BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 186
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 186 (Maienschein)
As Amended August 20, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-1 |(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |33-0 |(August 25, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: B., P. & C.P.
SUMMARY : Requires specified boards and bureaus (boards) under
the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to issue to the spouse
or domestic partner of a military member on active duty and who
is licensed in another state a temporary license to practice up
to 12 months if he or she meets certain requirements.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires an applicable board under DCA, after appropriate
investigation, to issue the following eligible temporary
licenses to an applicant who is a military spouse or domestic
partner:
a) Registered nurse licenses issued by the Board of
Registered Nursing (BRN).
b) Vocational nurse licenses and psychiatric technician
licenses issued by the Board of Vocational Nursing and
Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California (BVNPT).
c) Speech-language pathologist licenses and audiologist
licenses issued by the Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board (SLPAHADB).
d) Veterinarian licenses issued by the Veterinary Medical
Board (VMB).
e) All licenses issued by the Board for Professional
Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG).
f) All licenses issued by the Medical Board of California
(MBC).
2)Requires an applicant to meet the following requirements:
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a) The applicant supplies satisfactory evidence that the
applicant is married to, or in a domestic partnership or
other legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed
Forces of the United States (U.S.) who is assigned to a
duty station in this state under official active duty
military orders;
b) The applicant holds a current, active, and unrestricted
license conferring upon him or her the authority to
practice, in another state, district or territory of the
U.S., the profession or vocation for which he or she seeks
a license from the board;
c) The applicant submits an affidavit attesting that the
information submitted in the application is accurate;
d) The applicant submits written verification from the
applicant's original licensing jurisdiction stating that
the applicant's license is in good standing;
e) The applicant, upon the board's request, submits
fingerprints for a background check;
f) The applicant has not committed any act in any
jurisdiction that constitutes grounds for the denial,
suspension, or revocation of the professional license by
the respective board under the Business and Professions
Code at the time the act was committed; and,
g) The applicant has not been disciplined by a licensing
entity in another jurisdiction and is not the subject of an
unresolved complaint, review procedure, or disciplinary
proceeding conducted by a licensing entity in another
jurisdiction.
3)Requires the temporary license to expire 12 months after
issuance, upon issuance of an expedited permanent license, or
upon denial of a permanent license, whichever occurs first.
4)Authorizes a board to conduct an investigation or criminal
background check on the applicant.
5)Specifies that a board may adopt necessary regulations to
enact this bill.
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6)Provides that any temporary license may be immediately
terminated if it is found that the individual violated any
requirements or provided inaccurate information that would
affect their eligibility for licensure, and requires the board
to issue a notice to cease the practice of the licensed
profession immediately upon receipt of the notification of the
termination of the temporary license.
7)Requires an applicant seeking a temporary license as a civil
engineer, geotechnical engineer, structural engineer,
professional geologist, professional geophysicist, certified
engineering geologist, certified hydrogeologist or land
surveyor to successfully pass the appropriate California
specific examinations as required for licensure by the Board
for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete the Assembly version of the bill and add those
provisions under a new code section.
2)Limit the types of temporary licenses that may be issued to
the following licenses: registered nurse license by BRN;
vocational nurse licenses and psychiatric technician licenses
issued by BVNPT; speech-language pathologist licenses and
audiologist licenses issued by SLPAHADB; veterinarian licenses
issued by VMB; all licenses issued by BPELSG; and all licenses
issued by MBC.
3)Add that a temporary license may be immediately terminated
under certain circumstances.
4)Require specified applicants to pass California-specific
examinations as required for licensure by BPELSG.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs of less than $150,000 for each affected board
to develop and adopt regulations to provide for a temporary
license (various special funds). The process to promulgate
regulations is likely to take one year from the time of
enactment.
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2)DCA indicates that, assuming the current BreEZe comprehensive
licensing IT project is completed by the time regulations are
adopted, the total one-time costs to provide for a temporary
license at the department level are likely to be approximately
$20,000. If there are unforeseen delays, a number of "release
3" boards and bureaus would be required to update existing
stand-alone licensing programs at a cumulative cost of
approximately $370,000. These costs would be shared among the
special funds of 14 professional board and bureaus.
3)The Bureau of Real Estate and Bureau of Real Estate
Appraisers, which are not a part of the BreEZe system, will
incur costs of approximately $40,000 and $20,000, respectively
(Real Estate Fund, Real Estate Appraisers Regulation Fund).
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill. This bill would require applicable
licensing boards, bureaus, commissions or other regulatory
entities under DCA to issue a 12-month temporary license to
the spouse or domestic partner of a military member on active
duty if he or she is licensed in another state and meets
certain requirements. The intent of this bill is to assist
military families who are moving to California from another
state by allowing military spouses and domestic partners to
begin working in their professional occupations with a
temporary license while they work to meet any California
licensing requirements. This bill is author-sponsored.
2)Federal efforts to facilitate occupational licensure of
military spouses. The U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury
Department) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a
joint report in 2012 highlighting the impact of state
occupational licensing requirements on the careers of military
spouses who frequently move across state lines. Released in
February 2012, the report, Supporting our Military Families:
Best Practices for Streamlining Occupational Licensing Across
State Lines revealed that approximately 35% of military
spouses work in professions that require state licensure or
certification and that military spouses are 10 times more
likely to have moved to another state in the last year
compared to their civilian counterparts.
3)Professional licensure of military spouses and the effect on
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military re-enlistment. The Treasury Department and DOD
report highlighted the employment problems of military spouses
and the correlation to a military member's decision to remain
active in the military, "More than half of all active duty
military personnel are married, and 91% of employed military
spouses indicated that they wanted to work and/or needed to
work. Research suggests that [spousal] dissatisfaction with
the ability to pursue career objectives may hinder
re-enlistment. Not only are military spouses highly
influential regarding re-enlistment decisions, but more than
two-thirds of married service members reported that their
decision to re-enlist was largely or moderately affected by
their spouses' career prospects."
The report issued several recommendations, including the
authorization of temporary licenses for military spouses if
the applicant has met state requirements. That recommendation
stated, "Temporary licenses allow applicants to be employed
while they fulfill all of the requirements for a permanent
license, including examinations or endorsement, applications
and additional fees. In developing expedited approaches that
save military spouses time and money, DOD does not want to
make licensure easier for military spouses to achieve at the
expense of degrading their perceived value in their
profession."
4)Temporary licenses. Temporary licenses are typically issued
to applicants seeking permanent licensure within a
professional occupation who meet some - but not yet all - of
the qualifications for permanent licensure in that state. For
example, applicants who hold an active professional license in
another state and have passed a national licensing examination
may still have educational requirements to meet in order to
become licensed in California.
Licensing boards under DCA have been required to expedite the
applications of military spouse and domestic partners since
January 1, 2013. DCA has indicated that there are few
professional boards or bureaus under their jurisdiction that
issue temporary licenses, but the precise number is currently
unknown. It is also not known how many military spouses or
domestic partners have applied for licensure and have been
unable to obtain a license in a timely manner.
5)Expedited licensure for military spouses. AB 1904 (Block),
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Chapter 399, Statutes of 2012, requires boards under DCA to
issue an expedited license to the spouse or domestic partner
of a military member on active duty, beginning January 1,
2013. This bill attempts to take the provisions of AB 1904
further by requiring certain boards to issue a 12-month
temporary license to the spouse or domestic partner of a
military member on active duty if he or she is licensed in
another state and meets certain requirements.
It should be noted that by requiring boards to issue temporary
licenses, as this bill does, the total number of licenses that
would need to be processed will increase. Such an increase in
workload could delay the processing time for permanent
licenses for all other applicants.
Analysis Prepared by : Eunie Linden / B., P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN:
0005436