BILL NUMBER: SB 773 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Negrete McLeod
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section Sections 5017.5
and 5094 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
accountants.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 773, as amended, Negrete McLeod. Accountants.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of
accountants by the California Board of Accountancy in the Department
of Consumer Affairs. Existing law also
requires the board to provide a live audio or video broadcast on its
Internet Web site of each of its board meetings that are open and
public.
This bill would instead require the board to provide live
video broadcasts of those meetings.
Existing law creates the Advisory Committee on
Accounting Ethics Curriculum and empowers
authorizes that committee to determine that a course or a
portion of a course of accounting education satisfies the ethics
study requirement of 20 units.
This bill would make a conforming change to that provision
.
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. Section 5017.5 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
5017.5. (a) The board shall provide a live audio or
video broadcast, on its Internet Web site, of each of its
board meetings that are open and public.
(b) (1) If technical failure prevents the board from providing a
live broadcast as specified in subdivision (a), that failure shall
not constitute a violation of this section if the board exercised
reasonable diligence in providing a live broadcast.
(2) Failure to provide a live broadcast of its board meetings due
to technical failure shall not prohibit the board from meeting and
taking actions.
(c) The recording of the live audio or video
broadcast shall remain on the Internet Web site for at least three
years. Providing a link on the Internet Web site to the recording of
the live audio or video broadcast shall satisfy
this requirement.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 5094 of
the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
5094. (a) In order for education to be qualifying, it shall meet
the standards described in subdivision (b) or (c) of this section.
(b) At a minimum, education must be from a degree-granting
university, college, or other institution of learning accredited by a
regional or national accrediting agency included in a list of these
agencies published by the United States Secretary of Education under
the requirements of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (20
U.S.C. Sec. 1001, et seq.) and, after January 1, 2014, shall also, at
minimum, include 10 units of ethics study consistent with the
regulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 5094.6
and 20 units of accounting study consistent with the regulations
promulgated under subdivision (c) of Section 5094.6. The Advisory
Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum established under Section
5094.5 may determine that a course or a portion of a course satisfies
the ethics study requirement. Nothing herein shall be deemed
inconsistent with prevailing academic practice regarding the
completion of units.
(c) Education from a college, university, or other institution of
learning located outside the United States may be qualifying provided
it is deemed by the board to be equivalent to education obtained
under subdivision (b). The board may require an applicant to submit
documentation of his or her education to a credential evaluation
service approved by the board for evaluation and to cause the results
of this evaluation to be reported to the board in order to assess
educational equivalency.
(d) The board shall adopt regulations specifying the criteria and
procedures for approval of credential evaluation services. These
regulations shall, at a minimum, require that the credential
evaluation service (1) furnish evaluations directly to the board, (2)
furnish evaluations written in English, (3) be a member of the
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers,
the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs, or the National
Association of Credential Evaluation Services, (4) be used by
accredited colleges and universities, (5) be reevaluated by the board
every five years, (6) maintain a complete set of reference materials
as specified by the board, (7) base evaluations only upon authentic,
original transcripts and degrees and have a written procedure for
identifying fraudulent transcripts, (8) include in the evaluation
report, for each degree held by the applicant, the equivalent degree
offered in the United States, the date the degree was granted, the
institution granting the degree, an English translation of the course
titles, and the semester unit equivalence for each of the courses,
(9) have an appeal procedure for applicants, and (10) furnish the
board with information concerning the credential evaluation service
that includes biographical information on evaluators and translators,
three letters of references from public or private agencies,
statistical information on the number of applications processed
annually for the past five years, and any additional information the
board may require in order to ascertain that the credential
evaluation service meets the standards set forth in this subdivision
and in any regulations adopted by the board.