BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2741|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2741
Author: Bonilla (D), et al.
Amended: 4/10/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEVELOP. COMM. : 8-0, 6/23/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Torres
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-1, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-10, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Professional Fiduciaries Bureau
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends until January 1, 2019, the sunset
date on the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau (Bureau) and Chief
of the Bureau.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Licenses and regulates professional fiduciaries under the
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Professional Fiduciaries Act (Act) by the Bureau within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), and makes the Bureau
inoperative and repealed on January 1, 2015.
2.Establishes a Chief of the Bureau who is appointed by the
Governor, subject to confirmation of the Senate, and provides
that the Chief shall serve under the direction and supervision
of the Director and at the pleasure of the Governor.
3.Vests the duty of administering and enforcing the Act with the
Bureau and the Chief, and provides that the Chief shall have
all the powers and responsibilities of the head of a
department, as specified.
4.Provides that if the Bureau is repealed, the responsibilities
and jurisdiction of the Bureau shall be transferred to the
Professional Fiduciaries Advisory Committee, and that
Committee shall be established as a board within DCA.
This bill:
1.Extends the sunset date on the Bureau and the Bureau Chief
from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2019.
2.Makes technical, conforming changes.
Background
In 2014, the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee and the Assembly Business, Professions and
Consumer Protection Committee conducted joint oversight hearings
to review nine regulatory entities, among them the Bureau.
The committees began their review of the licensing agencies in
March 2014 and conducted two days of hearings. This bill, and
the accompanying sunset bills, are intended to implement
legislative changes as recommended by the committees and which
are reflected in the Background Papers prepared by committee
staff for each agency and program reviewed by the committees for
this year.
Review of the Bureau: issues identified and recommended
changes . The following are some of the major recommendations
made pertaining to the Bureau or areas of concern reviewed and
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discussed by the committees during the review of the Bureau.
The Sunset review report drafted by the Assembly committee
recommended that the Bureau continue operations until the next
review in 2019, and in the meantime:
The Bureau should consider reducing fees sufficient to avoid
accumulating a 24-month reserve if the Bureau cannot get
budget authority to hire additional staff;
Brief the Legislature on the potential pool of new
professional fiduciaries and provide reasonable yearly targets
for attracting new licensees;
Discuss with the Legislature and DCA whether to maintain the
Bureau independently if its current staffing and licensing
levels do not change.
Committee staff recommended that the Bureau be reviewed by the
Committees again in four years.
The current language in this bill extends the sunset date on the
Bureau and the Bureau Chief to January 1, 2019.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, projected
expenditures of approximately $600,000 annually (Professional
Fiduciaries Fund), supporting 2.7 positions until January 1,
2019, offset by specified fee revenues of $593,000, based on the
2014-15 Budget.
DCA that the provisions of this bill that extend the sunset on
the PFB are minor and absorbable and within existing resources.
According to the fund condition statement published with the
2014-15 proposed budget, the Professional Fiduciaries Fund,
which supports the activities of the Bureau, is in relative
balance with a reserve of approximately 10 months ($481,000) at
the end of the budget year.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/13/14)
Professional Fiduciary Association of California
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Professional Fiduciary Association
of California (PFAC) states that PFAC sponsored the original
legislation that created the Professional Fiduciaries Act and
the Bureau within DCA. Since their inception, these state
licensure laws, which include state oversight and enforcement,
have been in place to protect the public. The Bureau regulates
non-family member professional fiduciaries, including
conservators, guardians, trustees, and agents under durable
power of attorney. "PFAC supports the provisions of AB 2741
that would extend the sunset on the Act from January 1, 2015 to
January 1, 2019. The continuation of the Act will serve to
protect consumers by ensuring the continuation of the Bureau
that is charged with the following responsibilities: Educating
consumers about their rights; Promoting legal and ethical
standards of professional conduct; Investigating the background
of applicants; Administering licensing examinations; Licensing
[professional fiduciaries]; Investigating complaints from
consumers; and, Taking disciplinary action and issuing
citations."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-10, 5/27/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Ch�vez, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey,
Jones, Logue, Mansoor, Olsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Dahle, Gorell, Melendez, Patterson,
Quirk-Silva, Wagner, Waldron, Vacancy
MW:nl 8/16/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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