BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1576
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1576 (Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee)
As Amended July 2, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Allen, Butler, Eng, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes minor, non-controversial, non-substantive, and
technical changes to various provisions relating to regulatory
boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and to the
weights and measures provisions under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA). Specifically, this bill :
1)Recasts the provision requiring the California Board of
Accountancy (CBA) to print rules of professional conduct on
applications to instead require an applicant for certificate or
registration to acknowledge that the applicant has read and
understands the rules of professional conduct.
2)Authorizes the CBA to deny an applicant's application to place a
license in retired status if the permit is subject to an
outstanding order of the CBA, as specified.
3)Allows the holder of a license that was canceled, because it was
not renewed within five years of its expiration, to apply for the
placement of that license in a retired status, and allows the CBA
to reissue the license in retired status.
4)Provides that the holder of a canceled license placed in retired
status between January 1, 1994, and January 1, 1999, is not
required to meet specified conditions of the CBA.
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5)Authorizes CBA to establish minimum qualifications to place a
license in retired status.
6)Deletes obsolete language requiring the CBA to adopt emergency
regulations to implement specified peer review requirements.
7)Deletes an obsolete reference to the Advisory Committee on
Accounting Ethics Curriculum and its' authority to determine that
a course or portion of a course satisfies ethics study
requirements.
8)Deletes an obsolete reference to an accounting report by the
California Research Bureau and makes other conforming changes.
9)Authorizes the CBA to renew or reinstate, for a maximum of three
years, the permit or certificate of a holder who demonstrates
financial hardship and who enters into a formal agreement with the
CBA to repay the costs associated with a disciplinary action
within a three year period.
10)Revises the penalty for filing a false complaint with the
Contractors' State License Board (CSLB), to authorize the
registrar to issue a citation.
11)Makes a technical clarification by referring to the
"disassociation" rather than the "death" of a limited partnership.
12)Revises the exemption from the first division of the land
surveyor exam for applicants registered by the CSLB as a
California civil engineer.
13)Corrects outdated references, and correctly refers to the "Manual
of Surveying Instructions," (2009) published by the federal Bureau
of Land Management (BLM).
14)Clarifies the requirement for a land surveyor to file a record of
survey by expanding the definition of establishment to include
"location, relocation, establishment reestablishment or
retracement."
15)Makes changes to correctly refer to the "Secretary" of the DFA,
and to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) to ASTM
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International, and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) to SAE
International.
16)Updates and revises the requirement for every county sealer to
attend a specified annual meeting.
17)Relocates and renumbers a provision pertaining to point of sale
systems.
18)Repeals duplicative provisions of law.
19)Makes numerous other technical and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
there are no significant costs associated with this legislation.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "This bill consolidates a number
of non-controversial provisions related to various regulatory
programs and professions governed by the Business and Professions
Code. Consolidating the provision in one bill is designed to
relieve the various licensing boards, agencies and professions from
the necessity and burden of having separate measures for a number of
non-controversial revisions.
"As amended in 1957, the law requires the CBA to print the adopted
rules of professional conduct on its applications. However, the
provision was never implemented. The new language would place on
the application a statement that the applicant has read and
understands the rules of professional conduct.
"The law allows persons to form accountancy partnerships registered
by the CBA. However the provision that a partner be "personally
engaged" in the partnership has caused confusion as to whether two
corporations may form a partnership.
"The law allows the CBA to conditionally renew or reinstate a
license for one year to allow time for a license holder with a
financial hardship to pay costs under a disciplinary order. The
CBA, by historical practice, has allowed such cases to have up to
three years to pay these costs.
"In 1993, SB 839 (Ayala), Chapter 262, Statutes of 1993, created a
"retired seal" program that allowed California licensed CPAs to call
themselves "retired CPAs." There were no requirements for this
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seal, and following implementation it was discovered that it could
be used to avoid paying fees and avoid discipline. In 1998, SB 2239
(Senate Committee on Business and Professions), Chapter 878,
Statutes of 1998, repealed the program. All the licensees who had
taken advantage of the program who did not renew their license
eventually had their license canceled. In 2011, AB 431 (Ma),
Chapter 395, Statutes of 2011, authorized the CBA to establish a
retired status for its licensees. However, it did not provide for
the CBA to issue a retired license to a licensee who previously had
a retired seal. This bill revises the retired status provisions and
authorizes a licensee who is no longer actively engaged in practice,
or who previously held a retired seal, upon application to the CBA
and meeting specified requirements, to obtain a retired status
license.
"The contractor law provides that a person who files a false
complaint with the CSLB is guilty of an infraction, and further
provides that CSLB may notify the appropriate district or city
attorney that a false report has been filed. Since enacted in 1992,
a violation of these provisions has never been pursued. The law
incorrectly refers to the "death" of a partner rather than to the
"disassociation" of the partner.
"When the existing engineer exemption language was adopted in 1979,
the educational curriculum requirements for engineers generally
included courses that taught a fundamental knowledge of surveying,
mathematics, and basic science. At the time, it was justified to
exclude an engineer with a postsecondary degree from the first
division of the land surveyor examination because it was assumed
that the postsecondary curriculum adequately taught and tested this
knowledge. In recent years, these provisions have been found to be
so vague that any professional engineer licensed by the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists would arguably
be exempt from the first division of the land surveyor examination.
This bill would instead provide an exemption from taking the first
part of the land surveyor examination for applicants who have passed
the engineer-in-training examination, or who hold a professional
engineer registration.
"The law refers to an outdated document published by the BLM that
could potentially mislead applicants preparing for the land surveyor
exam and practicing land surveyors when identifying a lost corner in
preparation of a corner record.
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"The word establishment creates confusion for practicing land
surveyors because of the multiple interpretations of the word, and
thereby impacts decisions regarding when to file a record of
survey."
This bill attempts to address outdated code references and clarify
existing law with respect to the CBA, CSLB and the DFA's, division
of weights and measures. It further addresses out-of-date report
titles and makes additional conforming, technical and
non-substantive changes.
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0004937