BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1758
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Susan A. Bonilla, Chair
AB 1758 (Patterson) - As Amended: April 3, 2014
SUBJECT : Healing arts: initial license fees: proration.
SUMMARY : Requires the initial license fee for the following
licensing categories to be prorated on a monthly basis:
dentists; dental hygienists; physicians and surgeons; hearing
aid dispensers; occupational therapists; physical therapists;
psychologists; veterinary technicians; veterinarians;
acupuncturists; and architects.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), which is
comprised of various boards and bureaus. (Business and
Professions Code Section (BPC) 100 et seq.)
2)Requires the amount of charges and fees for dentists to be
established by the Dental Board of California (DBC), and
prohibits the initial license fee and the renewal fee from
exceeding four hundred fifty dollars ($450). (BPC 1724)
3)Requires the Dental Hygiene Committee of California to
establish by resolution licensing fees for dental hygienists,
prohibits the initial license fee from exceeding two hundred
fifty dollars ($250), and provides that a dental hygienist
license, unless specifically excepted, expires at 12 midnight
on the last day of the month of the legal birth date of the
licensee during the second year of a two-year term, if not
renewed. (BPC 1935, 1944)
4)Requires the application and license fee for a physician and
surgeon to be fixed by the Medical Board of California (MBC),
and prohibits the initial license fee and the biennial renewal
fee from exceeding seven hundred ninety dollars ($790),
provides that all physician and surgeon's certificates expire
at 12 midnight on the last day of the birth month of the
licensee during the second year of a two-year term, if not
renewed, and requires the Division of Licensing to establish
regulatory procedures for the administration of a birth date
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renewal program. (BPC 2423, 2435, 2456.1)
5)Prohibits the initial temporary license fee and the fee for
renewal of a temporary license for hearing aid dispenser
licensees from exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) and the
initial permanent license fee and the fee for renewal of a
permanent license from exceeding two hundred eighty dollars
($280), and provides that all licenses expire at 12 midnight
of the last date of the birth month of the licensee during the
second year of a two-year term, if not renewed. (BPC 2535,
2538.57)
6)Requires the Board of Occupational Therapy (BOT) to establish
the initial license and renewal fee for an occupational
therapist and limits the fee to one hundred fifty dollars
($150) per year, and provides that any license is subject to
renewal as prescribed by the BOT. (BPC 2570.10, 2570.16)
7)Provides that licenses for physical therapists expire at 12
midnight on the last date of the birth month of the licensee
during the second year of a two-year term, if not renewed, and
prohibits the Physical Therapy Board from establishing a
license fee that exceeds one hundred fifty dollars ($150).
(BPC 2644, 2688)
8)Provides that licenses for psychologists expire at 12 midnight
on the last date of the birth month of the licensee during the
second year of a two-year term, if not renewed, and requires
the Board of Psychology (BOP) to establish an initial license
fee that is an amount equal to the renewal fee in effect on
the last regular renewal date before the date on which the
license is issued and to establish by regulation procedures
for the administration of the birth date renewal program,
including the establishment of a pro rata formula for the
payments of fees. (BPC 2982, 2987)
9)Requires the Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) to set an initial
license fee for veterinarians not to exceed five hundred
dollars ($500), and to set the initial fee for veterinary
technicians not to exceed three hundred fifty dollars ($350),
except that, if the license is issued less than one year
before the date on which it will expire, then the fee shall be
set by the board at not more than one hundred seventy-five
dollars ($175). (BPC 4842.5, 4905)
AB 1758
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10)Requires VMB to establish by regulation procedures for the
administration of the birth date renewal program, including
the establishment of a pro rata formula for the payments of
fees, and provides that all licenses and registrations expire
at 12 midnight on the last date of the birth month of the
registrant during the second year of a two-year term, if not
renewed. (BPC 4900)
11)Provides that the initial license fee for an acupuncturist
not exceed three hundred twenty five dollars ($325), provides
that licenses shall expire on the last day of the birth month
of the licensee during the second year of a two-year term, if
not renewed, and requires the California Acupuncture Board
(CAB) to establish and administer a birth date renewal
program. (BPC 4965, 4970)
12)Requires the California Architecture Board to fix the initial
license fee for an architect that is equal to the renewal fee
in effect at the time the license is issued, and provides that
license shall expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the
birth month of the license holder in each odd-numbered year
following the issuance or renewal of the license. (BPC 5600,
5604)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill . This bill would require initial
licensing fees for specified healing arts practitioners and
architects to be prorated on a monthly basis, to ensure that
licensees are charged fees in a fair manner and are not
disadvantaged based on their birth month. This bill is
author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "Various
sections of the [BPC] state that licenses for acupuncturists,
dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, podiatrists,
dispensing opticians, osteopathic physicians and surgeons,
speech-language pathologists and audiologists, psychologists,
physician assistants, and veterinary technicians and
veterinarians expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the
licensee's birth month on the second year of their second
term. These licenses, with some exceptions, are required to
pay a full two-year renewal fee when this date occurs after
AB 1758
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they first receive their licenses. In some cases, if a
licensee's birthday falls even one month after initial
licensure, that licensee is liable to pay a full renewal fee
even if they have just paid to receive their license?For
professionals just starting out, full two-year renewal fees
that must be paid so soon after licensure present a financial
hardship."
3)Birth date renewal program . Many boards and bureaus under DCA
operate a birth date renewal program, which is a program in
which the license expires on the birth date of the licensee or
the last date of the birth month of the licensee on the second
year of a two-year term, if not renewed. As many licensees
apply for licensure at the same time, perhaps because they
graduate from schools during specific times of the year,
boards may be hit with a flood of applications for initial
licenses during those peak times. Instead of basing license
renewals on the date of issuance of the initial license, which
would result in the boards facing the same influx of
applications year after year, most boards renew licenses based
on birth date, rather than the date the license was issued,
which allows the boards to spread out that work throughout the
year.
Under the birth date renewal program, an initial license period
can vary from just a few months up to 24 months, depending on
the applicant's birth month. For example, if an applicant was
born in January and applied for a license in January 2014,
that initial license would typically expire in the birth month
of the second year term, or January 2015. That license would
be effective for roughly 12 months. However, if that
applicant was born in December, that license would be
effective for nearly two years. On the other hand, if that
applicant who was born in January applied in December 2014,
that license might only be effective for two months. In all
of these cases, the licensee would be paying the full initial
fee amount, regardless of how long their initial license was
in effect. This bill would address this inconsistency by
requiring licenses to be prorated on a monthly basis.
4)Boards that currently use pro rata license fee formulas . Some
boards, including the DBC, BOP, and VMB, are required by
statute to establish a birth date renewal program that
includes the establishment of a pro rata formula for the
payment of fees. Of those boards, both the DBC and the VMB
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pro-rate initial license fees.
The VMB has a yearly pro rata formula in place, under which a
license that is valid for less than one year pays half the
initial license fee, and a license that is valid between one
to two years pays the full license fee. The DBC has a monthly
pro rata formula and provides an initial license fee chart to
an applicant that specifies what his or her initial licensee
fee will be based on how many months the license will be in
effect. Once those applications are processed, the license
fees are manually put into the system, which has already been
configured to meet DBC's needs.
Other boards have adopted, either formally or informally, a pro
rata formula for initial licenses. For example, CAB has
adopted in regulations a formula that prorates initial license
fees on a monthly basis and that has been in place for over a
decade. According to CAB, its pro rata formula has been
operating well and has long been integrated into their
licensing program, and has not received complaints relating to
calculation of those fees from licensees. Because CAB is
included in this bill, this bill would codify their existing
practices.
5)Potential challenges to implementing a pro rata formula .
There are two potential challenges to implementing a pro rata
formula for license fees: the cost of implementing the
formula, and the time it would take to implement the formula
and to process applications.
Licensing programs that do not pro-rate initial license fees on
a monthly basis would have to modify their fee schedules and
licensing programs, which may require changes to database
systems in order to accommodate new fee amounts and additional
changes to ensure that DCA's new BreEZe system would be able
to accommodate these new fee amounts. Boards may also have to
adjust their budgets to reflect a decline in licensing
revenues based on reduced fees.
In addition, changes to cashiering functions, whether those
cashiering functions are performed by DCA or performed
in-house by a board, and changes to other licensing procedures
may be required. As such, the amount of time it takes to
process an application may increase if an applicant is more
likely to submit the wrong fee amount using a pro rata formula
AB 1758
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than under the old fee schedule.
However, because some boards, such as CAB and DBC, have already
successfully implemented initial license fee formulas that are
prorated on a monthly basis, other boards may look to these
existing programs for guidance, which may reduce the time and
resources required to implement a pro rata formula.
6)Previous legislation . SB 2014 (Machado) of 2002, would have
directed the MBC to prorate its annual licensing fees in cases
where the initial licensure period is less than two years, and
deleted an obsolete oral examination fee authority. That bill
was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1045 (Murray) of 2000 would have directed the MBC to prorate
its annual licensing fees in cases where the initial licensure
period is less than two years. That bill was held in the
Senate.
SB 663 (Maddy), Chapter 626, Statutes of 1992, authorized the
VMB to adopt regulations for the waiver or refund of initial
registration fees if the registration is issued less than 45
days before it will expire.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eunie Linden / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301