BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 2214 (Monning) - Health workforce development.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: Health 6-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2214 requires certain licensed professionals in
the healthcare industry to report to the Department of Public
Health on the their practice status, ethnic background, and
language skills. The bill also establishes the Health Workforce
Development Council in statute and requires the Council to
undertake specified activities.
Fiscal Impact:
The Department of Public Health will incur one-time costs
of about $230,000 (special funds) to modify regulations and
update permit notices and renewal application documents.
The Department of Public Health will incur one-time costs
of about $200,000 (special funds) to update existing
databases and processes to capture the additional data to be
reported. The Department will also incur ongoing costs of
about $220,000 per year (special funds) to collect and
analyze the data.
The California Workforce Investment Board will incur
ongoing costs of about $200,000 per year (federal funds) to
provide staff support to the Health Workforce Development
Council. The California Workforce Investment Board has
already established such a Council administratively.
However, putting this requirement in statute creates an
ongoing cost to the Board to provide staff support to the
Council.
Background: Under current law, the Department of Public Health
licenses a variety of professionals in the healthcare industry,
such as radiologic technicians, nuclear medicine technologists,
and clinical laboratory technicians. Generally, these
AB 2214 (Monning)
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professionals are required to receive an initial license and
annual renewals of that license. The Department's costs to
administer these licensing requirements are supported by fees
paid by licensees.
Current law requires dentists and dental auxiliaries (licensed
by the Dental Board of California) and physicians (licensed by
the Medical Board of California) to report information on their
employment and their cultural background and language skills to
their respective licensing agency.
Also under current law, the California Workforce Investment
Board is responsible for assisting the Governor in the
development and improvement of California's workforce investment
system.
Proposed Law: AB 2214 would make two changes to law relating to
health-related workforce issues.
The bill would require certified radiologic technologists,
limited radiologic technology permit holders, nuclear
medicine technologists, and clinical laboratory licensees to
report to the Department of Public Health (their licensing
agency) on their practice status and provide information
about their cultural background and language skills. The
bill authorizes the Department to aggregate and publish the
collected data.
The bill would require the California Workforce Investment
Board to establish the Health Workforce Development Council.
The bill directs the Council to develop a statewide plan for
health workforce development through strategic partnerships
and take other, specified actions to increase the state's
healthcare workforce. This provision of the bill would
sunset on January 1, 2019.
Staff Comments: The recently adopted author's amendments make
technical corrections to the bill.