BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          SB 1239 (Price) - Acupuncture.
          
          Amended: April 16, 2012         Policy Vote: BP&ED 7-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 7, 2012       Consultant: Jennifer Douglas
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: SB 1239 would extend the sunset of the Acupuncture 
          Board until January 1, 2015 and specify that the board is 
          subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the 
          Legislature.  The bill would also provide the Acupuncture Board 
          with ongoing authority to establish regulations regarding 
          standards for the approval of schools, training and educational 
          programs.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Estimated annual cost of $1.99 million from the Acupuncture 
              Fund (1110-0108) based on the 2010-11 Budget Act, all costs 
              offset by existing fees.

          Background: Existing law, the Acupuncture Licensure Act, 
          provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of 
          acupuncture by the Acupuncture Board.  Existing law also 
          authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer.

          Under existing law the Acupuncture Board will be repealed on 
          January 1, 2013 and is required to be reviewed by the Joint 
          Sunset Review Committee.

          Existing law requires the board to establish standards for the 
          approval of schools and colleges offering education and training 
          in the practice of an acupuncturist. Under existing law, within 
          three years of initial approval by the board, each program 
          approved by the board is required to receive full institutional 
          approval by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, 
          which is responsible for, among other things, providing approval 
          to operate private postsecondary institutions according to 
          specified minimum operating standards.

          Related Legislation: Other sunset review bills include:








          SB 1239 (Price)
          Page 1


           SB 1236 (Price) relating to the Board of Podiatric Medicine 
            and the Board of Physician Assistants.
           SB 1237 (Price) relating to the Board of Pharmacy and the 
            Court Reporters Board.
           SB 1238 (Price) relating to the Board of Psychology and the 
            Board of Behavioral Sciences.




          Staff Comments: This bill is one of four sunset bills authored 
          by Senator Price as the Chair of the Senate Business, 
          Professions and Economic Development Committee.  In March 2012 
          the Committee conducted oversight hearings to review seven 
          regulatory boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs, 
          including the Acupuncture Board.  This bill, and the 
          accompanying sunset bills, is intended to implement legislative 
          changes as recommended in the Committee's Background/Issue 
          Papers for all of the agencies reviewed by the Committee.  This 
          bill is necessary to extend the sunset date of the Acupuncture 
          Board in order to continue the regulation of acupuncturists in 
          California.