BILL ANALYSIS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|Hearing Date:April 19, 2010 |Bill No:SB |
| |1489 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
Bill No: SB 1489Author:Business, Professions and
Economic
Development Committee
As Amended:April 5, 2010 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Healing arts.
SUMMARY: Makes several non-controversial, minor, non-substantive or
technical changes to various miscellaneous provisions pertaining to
the health-related regulatory boards of the Department of Consumer
Affairs.
Existing law:
1) Provides for licensing and regulating various professions and
businesses under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
2) The Medical Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation
of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California;
requires the California research Bureau of the California State
Library to study the role of public disclosure in the public
protection mandate of the board to be completed by July 1, 2008;
provides disclosure requirements for actions taken against a
licensee; specifies written examination requirements for licensure.
3) The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and
regulation of optometrists by the State Board of Optometry; states
that a candidate for licensure must pass an examination; defines
the requirements for license renewal; provides the process for the
renewal of a California issued optometrist license that has been
delinquent for three or more years; and sets forth renewal
provisions for out-of-state licensees.
4) The Occupational Therapy Practice Act provides for the licensure
SB 1489
Page 2
and regulation of occupational therapists by the California Board
of Occupational Therapy and provides for a loan to the Board from
the General Fund.
5) The Pharmacy Law provides for the licensure and regulation of
pharmacists and pharmacies by the California State Board of
Pharmacy; specifies various requirements of a Veterinary
Food-animal Drug Retailer; requires designation of a designated
representative-in-charge (DRC) for a wholesaler or veterinary
food-animal drug retailer.
6) Establishes the California Department of Heath Care Services and
the California Department of Public Health.
7) Provides for the licensure and regulation of psychologists, social
workers and marriage and family therapists by the Board of
Behavioral Sciences; sets forth Licensed Clinical Social Worker
(LCSW) licensure requirements; sets forth provisions for the
acceptance of educational degrees conferred by institutions
approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational
Education and by regional accrediting associations; sets forth
Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) licensure qualifications;
provides the licensing law for Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselors (LPCCs).
This bill:
1) Makes the following changes pertaining to the Board of Behavioral
Sciences (BBS):
a) Deletes a number of obsolete sections (BPC 4980.07,
4982.2, 4984.6, & 4994) and adds BPC 4990.17 to make minor
technical changes for clarity and consistency.
b) Corrects a grammatical error (BPC 4984.8(d)(3)).
c) Amends BPC 4996.17(c) so that the LCSW licensure
requirements and qualifications are consistent.
d) Clarifies the requirements for applicants who hold a valid
license at the time of application (BPC 4980.80).
e) Makes conforming changes that allow Associate Clinical
Social Workers (ACSWs) to obtain required weekly direct
supervisor contact via videoconferences in the specified
settings, without a limit to those hours credited (BPC
SB 1489
Page 3
4980.43(a)(10) & 4996.23(c)(5)).
f) Changes the name of an accrediting association to the
current correct name (BPC 4980.40.5).
g) Clarifies changes to MFT intern experience requirements (BPC
4980.43).
h) Clarifies the definition of unprofessional conduct as it
relates to the practice of LPCCs to maintain consistency among
licensees of the board (BPC 4989.54 & 4999.90(aa)).
i) Adds references to the practice of LPCCs (BPC 4990.02,
4990.12, 4990.18, 4990.22, 4990.30, & 4990.38).
j) Amends the LPCC unprofessional conduct provisions (BPC
4999.90(r)) to include all supervisees.
aa) Clarifies unprofessional conduct relating to advertisement
by a LPCC (BPC 4990.90(p)).
bb) Adds subdivision BPC 4999.90(ab) to make LPCC licensing
law consistent with MFT and LCSW licensing law allowing the
board to take action against a licensee that has had
disciplinary action against another license issued by the board.
cc) Clarifies professional experience of LPCC interns so that
requirements are consistent with those of other board licensees
(BPC 4999.46).
dd) Clarifies requirements for applicants who have held an
out-of-state license for at least two years (BPC 4999.58).
ee) Adds a section in LPCC licensing law relating to applicants
that have held a license from another state for less than two
years which is consistent with current requirements of other
board licensees (BPC 4999.59).
ff) Adds a reference to disciplinary action against a LPCC
license issued by the board (BPC 4982.25, 4992.36).
2) Makes the following changes pertaining to the California Board of
Occupational Therapy (CBOT):
a) Deletes an obsolete provision (BPC 2570.19(k)).
SB 1489
Page 4
b) Deletes an obsolete reference to a General Fund loan which
has been repaid (BPC 2570.19 (k) and (i)).
3) Makes the following changes pertaining to the California Board of
Pharmacy (CBP):
a) Clarifies a reference to a designated
representative-in-charge of a food-animal drug retailer (BPC
4196(e)).
b) Re-establishes previously codified provisions that require
remedial education after a pharmacist applicant has failed the
qualifying examination four or more times (BPC 4200.1).
c) Amends outdated provisions and updates references to the
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) (BPC 4017,
4028, 4127.1, 4037, 4052.3(e), 4059, 4072(b), 4119(a), 4127(d),
4169, 4181(a), & 4191(a)).
d) Changes an outdated reference to the Physical Therapy
Examining Committee to the Physical Therapy Board of California
(BPC 4059(f)).
e) Amends incorrect references to "veterinary food-animal drug
retailer" (BPC 4101).
f) Changes outdated references from the State Department of
Health Services to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
(BPC 4425, 4426).
4) Makes the following changes pertaining to the California State
Board of Optometry (CSBO):
a) Clarifies that applicants for licensure must pass two
required examinations (BPC 3025.1, 3046, 3057.5).
b) Clarifies the requirements for license renewal and for
renewal of a license that is delinquent three or more years (BPC
3147.6, 3147.7).
5) Makes the following changes pertaining to the Medical Board of
California (MBC):
a) Deletes obsolete provision regarding a report produced by
SB 1489
Page 5
the California Research Bureau (BPC 2026).
b) Deletes obsolete references to licensing exams and updates
references to the board (BPC 2065 &2177)
c) Reinstates postgraduate training requirement for licensure
consistent with current law (BPC 2096 & 2102).
d) Deletes obsolete references to repealed BPC 2088 and
updates references to the board (BPC 2103).
e) Allows the board to consider licensure in another state when
addressing the validity of the written examination scores
required for licensure (BPC 2184).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed "fiscal" by Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is one of three "committee bills" authored by
the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee that
are intended to consolidate a number of non-controversial provisions
related to various health-related regulatory programs governed by
the Business and Professions Code, and generally located within the
DCA. Consolidating the provisions in one bill is designed to
relieve the various licensing boards from the necessity and burden
of having separate measures for a number of non-controversial
revisions.
Many of the provisions make minor, technical and updating changes,
while other provisions are substantive changes which are intended to
improve the ability of the various licensing programs to efficiently
and effectively administer their respective licensing laws.
However, as a committee bill, if controversy or opposition should
arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved, then that
provision will be removed from the bill. This will eliminate the
chance of placing any of the other provisions in jeopardy.
2.Background. The following is background and reasons given by the
affected boards and professions for the provisions in this measure.
a) Board of Behavioral Sciences. According to the BBS, new
legislation establishing the licensure and regulation of Licensed
SB 1489
Page 6
Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs) is the reason for the
majority of their proposed amendments to add clarity and
consistency to the licensing law. This new legislation went into
effect January 1, 2010 ( SB 788 , Wyland, Chapter 619, Statues of
2009). The changes can be categorized into four major sections:
technical cleanup; technical cleanup to new LPCC provisions to
make them consistent with changes made in 2009 legislation;
adding reference to LPCCs in the MFT and LCSW licensing law; and
adding reference to LPCC in general provisions relating to the
BBS.
b) California Board of Occupational Therapy. According to CBOT,
existing law provides for a loan to the CBOT from the General
Fund. Since the loan has been made and repaid, this section no
longer applies and is unnecessary.
c) California Board of Pharmacy. According to the CBP, to keep
Pharmacy Law current and to better serve licensees and consumers,
the Board finds it necessary to update outdated references within
the specified Business and Professions Code and to remove
outdated references as to when a section is operative.
In addition, SB 821 (BP&ED Committee, Chapter 307, Statutes of
2009), specified that a food-animal drug retailer must have a DRC
at all times as well as the reporting requirements for the DRC.
However, a drafting error resulted in several minor errors in the
final version of the bill.
Also in 2008 provisions which specified how many times a qualifying
examination can be taken were inadvertently allowed to sunset
(BPC 4200.1). This bill would reinstate those provisions.
Finally, BPC4101(b) contains two incorrect references which read:
"veterinary food drug-animal retailer." The correct phrase is
"veterinary food-animal drug retailer."
d) California State Board of Optometry. According to the CSBO,
current law does not specify that certifying completion of
optometric continuing education is a requirement of license
renewal for optometrists in California.
Current law also needs clarity on the requirements for licensure
renewal for optometrists who fail to renew their license within
three years after the expiration of the license.
Additionally, the statute contains a typographical error when the
initial language was drafted (AB 2464, Pacheco, Chapter 426,
SB 1489
Page 7
Statutes of 2004) and needs to clarify that applicants for
licensure must pass both licensing examinations, not just one.
e) Medical Board of California. Committee Staff recommended
repealing BPC 2026 because this provision is outdated and no
longer necessary.
According to MBC, current law does not specifically include
disclosure of information related to a court order regarding
Penal Code Section 23. The MBC includes such court orders in its
disclosure as it is important for public protection, but has
become aware that it is not in the list of items to disclose.
The B&P Code needs to be amended to include any information
related to an order by a court pursuant to Section 23 of the
Penal Code in its list of required public disclosures.
MBC also asserts that subdivision (b) of B&P Code Section 2065
contains a reference to exams that are no longer administered by
the MBC. There are also references to the divisions of the MBC,
but the MBC was restructured and the divisions no longer exist.
The Code needs to be amended to remove the reference to the
licensing exams which no longer exist within the MBC and to
change the references to the "division" to instead refer to
"board" to make the section consistent with existing law.
In addition, the MBC states that B&P Code Section 2102 was amended
incorrectly in last year's SB 819 (Yee, Chapter 308 Statutes of
2009), and the Code needs the incorrectly deleted post graduate
training requirement for licensure to be reinstated. Also, Section
2103 of the B&P code needs to remove subdivision (a) so that the
reference to the repealed Section 2088 is no longer included. This
section also needs to change the references from "division" to
"board" to make the section consistent with existing law.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
California State Board of Pharmacy
Board of Behavioral Science
Board of Optometry
Medical Board of California
Opposition:
SB 1489
Page 8
None on file as of April 8, 2010.
Consultant:Antoinnae Comeaux