not a final determination of wrongdoing and are subject
to specified adjudication and final review.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Licenses and regulates approximately 40,000 certified
public accountants (CPAs) under the Accountancy Act by
the CBA within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
2.Requires all CBA meetings to be open to the public, and
provides that the CBA may hold executive sessions to
deliberate on a decision upon the evidence in a case
under the Administrative Procedure Act, and to take
action on examinations or administrative matters as
specified in the Government Code.
3.Authorizes the CBA to receive and investigate complaints
against a licensee and to initiate and take disciplinary
action against a licensee, as specified, through
administrative procedures as specified in the Accountancy
Act and in the Administrative Procedure Act.
4.Specifies that protection of the public shall be the
highest priority to the CBA in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the
protection of the public is inconsistent with other
interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the
public shall be paramount.
This bill:
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1.Requires CBA to post on its Internet web site the minutes
from CBA meetings within 10 days of approval.
2.Requires CBA to provide a live audio or video broadcast
of CBA meetings on its Internet web site, as specified.
3.Requires the posted minutes and recordings of broadcasts
or a link to the minutes or recordings to remain in the
web site for at least three years.
4.Requires the CBA to post on its Internet web site, in an
easily marked and identifiable location, notice of all
formal accusations. Requires the notice of any formal
accusation to contain a link to where a person can
request and have sent to him or her a copy of the formal
accusation; and the basis for the accusation and alleged
violations filed against a licensee.
5.Requires the link to where a copy of the formal
accusation can be requested to be clearly and
conspicuously located on the same web page where the
notice is posted, and to permit a person to request and
choose to receive the information by either electronic
mail or by regular mail, and specifies persons requesting
this information will be provided with a statement that
informs that the allegations are not a final
determination of wrongdoing and are subject to specified
adjudication and final review.
Background
The documents related to a formal accusation against a
licensee are considered a public record and obtainable upon
request to any of the more than 40 consumer protection
boards, bureaus, programs and commission in the DCA. As
stated in the Assembly Third Reading Analysis of this bill,
"Six of these DCA entities provide documents related to a
pending investigation on their web sites; two publish
supporting documents on final decisions, 21 entities
provide a summary of the final decision and order, and 14
do not publish any information on their web sites."
Furthermore, on November 4, 2008, the Director of DCA sent
a memorandum to all executive officers and bureau chiefs in
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the DCA health related licensing boards and bureaus stating
the following:
"While many entities currently post accusations on their
Website, many only include summaries or require consumers
to contact them directly to obtain copies. As Director, I
have determined that greater transparency and consistency
are in the interest of consumer protection. Effective
immediately, I am directing all health-related entities to
publish all pending accusations on their websites in their
entirety. Furthermore, from this point forward, any new
accusation shall also be placed in its entirety on the
board of bureau's web site."
Recent Board Action Regarding Posting Accusations and
Disciplinary Orders . In recent months, controversy has
swelled with the BOA on this issue. At its January
meeting, CBA rejected a proposal to post accusations
against licensees on the CBA's Internet web site when a
formal allegation of wrongdoing in the form of an
accusation has been filed by CBA.
That action by CBA was the subject of a January 28, 2009,
Orange County Register, OC Watchdog feature titled, State's
Accounting Watchdog Opts to Keep Public in the Dark .
According to the article, CBA took this position in spite
of separate recommendations to the contrary from both the
chief of CBA's enforcement division and from DCA.
Prior to that time, CBA's practice was that when a formal
accusation of wrongdoing was filed by the CBA against a
licensee, the CBA would post a statement of "accusation
filed" on its Internet web site. For disciplinary actions
adopted by CBA, a brief summary of the wrongdoing in the
accusation, and the code sections violated were posted, but
the actual accusation and the disciplinary order was not
posted on the web site.
At the January meeting, CBA determined that going forward,
once a disciplinary order becomes final, the CBA will post
both the disciplinary order and the accusation, but will
only post a notice that an accusation has been filed when
there has not yet been a formal disciplinary order.
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As a matter of administrative policy, CBA currently
publishes the final documents of final disciplinary
decisions on its web site for a minimum of seven years, but
in some cases may publish that information indefinitely.
Specifically, for each final disciplinary action, CBA posts
the licensee's name, the disciplinary action imposed
(revocation, probation, suspension, stipulated decision),
the basis of the disciplinary action (code sections
violated) and a summary of the allegations (the acts the
licensee committed that constituted violations of the law),
and a link to a copy of the formal accusation and the
disciplinary order (CBA's adopted decision) in "PDF"
format.
Since accusations are legally public records, a person
currently must write to CBA and request a copy in order to
obtain a copy of the actual accusation. Under this bill,
CBA will be required to post a notice of the formal
accusation. The notice of formal accusation will be
required to contain a link to where a consumer can request
and have sent to him or her a copy of the formal
accusation, including the basis for the accusation, and the
alleged violations filed by CBA against the licensee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Audio/video Internet Up to $75 annually
Special*
broadcast requirement
Increased public Negligible costs
ongoing Special*
access to documents
*Accountancy Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
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Center for Public Interest Law (source)
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Board of Accountancy
Consumer Attorneys of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by the
Center for Public Interest Law to increase public access
and transparency as it relates to the regulatory practices
for the accounting profession in California by requiring
the Internet broadcasting of public CBA meetings, the
posting if CBA minutes and notices of formal accusations on
CBA's web site. According to the Center of Public Interest
Law, "Many public agencies offer live streaming of public
proceedings and AB 1005 brings the Board of Accountancy
into such a practice," and points out that the bill
provides that equipment failure will not preclude the Board
from moving ahead with a Board meeting.
The Center for Public Interest Law states that existing law
is silent on these issues, and that the Business and
Professions Code only requires that CBA hearings be open
and public which means being there in person, but does not
require CBA to provide a live feed on its web site of the
hearings or to post the minutes of CBA meetings. With
respect to the investigation of complaints, the sponsor
states that the code does not specify how the public will
receive access to the information.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Arambula, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nielsen,
Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Saldana, Audra Strickland
JJA:cm 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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