BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 122 (Price)
Hearing Date: 1/19/2012 Amended: 1/10/2012
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: B,P&ED 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 122 would do the following:
- Authorize the Board of Registered Nursing (board) to issue a
cease and desist order to a school of nursing not approved by
the board and require the board to notify the Attorney General
of such a school.
- Require meetings of the board to be held in northern and
southern California.
- Delete provisions requiring a school of nursing that is not
affiliated with an institution of higher education to make an
agreement with such an institution for purposes of awarding
nursing degrees and to instead require that a school of nursing
to obtain board approval to grant nursing degrees.
- Subject all approved schools of nursing to specified fees for
deposit into the Board of Registered Nursing Fund, a
continuously appropriated fund. Because this bill adds a new
source of revenue to a continuously appropriated fund, this bill
would make an appropriation.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Fund
Nursing school oversight
- investigations $50 $100 $100 Special*
- cease and desist actions $100 to $200 or more in any
year Special*
- revenue ($120 to $160) annually Special*
* Board of Registered Nursing Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
The board is responsible for regulating the practice of
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registered nurses in California. There are nearly 380,000
licensed registered nurses with over 23,000 new licenses issued
annually, and more than 170,000 licenses renewed annually.
As noted by the policy committee, approval of pre-licensure
nursing programs is an integral component of the board's
operation. The purpose of approval is to ensure the program's
compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. Approval
of advanced practice nursing (i.e., nurse practitioner and
nurse-midwifery) programs is voluntary and at the request of the
program. Board approval of advanced practice programs is
advantageous to program graduates because it facilitates their
obtaining board certification as a nurse practitioner or
nurse-midwife. Currently, there are 148 approved pre-licensure
nursing programs and 26 approved advanced practice nursing
programs.
This bill provides the board the authority to charge a fee for
reviewing documents, consulting with the program, and conducting
site visits. Preliminary information indicates the board
annually receives 5 to 10 applications to approve a new school
of nursing ($5,000 per approval), provides continuing approval
for 25 to 30 new schools of nursing ($3,500 per continuing
approval) on an approximately six year cycle, and annually
processes substantive changes for 10 to 15 schools of nursing.
If the board determines that the annual If the board determines
that the annual cost of providing oversight and review of a
school of nursing is less than the amount of any fees required
to be paid by that institution, the board may decrease the fees
applicable to that institution to an amount that is proportional
to the board's costs associated with that institution.
This bill is similar to SB 538 (Price) 2011 which was vetoed by
Governor Brown with the following message:
The Board of Registered Nursing protects consumers and regulates
professional nursing in California and this measure would extend
the existence of this longstanding regulatory body until 2016.
Unfortunately, extraneous harmful provisions lurk within this
otherwise benign sunset extension bill.
These provisions would dramatically expand pension benefits for
a select group of the Board's investigators. This makes no sense
fiscally and flies in the face of much needed pension reform.
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It is unacceptable to jeopardize the extension of this Board's
critical consumer protection role by allowing these provisions
to be included in this otherwise simple sunset extension
measure. The Board has existed for 106 years without these
enhanced benefits and should continue to do so.
I would ask that as soon as it reconvenes, the Legislature send
me legislation that both restores the Board of Registered
Nursing and restores the provisions of law relating to "bureau
status" for expired boards. In the interim, I direct my
administration to take all actions necessary under the law to
protect consumers and nurses alike until the Board is
reconstituted in January.
This bill does not contain the provisions which prompted the
Governor's veto.
Due to the veto of SB 538 (Price), and the sunset of the board
as of January 1, 2012, the nine members of the board have been
eliminated. The Governor intends to reconstitute the board
though such legislation remains pending. In the meantime, the
Governor, the board and the Department of Consumer Affairs have
entered into an interagency agreement for the department to
assume the responsibilities, powers and duties as permitted by
law.