BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|Hearing Date:May 2, 2011 |Bill No:SB |
| |944 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
Bill No: SB 944Author: Business, Professions and
Economic Development
As Introduced: March 31, 2011 Fiscal:Yes
SUBJECT: Business and Professions.
SUMMARY: Makes several non-controversial, minor, non-substantive or
technical changes to various miscellaneous provisions pertaining to
regulatory boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs and
professions regulated primarily under the Business and Professions
Code.
Existing law:
1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of various professions and
businesses by some
23 boards, 4 committees, 7 bureaus, and 1 commission within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) under various licensing acts
within the Business and Professions Code (BPC).
2)Contains the following provisions relating to the Contractors State
License Board (CSLB):
a) Refers to the effective date or "operative" or "effective"
date of various sections of law. (BPC �� 7027, 7030, 7058.6,
7058.8)
b) Refers to the specialty contractor classification of
electrical sign contractors. (BPC � 7029.5, Labor Code (LC) �
3099.2)
c) Provides that a person may obtain blank applications, renewal,
or reinstatement forms from the Department of Consumer Affairs.
SB 944
Page 2
(BPC � 7066.5)
3)Contains the following provisions relating to the Board of Guide Dogs
for the Blind (BGDB):
a) Provides that the board "secretary" bears the record keeping
responsibilities of the board. (BPC � 7024)
b) Provides that license applications and fees are to be
submitted to the secretary of the board. (BPC � 7211)
c) Refers to "seeing eye dog," and provides that a dog must be
neutered. (BPC � 7215).
4)Defines a weighmaster as any person who, for hire or otherwise,
weighs, measures, or counts any commodity and issues a statement or
memorandum of the weight, measure, or count used as the basis for
either the purchase or sale of that commodity, and describes those
persons who are not deemed weighmasters. (BPC � 12701).
5)Refers to the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer
Protection which was repealed by AB 2130 (Huber, Chapter 670,
Statutes of 2010). (Government Code (GC) � 9148.8)
6)Requires any public works contract of any public entity to include an
affidavit, as specified, affirming that the bidder has not
participated in various collusive activities. (Public Contract Code
� 7106)
This bill:
1)Makes the following changes relating to the Contractors State License
Board (CSLB):
a) Makes technical cleanup and conforming changes, by deleting
references to outdated effective dates. (BPC �� 7027, 7030,
7058.6, 7058.8)
b) Deletes "electrical" in reference to sign contractors since
the term was eliminated from regulatory title of the C-45 license
in 2009; adds alphanumeric classification identifiers for clarity
purposes. (BPC � 7029.5, Labor Code � 3099.2)
c) Clarifies that blank application forms are available from the
board rather than from the Department of Consumer Affairs. (BPC �
SB 944
Page 3
7066.5)
2)Makes the following changes relating to the Board of Guide Dogs for
the Blind (BGDB):
a) Clarifies terminology to more accurately refer to the
"executive officer" and to the "board" as appropriate. (BPC ��
7204, 7211)
b) Updates archaic terms, to refer to "guide dog" rather than
"seeing eye dog" and to refer to "spayed or neutered;" clarifies
that the veterinarian certification is made at the time the dog
is assigned to a blind person rather than at time of delivery of
the dog. (BPC � 7215)
3)Would provide that medical waste haulers, as specified, are not
deemed weighmasters. (BPC � 12701)
4)Deletes an outdated reference to the Joint Committee on Boards,
Commissions, and Consumer Protection which was repealed by AB 2130
(Huber, Chapter 670, Statutes of 2010). (Government Code 9148.8)
5)Updates the Noncollusion Affidavit required in public works contract
bids to reflect current terminology and usage and makes technical
changes. (Public Contract Code � 7106)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. This bill is one of two "committee bills" authored by the
Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and is
intended to consolidate a number of non-controversial provisions
related to various regulatory programs and professions governed
primarily by the Business and Professions Code. Consolidating the
provisions in one bill is designed to relieve the various licensing
boards, bureaus and professions from the necessity and burden of
having separate measures for a number of non-controversial
revisions.
Many of the provisions of this bill are minor, technical and updating
changes, while other provisions are substantive changes intended to
SB 944
Page 4
improve the ability of various licensing programs and other
entities to efficiently and effectively administer their respective
laws.
However, as a Committee bill, if controversy or opposition should
arise regarding any provision that cannot be resolved, then that
provision will be removed from the bill. This will eliminate the
chance of placing any of the other provisions in jeopardy.
2.Background. The following is background and reasons for the more
significant and substantive provisions in this measure:
a) Contractors State License Board. According to the CSLB, over
time, various provisions of the Contractors License Law have
become outdated or obsolete or must be changed to reflect other
recent law changes. Each year, CSLB staff identify as many of
these provisions as possible, as well as sections that require
minor corrections or clarifications. The bill deletes phrases
that are no longer needed, referring to the effective, or
operative date of the section. The bill deletes "electrical" in
reference to sign contractors because CSLB amended the regulatory
title of the C-45 contractor, effective December 30, 2009, and
add the alphanumeric classification for clarity purposes. The
bill also clarifies that blank application forms are available
from the Board as opposed to the DCA.
b) Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind. According to the BGDB, the
law refers to the secretary keeping all records of the board, and
also requires applicants to file an application and fee with the
secretary of the board. These references should be clarified to
refer instead to the Executive Officer and provide that
applications are filed with the board. Additionally, BGDB states
that although guide dog schools currently spay female dogs, the
law as currently written creates an unintended loophole that
permits a licensed school or instructor to provide an
unsterilized female guide dog to the consumer, by referring only
to a neutered dog. Additionally, current law is unclear when the
health verification documents are to be delivered to the
consumer.
c) Sunset Review Cleanup. This bill deletes references in the
Government Code to the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions,
and Consumer Protection which was repealed by AB 2130 (Huber,
Chapter 670, Statutes of 2010).
d) Noncollusion Affidavit. According to the Engineering
SB 944
Page 5
Contractors Association, the amendments would update the
Noncollusion Affidavit required in public works contract bids to
reflect current terminology and usage and make technical changes.
The existing form requires a notary, instead of a simple
declaration and contains ungrammatical and cumbersome 19th
century language which needs to be updated.
3. Technical Author's Amendment. As a Committee omnibus bill, the
commitment by the Committee and the boards and professions offering
the amendments is that if controversy should arise regarding any
provision that cannot be resolved, then that provision will be
removed from the bill. Therefore, a technical Author's amendment
will be offered in Committee to remove the weights and measures
provision (BPC � 12701) from the bill (on page 7, strike out lines
32 through 40, inclusive; strike out page 8; and on page 9, strike
out lines 1 through 14, inclusive).
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
Contractors State License Board
Engineering Contractors Association
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
Opposition:
None received as of April 27, 2011
Consultant:G. V. Ayers