BILL ANALYSIS �
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|Hearing Date:July 2, 2012 |Bill No:AB |
| |1822 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
Bill No: AB 1822Author:Bill Berryhill
As Amended:June 26, 2012 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: California Architects Board.
SUMMARY: Staggers the terms of California Architects Board members
appointed by the Governor, as specified; and authorizes the Board to
accept an application from an individual containing a federal tax
identification number, or other appropriate identification number as
determined by the Board, in lieu of a social security number.
Existing law:
1.Licenses and regulates the practice of architecture under the
Architects Practice Act by the California Architects Board (Board)
within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
2.Specifies that the Board consists of 10 members, and makes the
provisions authorizing the Board to become inoperative and repealed
on January 1, 2016. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) � 5510)
a) Provides that the Board shall be composed of five architect
members and three public members appointed by the Governor, and
that the Senate Rules Committee, and the Assembly Speaker shall
each appoint a public member (BPC �� 5514, 5515)
b) Provides that Board terms shall be for four years and expire
upon June 30. (BPC � 5515)
3.Under a general provision of the BPC, provides that the term of
office for a member of specified regulatory agencies, including the
Board, shall be for a term of four years and expire on June 1. (BPC
� 130).
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4.Establishes prerequisites for the issuance of an architect license to
an applicant:
(BPC � 5551)
a) Pass the examination;
b) Has not been charged with deception in obtaining the license;
c) Does not have any violation of licensure filed with the Board;
d) Has paid the license fee.
5.Mandates each board under the Department of Consumer Affairs, as well
as the State Bar and Department of Real Estate to require each
licensee to provide their federal employer identification number, if
the licensee is a partnership, or for all other licensees, to
provide their social security number. (BPC � 30 (a))
6.Indicates that any licensee who does not provide the federal
identification number or social security number shall be reported by
the licensing board to the Franchise Tax Board and is subject to a
penalty. (BPC � 30 (b))
7.Indicates that in addition to a penalty, a licensing board may elect
to not process any application for an original license if the
applicant or licensee fails to provide its federal employer
identification number or social security number where requested on
the application. (BPC � 30 (c))
8. Authorizes boards to collect social security numbers from all
applicants for the purposes of providing the names of the
applicants and licensees to a requesting child support agency.
(Family Code � 17520 (d))
This bill:
1)Establishes specific expiration dates for the terms of members of the
Board appointed by the Governor, to stagger the expiration of the
terms, as follows:
a) Of the three licensed members whose terms commence on July 1,
2013, the term of two members shall expire on June 30, 2017, and
the term of one member shall expire on June 30, 2019.
b) Of the two licensed members appointed by the Governor whose
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terms commence on July 1, 2014, the term of one member shall
expire on June 30, 2018, and the term of the other member shall
expire on June 30, 2020.
c) The term of the public member that commences on July 1, 2014,
shall expire on June 30, 2019.
d) Of the two public members whose terms commence on July 1,
2016, the term of one member shall expire on June 30, 2020, and
the term of the other member shall expire on June 30, 2021.
1)Specifies that except as provided in Item number 1 above, the bill
does not alter the four-year terms of current or future members of
the Board.
2)Allows the California Architects Board to accept for processing of an
original or renewed license, an application containing a federal tax
identification number or other appropriate identification number as
determined by the Board, in lieu of a social security number, if the
individual is not eligible for a social security number at the time
of the application and if the individual is not in non-compliance
with a judgment or order for support pursuant to Family Code �
17520.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. The latest amendments have caused the bill
to be keyed "fiscal" by Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the California Architects Board
(Sponsor) in order to stagger the terms of the gubernatorial
appointees to the Board.
The Author indicates that the bill seeks to avoid having a large number
of terms expire during consecutive years. Currently, three terms
(all architects) are scheduled to expire in 2013 and four terms (two
architects and two public) are scheduled to expire in 2014. That
means a total of seven out of ten terms (and all architects terms)
expire in a one year period. This creates a tremendous loss of
institutional memory and effectiveness for the Board. To remedy
this problem, the Board proposes to simply re-stagger the terms of
the gubernatorial appointees to Board. The Board also proposes to
allow an individual to submit an alternative form of federal
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identification if they are not eligible for a social security number
at the time they apply for licensure and if they are not in
non-compliance with a judgment or order for support.
2.Background. The Board licenses and regulates more than 24,000
architects. Currently the Board is composed of five architects and
five public members. Each architect member of the Board is required
to be an architect in good standing who has been licensed and
practiced in California at least five years preceding the date of
appointment to the Board. The five architect members are all
appointed by the Governor. Three of the public members are also
gubernatorial appointees, while one of the remaining two public
members is appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and the other is
appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. Board members are paid
$100 for each meeting day and are reimbursed for travel expenses.
Board members typically attend four to six Board meetings per year
and may attend three or four committee meetings per year, depending
on the committee(s) to which they are assigned.
Board members are appointed to four-year terms, and no member may serve
more than two terms consecutively. The Board annually elects from
its members a president, vice president, and secretary.
3.Identification Numbers. Current law requires an applicant to
provide a federal identification number or social security number on
their application for licensure as an architect. The purpose is to
ensure proper identification of the individual and to provide the
names of applicants and licensees to requesting child support
agencies. However, this requirement is a burden for
foreign-licensed professionals who are certified with the National
Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), to become
licensed in California if they are not eligible for a social
security number at the time they apply for licensure. This bill
would allow such professionals to apply for licensure and provide a
form of identification such as the individual taxpayer
identification number. Foreign-licensed professionals who are in
non-compliance with a judgment or order for child support would not
benefit from the provisions of this bill and would still be required
to provide a social security number.
According to meeting minutes from the May 16, 2012 California
Architects Board Professional Qualifications Committee meeting, the
intent of the proposal is to prevent foreign-licensed professionals
who hold a current and valid NCARB certification, and who are not in
non-compliance with a judgment or order for support, from being
precluded from becoming licensed if they are not eligible for a
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social security number at the time they apply for licensure.
The amendments in the bill are similar to provisions that are
already in the Business and Professions Code for attorneys in BPC �
6060.6 which were added by AB 664 (Jones, Chapter 610, Statutes of
2005).
4. Prior Legislation. SB 1779 (BP&ED Committee, 2008) contained a
similar provision which staggered the terms of the members of the
Board. This Committee omnibus bill was one of many bills vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger citing the historically late state budget.
SB 819 (Yee, Chapter 308, Statutes of 2009) contained language
staggering the terms of Board members, similar to that in SB 1779,
however the language was removed from the bill and amended into SB
820.
SB 820 (Negrete McLeod, 2009) as introduced, was a BP&ED Committee
omnibus bill. The amendments staggering the Board member terms
were amended into the bill on June 22, 2009. These provisions were
subsequently removed from the bill out of concern that the change
in Board member terms was too substantive for an omnibus bill.
Ultimately, the bill was amended to another subject and vetoed by
the Governor.
SB 1112 (BP&ED Committee, Chapter 280, Statutes of 2005), a BP&ED
Committee omnibus bill, revised the expiration date for members of
the Board to expire on June 30, rather than June 1.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
California Architects Board (Sponsor)
Opposition:
None received as of June 25, 2012.
Consultant:Le Ondra Clark / G. V. Ayers
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