BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1260|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1260
Author: Huffman (D)
Amended: 4/20/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 9-0, 7/6/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Wyland, Aanestad, Corbett, Correa,
Florez, Romero, Walters, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 62-16, 5/11/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Acupuncture
SOURCE : California Acupuncture Board
DIGEST : This bill changes the number of members required
to establish a quorum to conduct business for the
California Acupuncture Board from five to four members,
including at least one acupuncturist.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides for the licensure and regulation of the
practice of acupuncture and establishes the California
Acupuncture Board (Board) to enforce and administer
these provisions.
CONTINUED
AB 1260
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2. Specifies that the Board is comprised of seven members,
made up of three acupuncturists and four public members.
States that five members constitute a quorum to conduct
business.
3. Requires an affirmative vote of a majority of those
present at a meeting of the Board to take any action or
pass any motion.
This bill changes the number of members required to
establish a quorum to conduct business for the Board from
five to four members, including at least one acupuncturist.
Background
Prior to 2006, the Acupuncture License Act provided that
the Board would consist of nine members. On July 1, 2006,
the Board sunseted and SB 248 (Figueroa), Chapter 659,
Statutes of 2005, repealed the old Board and created a
reconstituted Board of seven members. Three of the seven
members of the Board must be acupuncturists with at least
five years of experience in acupuncture and four of the
members shall be public members who do not hold a license
or certificate as a physician and surgeon or acupuncturist.
The Governor appoints the three acupuncturist members and
two of the public members, subject to the confirmation of
the State Senate. The Senate Rules Committee and the
Speaker of the Assembly each appoint a public member. Each
of the members serves a four-year term.
Although the Board was reconstituted in 2006, the number of
members required to establish a quorum remained at five
members. Subsequent legislation extending the sunset date
of the Board did not change this quorum requirement.
Prior legislation
SB 248 (Figueroa), Chapter 659, Statutes of 2005 , appointed
a new Board with seven members, and sunseted the Board on
July 1, 2008.
SB 963 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 385, Statutes of 2008
further extended the sunset date of the Board to January 1,
2011.
AB 1260
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/7/09)
California Acupuncture Board (source)
Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Associations
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California
Acupuncture Board, the sponsor of this bill, this bill is
necessary for the Board to conduct business. The author's
office states that in January 2003, legislation went into
effect changing the Board quorum requirement from a
majority of the appointed members to five members. At
that time, the Board consisted of nine members. In January
2006, the Board was reconstituted with the nine-member
Board being repealed and a new seven-member Board was
created. However, no change was made to the quorum
requirement when the Board membership was reduced. The
author's office further points that that if there are
vacancies on the Board and/or if one member is unable to
make a meeting, there is a potential for not having a
quorum to conduct business. Two meetings had to be
cancelled last year due to the lack of a quorum.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Gilmore, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Nielsen,
V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Charles
Calderon, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hagman,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Niello, Audra
Strickland, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, John A. Perez
AB 1260
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JJA:do 7/7/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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