BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1647|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1647
Author: Hayashi (D)
Amended: 6/28/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 6-0,
6/21/10
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Aanestad, Calderon, Correa, Florez,
Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Oropeza, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 59-17, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Athletics
SOURCE : The California Athletic Trainers Association
DIGEST : This bill establishes certification and training
requirements for athletic trainers, and prohibits
individuals from calling themselves athletic trainers
unless they meet those requirements.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides for the licensure and regulation of physical
therapists and physical therapy assistants by the
Physical Therapy Board of California within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
CONTINUED
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2. Defines the practice of physical therapy as the art and
science of physical or corrective rehabilitation or of
physical or corrective treatment of any bodily or mental
condition of any person by the use of the physical,
chemical and other properties of heat, light, water,
electricity, sound, massage and active, passive and
resistive exercise, including physical therapy
evaluation, treatment planning, instruction and
consultative services.
3. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
adopt rules and regulations that it deems necessary and
proper to secure the establishment of courses in
physical education in elementary and secondary schools.
Requires CDE to exercise general supervision over the
courses of physical education in elementary and
secondary schools of the state; advise school officials,
school boards, and teachers in the development and
improvement of their physical education and activity
programs; and investigate the work in physical education
in the public schools.
4. Grants CDE certain authority over interscholastic
athletes, including the authority to state that the
polices of school districts, of associations or
consortia of school districts, and of the California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF), concerning
interscholastic athletics, are in compliance with both
state and federal law.
5. Provides for the Unfair Practices Act which defines
unfair competition as any unlawful, unfair, or
fraudulent business act or practice and unfair,
deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising.
This bill:
1. Makes it unlawful for any person to hold himself/herself
out as a certified athletic trainer unless he/she has
been certified by the Board of Certification, Inc., and
has done either of the following:
A. Graduated from a college or university, after
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completing an accredited athletic training education
program, as specified.
B. Completed requirements for certification by the
Board of Certification, Inc., prior to January 1,
2004.
2. Makes it an unfair business practice for any person to
use the title of "certified athletic trainer" or any
other term, such as "licensed," "registered," or "ATC,"
that implies or suggests that the person is certified as
an athletic trainer, if the person does not meet the
requirements set forth in this bill.
Background
According to information provided by the author's office,
it has been estimated that more than six million high
school students participate in sports nationwide. Over
715,000 sports related injuries occur annually and in just
the last two years, over 125 middle and high school
athletes died as a result of an injury. California, alone,
suffered 18 fatalities.
The author's office further asserts that scientific studies
have raised concerns about the long-term impacts of head
injuries in sports. Their lasting effects are unknown and
have recently been highlighted by reports of professional
football players who sustained concussions during their
playing years and are now feeling the effects of memory
loss and other memory related diseases. For females, the
leading cause of high school sports concussion is soccer,
and a 2009 American Journal of Sports Medicine article
shows that female athletes are suffering more significant
effects from multiple concussions than male athletes. The
San Jose Mercury News reported on a 2009 study that showed
41 percent of high school athletes who suffered a
concussion return to play prematurely.
Heat related illness in sports is a problem for young
athletes as well. Many high school sports begin practice
during the summer months when high temperatures are
extreme. A recent USA Today article reported four
heatstroke related deaths at the high school level in 2008.
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The bill's sponsor, The California Athletic Association,
defines an athletic trainer as a person who specializes in
the prevention, diagnosis, assessment, treatment and
rehabilitation of muscle and bone industries and illnesses,
and is educated in emergency care for catastrophic injuries
such as spinal cord injuries, sudden cardiac arrest, heat
illness and concussions. Working under the direction of a
licensed physician, and in cooperation with other health
care providers, athletic trainers are recognized as allied
health professionals by the American Medical Association
(AMA) and must meet the qualifications set by a state
regulatory board and/or the Board of Certification, Inc.
(BOC) as well as have the following requirements:
Graduated from an accredited college or university
athletic training education program
Passed an examination administered by the Board of
Certification, Inc.
Meet the continuing education requirements defined by the
Board of Certification, Inc. including emergency cardiac
care.
According to their Web site, BOC was incorporated in 1989
to provide a certification program for entry-level athletic
trainers. BOC establishes and regularly reviews both the
standards for the practice of athletic training and the
continuing education requirements for BOC certified
athletic trainers. BOC asserts that is has the only
accredited certification program for athletic trainers in
the United States. Additionally, BOC cites accreditation
by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA)
and requirements that it undergo review and reaccredidation
every five years through the NCCA. NCCA is the
accreditation body of Institute for Credentialing
Excellence, a non-profit organization that provides
educational, networking, and advocacy resources to the
credentialing community, and is charged with evaluating
certification organization for compliance with the NCCA
"Standards for the Accreditation of Certification
Programs."
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BOC's Web site further asserts that they have been
responsible for the certification of athletic trainers
since 1969. BOC was the certification arm of the
professional membership organization of the National
Athletic Trainers' Association until 1989, when BOC became
an independent nonprofit organization.
In 2002 and 2003, then Assemblymember Lowenthal introduced
legislation on behalf of the California Athletic Trainers
Association (CATA) proposing licensure for athletic
trainers. AB 2789 (2001-02 Session) was amended to require
a study of the issue before being held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee suspense file. AB 614 (2003-04
Session) was held in the Senate Business and Professions
Committee to allow the Joint Committee on Boards,
Commissions and Consumer Protection (Joint Committee) to
examine whether athletic trainers should be licensed as
part of the "sunrise" process.
In compliance with the sunrise process, CATA completed and
submitted the extensive "sunrise questionnaire" in support
of its proposal for licensure. The athletic trainer
sunrise proposal was heard by the Joint Committee in
January 2005. Following this hearing, the Joint Committee
voted unanimously, in April 2005, to reject full licensure
of athletic trainers, but suggested as part of this
recommendation that some form of recognition of athletic
trainers, such as title protection, may be appropriate.
In 2005, Senator Lowenthal introduced SB 1397 which would
have enacted the Athletic Trainers Certification Act, which
prohibited a person from representing him or herself as an
athletic trainer unless he or she is certified as an
athletic trainer by an athletic training organization. The
bill would have regulated the practice of athletic training
by requiring all individuals who use the title athletic
trainer to meet specific education standards, pass a
certification exam, complete continuing education and
register with an athletic training organization. The bill
also made it an unfair business practice for a registered
athletic trainer to advertise or publicly represent he or
she as "state certified" or as "state registered" as an
athletic trainer by the State of California. Governor
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Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill claiming "there is no
evidence that the existing unregulated status of athletic
trainers poses any threat to public health and safety," and
this bill would place unnecessary regulatory burdens on the
athletic training profession.
In the sunrise questionnaire, CATA indicated that there are
approximately 2,200 certified athletic trainers in
California. Only those athletic trainers who have been
certified by the Omaha-based Board of Certification (an
affiliate of the National Athletic Trainers Association)
are permitted to use the terms certified athletic trainer"
or "athletic trainer, certified." The Board of
Certification certifies athletic trainers who have met the
qualifications and passed a national written examination.
To sit for the exam, applicants for certification as an
athletic trainer must have completed a bachelor degree
program in an athletic training educational program
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied
Health Education Programs. In 2005, there were 12
accredited entry level athletic training education programs
in California, as well as one graduate level program and an
additional six entry-level programs in candidacy for
accreditation. Most of the accredited programs are in the
California State University system.
The majority of certified athletic trainers in California
are employed in school settings, including four-year
colleges and universities, community colleges, high
schools, professional sports teams, clinics, hospitals,
industrial settings or private health clubs employ the
rest.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/21/10)
California Athletic Trainers' Association (source)
American Red Cross, California Chapters
Association of California Neurologists
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Brain Injury Association
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California Community College Athletic Trainers' Association
California Medical Association
California State PTA
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/21/10)
American Athletic Trainers Association and Certification
Board, Inc.
California Chiropractic Association
California Physical Therapy Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
many individuals call themselves "athletic trainers" in
California, but California is in the minority of states
that do not regulate this profession. This bill will
provide title protection for this group of medical
professionals and ensure that only those properly trained
and certified may use that term and will help protect
school athletes from serious and catastrophic injury.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Chiropractic
Association (CCA) writes in opposition, citing support for
the concept of the bill and agreement that it is in the
best interest of the public for those calling themselves
athletic trainers to meet minimum standards. They are
concerned about the lack of a specific, outlined role for
doctors of chiropractic. CCA has requested an amendment to
allow a doctor of chiropractic to be included as a type of
provider legally eligible to develop protocols when they
refer a patient to an athlete trainer. CCA also believes
the bill should be clear to ensure that there is a
mechanism for a doctor of chiropractic, medical doctor, or
doctor of osteopathy to enter and complete an athletic
training certification program without again attending and
graduating from a university or college.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hall,
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Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hagman, Harkey, Knight,
Logue, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Lieu, Audra Strickland,
Vacancy
JJA:mw 7/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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