Bill Text: CA AB225 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 225 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Department of Consumer Affairs: boards: veterans: military spouses: licenses.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-06-30 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB225 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB225-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 225

Introduced by Assembly Members Gray, Gallagher, and Patterson

January 11, 2021

An act to amend Section 115.6 of, and to add Section 115.7 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 225, as introduced, Gray. Department of Consumer Affairs: boards: veterans: military spouses: licenses.

Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs, under the control of the Director of Consumer Affairs, is comprised of various boards that license and regulate various professions and vocations, including healing arts licensees. Existing law requires an applicant seeking a license from a board within the department to meet specified requirements and to pay certain licensing fees. Existing law requires specified boards within the department to issue, after appropriate investigation, certain types of temporary licenses to an applicant if the applicant meets specified requirements, including that the applicant supplies evidence satisfactory to the board 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 who is assigned to a duty station in this state under official active duty military orders and the applicant holds a current, active, and unrestricted license that confers upon the applicant the authority to practice, in another state, district, or territory of the United States, the profession or vocation for which the applicant seeks a temporary license from the board. Existing law requires these temporary licenses to expire 12 months after issuance. Under existing law, some of the funds within the jurisdiction of a board consist of revenue from fees that are continuously appropriated.

This bill would require the temporary licenses described above to expire 30 months after issuance. The bill would require boards not responsible for the licensure and regulation of healing arts licensees and not subject to the temporary licensing provisions described above to issue licenses to an applicant if the applicant meets specified requirements, including that the applicant supplies evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant is an honorably discharged veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States or 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, as provided. The bill would require an application for a license to include a signed affidavit attesting to the fact that the applicant meets all requirements for a license. The bill would authorize the immediate termination of a license issued pursuant to these provisions upon a finding that the licenseholder failed to meet specified requirements or provided substantively inaccurate information that would affect the person’s eligibility for licensure, as provided. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill’s expansion of the requirement to issue licenses would result in revenues from fees for certain licenses being deposited into continuously appropriated funds. By establishing a new source of revenue for those continuously appropriated funds, the bill would make an appropriation.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 115.6 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

115.6.

(a) A board within the department shall, after appropriate investigation, issue the following eligible temporary licenses to an applicant if the applicant meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (c):

(1) Registered nurse license by the Board of Registered Nursing.

(2) Vocational nurse license issued by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California.

(3) Psychiatric technician license issued by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California.

(4) Speech-language pathologist license issued by the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board.

(5) Audiologist license issued by the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board.

(6) Veterinarian license issued by the Veterinary Medical Board.

(7) All licenses issued by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.

(8) All licenses issued by the Medical Board of California.

(9) All licenses issued by the Podiatric Medical Board of California.

(b) The board may conduct an investigation of an applicant for purposes of denying or revoking a temporary license issued pursuant to this section. This investigation may include a criminal background check.

(1) The applicant shall supply evidence satisfactory to the board 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 who is assigned to a duty station in this state under official active duty military orders.

(2) The applicant shall hold a current, active, and unrestricted license that confers upon the applicant the authority to practice, in another state, district, or territory of the United States, the profession or vocation for which the applicant seeks a temporary license from the board.

(3) The applicant shall submit an application to the board that shall include a signed affidavit attesting to the fact that the applicant meets all of the requirements for the temporary license and that the information submitted in the application is accurate, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge. The application shall also include written verification from the applicant’s original licensing jurisdiction stating that the applicant’s license is in good standing in that jurisdiction.

(4) The applicant shall not have committed an act in any jurisdiction that would have constituted grounds for denial, suspension, or revocation of the license under this code at the time the act was committed. A violation of this paragraph may be grounds for the denial or revocation of a temporary license issued by the board.

(5) The applicant shall not have been disciplined by a licensing entity in another jurisdiction and shall not be the subject of an unresolved complaint, review procedure, or disciplinary proceeding conducted by a licensing entity in another jurisdiction.

(6) The applicant shall, upon request by a board, furnish a full set of fingerprints for purposes of conducting a criminal background check.

(d) A board may adopt regulations necessary to administer this section.

(e) A temporary license issued pursuant to this section may be immediately terminated upon a finding that the temporary licenseholder failed to meet any of the requirements described in subdivision (c) or provided substantively inaccurate information that would affect the person’s eligibility for temporary licensure. Upon termination of the temporary license, the board shall issue a notice of termination that shall require the temporary licenseholder to immediately cease the practice of the licensed profession upon receipt.

(f) An applicant seeking a temporary license as a civil engineer, geotechnical engineer, structural engineer, land surveyor, professional geologist, professional geophysicist, certified engineering geologist, or certified hydrogeologist pursuant to this section shall successfully pass the appropriate California-specific examination or examinations required for licensure in those respective professions by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.

(g) A temporary license issued pursuant to this section shall expire 12 30 months after issuance, upon issuance of an expedited license pursuant to Section 115.5, or upon denial of the application for expedited licensure by the board, whichever occurs first.

SEC. 2.

Section 115.7 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

115.7.

(a) A board not specified in Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) or subdivision (a) of Section 115.6 shall, after appropriate investigation, issue a license to an applicant if the applicant meets all of the following requirements:

(1) The applicant shall supply evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant is an honorably discharged veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States or 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 who is assigned to a duty station in this state under official active duty military orders.

(3) The applicant shall submit an application to the board that shall include a signed affidavit attesting to the fact that the applicant meets all of the requirements for the license and that the information submitted in the application is accurate, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge. The application shall also include written verification from the applicant’s original licensing jurisdiction stating that the applicant’s license is in good standing in that jurisdiction.

(6) The applicant shall, upon request by a board, furnish a full set of fingerprints for purposes of conducting a criminal background check.

(b) A board may adopt regulations necessary to administer this section.

(c) A license issued pursuant to this section may be immediately terminated pursuant to the board’s procedural due process requirements, upon a finding that the licenseholder failed to meet any of the requirements described in subdivision (a) or provided substantively inaccurate information that would affect the person’s eligibility for licensure. Upon termination of the license, the board shall issue a notice of termination that shall require the licenseholder to immediately cease the practice of the licensed profession or vocation upon receipt.

SEC. 3.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.