BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1685
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1685 (Williams) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
Policy Committee: Business,
Professions and Consumer Protection Vote: 14-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill increases the statutory maximum for licensure
examination fees charged by the Structural Pest Control Board
(Board). Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a registered structural pest control company to
provide a written notice to the owner or owner's agent, and
the tenant of the premises where pest control work is to be
done via electronic mail if an email address is provided.
2)Removes the $15 cap on the applicator's examination fee, and
instead authorizes the Board to charge a fee in an amount
sufficient to cover the "reasonable regulatory cost" of
administering the examination.
3)Increases the maximum licensure examination fees as follows:
a) Operator examination fees from $25 to $100;
b) Field Representative examination fees from $15 to $75;
and,
c) Applicator examination fees from $15 to $60.
4)Removes the $50 cap on examination fees in cases where the
exam is taken during the course of license renewal, and
instead authorizes the board to charge an examination fee
amount sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory cost of
administering each exam.
AB 1685
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FISCAL EFFECT
Minor special fund revenue increase to the Board.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The proposed fee cap increases are intended to allow
the Board to raise the money necessary to modernize testing
methodologies from its current written examination to computer
based testing (CBT), and more efficiently offer the tests
required to become a licensed operator in California. CBT is
anticipated to significantly reduce the risks of cheating and
simplify test validation, scheduling, and monitoring for Board
staff and examinees. The Board has already started a CBT pilot
program with two testing sites and is currently absorbing the
additional CBT examination cost.
According to the author's office, "There are currently 17 CBT
sites proposed in the state of California and 22 sites in
other states. The Board currently only has two examination
sites. As such, CBT is an obvious improvement in testing
availability and efficacy, particularly for out-of-state
candidates who will save on costs associated with airfare and
other travel to California to take an examination."
2)Structural Pest Control Board . The Board issues, on average,
approximately 2,300 licenses each year. This includes three
types of licenses for three different branches of pest
control. Each type of license requires the applicant to pass a
written examination. According to the Board, the current cost
to administer each examination is $37.50 under a Department of
Consumer Affairs contract with an outside CBT vendor. The
current statutory caps are inadequate to cover existing
examination costs.
3)Proposed Fee Increases . The Board anticipates increasing the
examination fees by roughly $40 per licensure category to
cover the actual costs of administering the examination. The
proposed examination fee increases by the Board would raise
the operator examination fee from $25 to $65; the field
representative examination fee from $15 to $50; and the
applicator examination fee from $15 to $55.
If this bill were enacted, the Board anticipates finalizing a
cost analysis and then promulgating regulations to support the
AB 1685
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Board's full costs to administer the new examination program.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081