BILL NUMBER: AB 1976 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Logue
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Pan )
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act relating to healing arts. An act to
add Section 712 to the Business and Professions Code, and to add
Section 131136 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to professions
and vocations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1976, as amended, Logue. Medical training: veterans.
Professions and vocations: licensure and certification
requirements: military experience.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various
healing arts professions and vocations by boards within the
Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires the rules and
regulations of these healing arts boards to provide for methods of
evaluating education, training, and experience obtained in military
service if such training is applicable to the requirements of the
particular profession or vocation regulated by the board. Under
existing law, specified other healing arts professions are licensed
or certified and regulated by the State Department of Public Health.
In some instances, a board with the Department of Consumer Affairs or
the State Department of Public Health approves schools offering
educational course credit for meeting licensing or certification
qualifications and requirements.
This bill would require a healing arts board within the Department
of Consumer Affairs and the State Department of Public Health, upon
the presentation of evidence by an applicant for licensure or
certification, to accept education, training, and practical
experience completed by an applicant in military service toward the
qualifications and requirements to receive a license or certificate.
If a board or the State Department of Public Health accredits or
otherwise approves schools offering educational course credit for
meeting licensing and certification qualifications and requirements,
the bill would, not later than July 1, 2014, require a board or the
State Department of Public Health to accredit or otherwise approve
only those schools that have procedures in place to accept an
applicant's military education, training, and practical experience
toward the completion of an educational program that would qualify a
person to apply for licensure or certification. The bill would
require the Director of Consumer Affairs and the State Department of
Public Health, by January 1, 2016, to submit to the Governor and the
Legislature a written report on the progress of the boards and the
department in complying with these provisions.
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, sets forth the
requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and
implementation of regulations by state agencies. The act may not be
superseded or modified by any subsequent legislation except to the
extent that the legislation does so expressly.
This bill would require each healing arts board within the
Department of Consumer Affairs and the State Department of Public
Health to adopt emergency regulations pursuant to specified
procedures to carry out these provisions.
Under existing law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has
specified powers and duties relating to various programs serving
veterans.
With respect to complying with the bill's requirements, this bill
would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide technical
assistance to the healing arts boards within the Department of
Consumer Affairs, the Director of Consumer Affairs, and the State
Department of Public Health.
Existing law provides generally for the training and licensing of
health care providers and imposes various educational requirements in
that regard.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to assist military veterans who have medical training and
education to overcome barriers to licensing and to address issues
relating to obtaining credit for health-related coursework and
experience they completed while serving in the Armed Forces.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be
cited, as the Veterans Health Care Workforce Act of 2012.
SEC . 2. (a) The Legislature finds and
declares all of the following:
(1) Lack of health care providers continues to be a significant
barrier to access to health care services in medically underserved
urban and rural areas of California.
(2) Veterans of the United States Armed Forces and the California
National Guard gain invaluable education, training, and practical
experience through their military service.
(3) According to the federal Department of Defense, as of June
2011, one million veterans were unemployed nationally and the jobless
rate for post-9/11 veterans was 13.3 percent, with young male
veterans 18 to 24 years of age experiencing an unemployment rate of
21.9 percent.
(4) According to the federal Department of Defense, during the
2011 federal fiscal year, 8,854 enlisted service members with medical
classifications separated from active duty.
(5) According to the federal Department of Defense, during the
2011 federal fiscal year, 16,777 service members who separated from
active duty listed California as their state of residence.
(6) It is critical, both to veterans seeking to transition to
civilian health care professions and to patients living in
underserved urban and rural areas of California, that the Legislature
ensures that veteran applicants to boards within the Department of
Consumer Affairs or the State Department of Public Health for
licensure are expedited through the qualifications and requirements
process.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that boards
within the Department of Consumer Affairs or the State Department of
Public Health and schools offering educational course credit for
meeting licensing qualifications and requirements fully and
expeditiously recognize and provide credit for an applicant's
military education, training, and practical experience.
SEC. 3. Section 712 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
712. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a board
described in this division shall, upon the presentation of
satisfactory evidence by an applicant for licensure, accept the
education, training, and practical experience completed by an
applicant as a member of the United States Armed Forces or Military
Reserves of the United States, the national guard of any state, the
military reserves of any state, or the naval militia of any state,
toward the qualifications and requirements to receive a license
issued by that board.
(b) Not later than July 1, 2014, if a board described in this
division accredits or otherwise approves schools offering educational
course credit for meeting licensing qualifications and requirements,
the board shall only accredit or otherwise approve those schools
that have procedures in place to fully accept an applicant's military
education, training, and practical experience toward the completion
of an educational program that would qualify a person to apply for
licensure.
(c) Each board described in this division shall adopt regulations
to implement this section. The adoption, amendment, repeal, or
readoption of a regulation authorized by this section is deemed to
address an emergency, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of
the Government Code, and each board is hereby exempted for this
purpose from the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1
of the Government Code.
(d) With respect to complying with the requirements of this
section, the Department of Veterans Affairs shall provide technical
assistance to the boards described in this division and to the
director.
(e) On or before January 1, 2016, the director shall submit to the
Governor and the Legislature a written report on the progress of the
boards described in this division toward compliance with this
section.
(f) A report to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(g) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2017.
SEC. 4. Section 131136 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
131136. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
department shall, upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence by
an applicant for licensure or certification in one of the professions
described in subdivision (b), accept the education, training, and
practical experience completed by an applicant as a member of the
United States Armed Forces or Military Reserves of the United States,
the national guard of any state, the military reserves of any state,
or the naval militia of any state, toward the qualifications and
requirements to receive a license issued by the department.
(b) The following professions are applicable to this section:
(1) Medical laboratory technician as described in Section 1260.3
of the Business and Professions Code.
(2) Clinical laboratory scientist as described in Section 1262 of
the Business and Professions Code.
(3) Radiologic technologist as described in Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 114840) of Part 9 of Division 104.
(4) Nuclear medicine technologist as described in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 107150) of Part 1 of Division 104.
(5) Certified nurse assistant as described in Article 9
(commencing with Section 1337) of Chapter 2 of Division 2.
(6) Certified home health aide as described in Section 1736.1.
(7) Certified hemodialysis technician as described in Article 3.5
(commencing with Section 1247) of Chapter 3 of Division 2 of the
Business and Professions Code.
(8) Nursing home administrator as described in Chapter 2.35
(commencing with Section 1416) of Division 2.
(c) Not later than July 1, 2014, if the department accredits or
otherwise approves schools offering educational course credit for
meeting licensing and certification qualifications and requirements,
the department shall only accredit or otherwise approve those schools
that have procedures in place to fully accept an applicant's
military education, training, and practical experience toward the
completion of an educational program that would qualify a person to
apply for licensure or certification.
(d) With respect to complying with the requirements of this
section, the department shall adopt regulations to implement this
section. The adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a
regulation authorized by this section is deemed to address an
emergency, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of the
Government Code, and the department is hereby exempted for this
purpose from the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1
of the Government Code.
(e) With respect to complying with the requirements of this
section, the Department of Veterans Affairs shall provide technical
assistance to the department and to the State Public Health Officer.
(f) On or before January 1, 2016, the department shall submit to
the Governor and the Legislature a written report on the department's
progress toward compliance with this section.
(g) A report to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(h) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2017.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to address the barriers that military veterans
with medical education and training face in obtaining licensure and
certification in the following professions:
Physician assistants; clinical laboratory scientists, technicians,
and technologists; administrative and clinical medical assistants;
dental assistants and hygienists; radiology technicians and
technologists; licensed professional clinical counselors; licensed
clinical social workers; community health workers; drug and alcohol
abuse counselors; and public health professionals.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation to address the barriers that military veterans with
medical education and training face in obtaining credit in
California institutions of higher education for the health-related
educational coursework and experience they completed while serving in
the United States Armed Forces.
SEC. 3. It is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation to address the financial barriers that military
veterans with medical education and training face in obtaining the
necessary educational credit in order to qualify for licensure or
certification as a health care professional in California.