BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1746|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1746
Author: Emmerson (R)
Amended: 6/21/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 7-0,
6/14/10
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Aanestad, Calderon, Correa, Florez,
Walters, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 04/22/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Architects: continuing education
SOURCE : American Institute of Architects, California
Council
DIGEST : This bill revises and recasts existing
requirements for the California Architects Board to accept
self-certification of completed continuing education
requirements for license renewals.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1. Provides for the licensing and regulation of more than
22,000 architects by the California Architects Board
(Board) within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
2. Provides that each architect license expires every
odd-numbered year (every two years), and may be renewed
by filing an application with the Board which contains a
statement specifying whether the licensee has been
convicted of a crime and by paying the renewal fee, as
specified.
3. Mandates continuing education as a condition for license
renewal, by requiring that an architect must complete
coursework on disability access requirements, as
specified, and must certify completion to the Board and
provide documentation from the course provider that
includes the course title, subjects covered, name of
provider and trainer or educator, date of completion,
number of hours completed, and a statement about the
trainer or educator's knowledge and experience
background.
4. Phases in the number of continuing education hours
required on an incremental basis as follows:
A. One hour for licenses renewed between July 1, 2009
and January 1, 2010.
B. 2.5 hours for licenses renewed between January 1,
2010 and January 1, 2011.
C. Five hours for all licenses renewed after January
1, 2011.
5. Requires coursework regarding disability access to be
presented by trainers and educators with knowledge and
expertise and to include information and practical
guidance regarding:
A. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
B. State laws that govern access to public
facilities.
C. Federal and state regulations adopted pursuant to
#A and #B.
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This bill:
1. Recasts the existing continuing education requirements
described under Existing Law, #3, 4 and 5 above, and
revises the manner in which completion of the continuing
education in disability access is documented to the
Board.
2. Beginning January 1, 2013, requires licensees to certify
compliance with the continuing education requirements
and provide documentation of the disabled access
continuing education upon request by the Board in an
audit.
3. Subjects a licensee who provides false or misleading
information relating to the completion of required
coursework to administrative citation which may include
an administrative fine or to disciplinary action by the
Board.
4. Authorizes the Board to audit the records of a licensee
to verify completion of any of the continuing education
requirements, and requires each licensee to maintain
records of completion of the required coursework for two
years from the date of license renewal and make the
records available at the Board's request for auditing.
5. Until January 1, 2015, requires the Board to audit at
least three percent of the license renewals each year to
verify completion of the continuing education
requirements.
6. Requires the Board to submit a letter to the Legislature
by January 1, 2019, on the disability access continuing
education provisions, including the level of licensee
compliance with the requirements, actions taken by the
Board for noncompliance, the findings of Board audits,
and any recommendations for improving the process.
Background
In 2008, SB 1608 (Corbett), Chapter 549, Statutes of 2008,
established a narrowly-focused continuing education
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requirement for architects. That bill was introduced to
address a number of reforms intended to increase compliance
with longstanding state and federal laws requiring access
to persons with disabilities in places of public
accommodation.
The bill established the Construction-Related Accessibility
Standards Compliance Act, and made a number of changes
including (1) established processes for businesses sued for
violation of accessibility standards, (2) specified
requirements for site certifications by a certified access
specialists, (3) established a California Commission on
Disability Access, (4) imposed continuing education
requirements on local building officials relating to
disability access requirements, and (5) required as a
condition of license renewal that an architect must
complete coursework regarding disability access
requirements as a condition of license renewal.
The bill required each architect to certify completion of
the continuing education hours and provide documentation to
the Board from the course provider that includes the course
title, subjects covered, name of provider and trainer or
educator, date of completion, number of hours completed,
and a statement about the trainer or educator's knowledge
and experience background.
While SB 1608's continuing education provisions dealt only
with disability access, both the American Institute of
Architects, California Council (AIACC) and the Board
expressed clear interest in establishing a broad-based
comprehensive continuing education requirement for
architects rather than the narrower, subject-specific
requirement for disability access continuing education.
Last year, AIACC sponsored AB 623 (Emmerson) which proposed
to establish a comprehensive continuing education
requirement if the Board determines that continuing
education is in the interest of public health safety and
welfare. The bill was further amended to additionally
contain nearly identical provisions to those found in this
measure to recast the disability access education
requirements and to require an architect to provide
documentation of the disabled access continuing education
upon request by the Board. The AIACC worked with Senator
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Corbett's office and with the Senate Judiciary Committee
staff to streamline the licensees' reporting process and at
that same time simplify the Board's processes of monitoring
compliance with the requirements. AB 623 was ultimately
vetoed by the Governor who stated: "I am supportive of the
provisions that modify the documentation requirements for
the existing [continuing education] requirements, but I
believe this could be done administratively. However, I do
not believe we should be placing additional burdens on
licensees by demanding they fulfill new continuing
education requirements."
It is significant to note that this bill's revision of the
reporting process does not diminish the requirement for
architects to complete five hours of continuing education
in disability access, nor does it set aside any of the
educational standards or course content requirements. This
bill only changes the SB 1608 reporting requirement so that
the architect certifies compliance, maintains the
information on the course(s), and submits that information
to the Board upon request.
According to the Board, 16 DCA licensing boards use the
certify/audit method to verify continuing education, while
seven boards require some information on the course to be
submitted. AIACC states that the National Council of
Architectural Registration Boards and the American
Institute of Architects report that 26 state licensing
boards follow the certify/audit model, and 12 require some
information to be sent to the licensing board. Of those
12, most require minimal information on the course (course
title, date taken, and hours) as a part of renewal
application, with more specific information to be retained
in case of an audit.
Prior Legislation
AB 623 (Emmerson), 2009-10 Session, would have authorized
the Board to establish comprehensive continuing education
requirements and revised the existing disability access
continuing education reporting requirements. The bill was
vetoed by the Governor.
SB 1608 (Corbett), Chapter 549, Statutes of 2008, requires,
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for license renewal, that an architect complete coursework
regarding disability access requirements, and certify to
the Board completion of the coursework.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/10)
American Institute of Architects, California Council
(source)
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Architects Board
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Board writes in support that
this bill streamlines the Board's process for verifying
compliance with the continuing education on disabled access
provisions. Currently, the Board must review and process
22,000 records each renewal cycle. This bill allows the
Board to rely on licensees certifying compliance with and
to audit the continuing education records of licensees.
The revised process will remove a significant backlog that
occurs under the current system that delays licenses being
issued, according to the Board.
In sponsoring the bill, the AIACC states that the bill
removes the requirement that architects submit the
disability access coursework forms to the Board, and
instead requires architects to certify they took the
courses, retain the coursework forms for two years, and
give them to the Board only upon an audit. This bill
requires the Board to verify compliance with the continuing
education law through random audits. AIACC ultimately
states that the proposed changes would be more cost
effective than the current law, and would result in cost
savings to the Board.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
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Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,
Norby, Vacancy
JJA:mw 8/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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