Bill Text: CA SB1243 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Professions and vocations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-17 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 395, Statutes of 2014. [SB1243 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1243-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1243 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 395
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bonilla)
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Sections 101.7, 149, 201, 312, 4800, 4804.5,
4836.2, 4841.5, 4844, 11506, and 22259 of, and to add Sections 154.1,
211, and 312.1 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
professions and vocations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1243, Lieu. Professions and vocations.
(1) Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs is
comprised of various boards, bureaus, commissions, committees, and
similarly constituted agencies that license and regulate the practice
of various professions and vocations. Existing law requires those
agencies to hold public meetings and provide public notice of a
meeting.
This bill would require each of those agencies to offer a person
requesting to receive notice of a meeting the option to receive that
notice by regular mail, email, or both regular mail and email, and
would require the agency to comply with that request. The bill would
require an agency that intends to Web cast a meeting, to provide
notice of intent to Web cast the meeting.
(2) Existing law authorizes certain agencies within the
department, upon investigation and with probable cause to believe
that a person is advertising in a telephone directory with respect to
the offering or performance of services, without being properly
licensed by or registered with the agency, to issue a citation
including an order of correction. Existing law authorizes those
agencies to notify the Public Utilities Commission if a person does
not comply with a final order of correction, and requires the
commission to require the telephone corporation providing the
telephone services to disconnect the service.
This bill would apply those provisions to all agencies that
comprise the department, and would delete the requirement that the
advertising appear in a telephone directory.
(3) Existing law imposes specified duties on the department and
allows the department to levy a charge for the estimated
administrative expenses in advance on a pro rata share basis against
funds of an agency comprising the department.
This bill would require the department to submit an annual report
of the accounting of the pro rata calculation of administrative
expenses to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, on
or before July 1, 2015, and on or before July 1 of each subsequent
year. The bill would require the department to conduct a one-time
study of its system for prorating administrative excesses, and to
include the findings of the study in the report it is required to
submit on or before July 1, 2015. The bill would also require the
department, if it engages a third-party consultant to assess the
department's operations, to promptly, upon receipt of the consultant'
s final report on that assessment, submit that report to the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature including the entire
study upon its completion.
The bill would require the department to develop and make
available training courses for employees who perform enforcement
functions to develop knowledge of enforcement practices for all
employees who perform enforcement functions.
(4) Existing law requires an agency comprising the department to
investigate a consumer accusation or compliant against a licensee
and, where appropriate, the agency is authorized to impose
disciplinary action against a licensee. Under existing law, an agency
comprising the department may refer a compliant to the Attorney
General or Office of Administrative Hearings for further action.
Existing law requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to submit an
annual report to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before
January 1, that includes information regarding consumer complaints
and the action taken on those complaints.
This bill would require the director's report to include specific,
detailed information regarding those complaints and actions. The
bill would require the Office of Administrative Hearings to submit a
report to the department, the Governor, and the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2016, and on
or before January 1 of each subsequent year, that includes specified
information regarding the actions taken by the Office of
Administrative Hearings pertaining to accusations and cases relating
to consumer complaints against a person whose profession or vocation
is licensed by an agency comprising the department.
(5) Existing law regulates the practice of veterinary medicine.
Existing law, until January 1, 2016, provides for a Veterinary
Medical Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing
law, until January 1, 2016, authorizes the board to appoint a person
exempt from civil service to be designated as an executive officer of
the board, as specified.
This bill would extend those provisions until January 1, 2017.
(6) Existing law, beginning January 1, 2015, requires a veterinary
assistant to obtain a controlled substance permit from the board in
order to administer a controlled substance, and requires the board to
revoke a veterinary controlled substance permit upon notification
that the veterinary assistant has been convicted of a state or
federal felony controlled substance violation.
This bill would, instead, beginning July 1, 2015, authorize the
board to deny, suspend, or revoke the controlled substance permit of
a veterinary assistant after notice and hearing if the veterinary
assistant has been convicted of a state or federal felony controlled
substance violation.
(7) Existing law regulates the practice of common interest
development managers, and makes those provisions effective only until
January 1, 2015.
This bill would extend the effectiveness of those provisions until
January 1, 2019, and subject those provisions to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would also
delete an obsolete reference.
(8) Existing law establishes the California Tax Education Council,
a nonprofit organization, and requires the council to register and
regulate tax preparers. Existing law makes those provisions effective
only until January 1, 2015.
This bill would extend the effectiveness of those provisions until
January 1, 2019.
(9) This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive, and conforming
changes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 101.7 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
101.7. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, boards
shall meet at least three times each calendar year. Boards shall meet
at least once each calendar year in northern California and once
each calendar year in southern California in order to facilitate
participation by the public and its licensees.
(b) The director at his or her discretion may exempt any board
from the requirement in subdivision (a) upon a showing of good cause
that the board is not able to meet at least three times in a calendar
year.
(c) The director may call for a special meeting of the board when
a board is not fulfilling its duties.
(d) An agency within the department that is required to provide a
written notice pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11125 of the
Government Code, may provide that notice by regular mail, email, or
by both regular mail and email. An agency shall give a person who
requests a notice the option of receiving the notice by regular mail,
email, or by both regular mail and email. The agency shall comply
with the requester's chosen form or forms of notice.
(e) An agency that plans to Web cast a meeting shall include in
the meeting notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
11125 of the Government Code a statement of the board's intent to Web
cast the meeting. An agency may Web cast a meeting even if the
agency fails to include that statement of intent in the notice.
SEC. 2. Section 149 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
149. (a) If, upon investigation, an agency designated in Section
101 has probable cause to believe that a person is advertising with
respect to the offering or performance of services, without being
properly licensed by or registered with the agency to offer or
perform those services, the agency may issue a citation under Section
148 containing an order of correction that requires the violator to
do both of the following:
(1) Cease the unlawful advertising.
(2) Notify the telephone company furnishing services to the
violator to disconnect the telephone service furnished to any
telephone number contained in the unlawful advertising.
(b) This action is stayed if the person to whom a citation is
issued under subdivision (a) notifies the agency in writing that he
or she intends to contest the citation. The agency shall afford an
opportunity for a hearing, as specified in Section 125.9.
(c) If the person to whom a citation and order of correction is
issued under subdivision (a) fails to comply with the order of
correction after that order is final, the agency shall inform the
Public Utilities Commission of the violation and the Public Utilities
Commission shall require the telephone corporation furnishing
services to that person to disconnect the telephone service furnished
to any telephone number contained in the unlawful advertising.
(d) The good faith compliance by a telephone corporation with an
order of the Public Utilities Commission to terminate service issued
pursuant to this section shall constitute a complete defense to any
civil or criminal action brought against the telephone corporation
arising from the termination of service.
SEC. 3. Section 154.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
154.1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The department is currently providing opportunities for
employees of agencies comprising the department who perform
enforcement functions to attend an entry level enforcement academy.
(2) It is in the best interest of consumers in the state for the
department to continue to provide ongoing training opportunities for
employees performing enforcement functions for each agency comprising
the department.
(b) The department shall continue to develop and make available
training courses for employees who perform enforcement functions. The
purpose of the training courses is to develop knowledge of
enforcement practices for all employees who perform enforcement
functions. The department shall encourage an agency executive
officer, registrar, executive director, bureau chief, enforcement
manager, supervisor, or staff member to attend enforcement training
courses.
(c) The department shall develop the enforcement training
curricula in consultation and cooperation with the office of the
Attorney General and the Office of Administrative Hearings.
SEC. 4. Section 201 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
201. (a) (1) A charge for the estimated administrative expenses
of the department, not to exceed the available balance in any
appropriation for any one fiscal year, may be levied in advance on a
pro rata share basis against any of the boards, bureaus, commissions,
divisions, and agencies, at the discretion of the director and with
the approval of the Department of Finance.
(2) The department shall submit a report of the accounting of the
pro rata calculation of administrative expenses to the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature on or before July 1, 2015, and
on or before July 1 of each subsequent year.
(b) The department shall conduct a one-time study of its current
system for prorating administrative expenses to determine if that
system is the most productive, efficient, and cost-effective manner
for the department and the agencies comprising the department. The
study shall include consideration of whether some of the
administrative services offered by the department should be
outsourced or charged on an as-needed basis and whether the agencies
should be permitted to elect not to receive and be charged for
certain administrative services. The department shall include the
findings in its report pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a)
that it is required to submit on or before July 1, 2015.
SEC. 5. Section 211 is added to the Business and Professions Code,
to read:
211. If the department hires a third-party consultant to assess
the department's operations, the department shall, promptly upon
receipt of the consultant's final report on that assessment, submit
that report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature
after omitting any information that is not subject to disclosure
under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
SEC. 6. Section 312 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
312. (a) The director shall submit to the Governor and the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2003, and annually thereafter, a
report of programmatic and statistical information regarding the
activities of the department and its constituent entities for the
previous fiscal year. The report shall include information concerning
the director's activities pursuant to Section 326, including the
number and general patterns of consumer complaints and the action
taken on those complaints.
(b) The report shall include information relative to the
performance of each constituent entity, including, but not limited
to, length of time for a constituent entity to reach each of the
following milestones in the enforcement process:
(1) Average number of days from when a constituent entity receives
a complaint until the constituent entity assigns an investigator to
the complaint.
(2) Average number of days from a constituent entity opening an
investigation conducted by the constituent entity staff or the
Division of Investigation to closing the investigation regardless of
outcome.
(3) Average number of days from a constituent entity closing an
investigation to imposing formal discipline.
(c) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 7. Section 312.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
312.1. The Office of Administrative Hearings shall submit a
report to the department, the Governor, and the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2016, and on or before January 1 of each subsequent
year that includes, at a minimum, all of the following for the
previous fiscal year:
(a) Number of cases referred by each constituent entity to each
office of the Office of Administrative Hearings for a hearing.
(b) Average number of days from receiving a request to setting a
hearing date at each office of the Office of Administrative Hearings.
(c) Average number of days from setting a hearing to conducting
the hearing.
(d) Average number of days after conducting a hearing to
transmitting the proposed decision by each office of the Office of
Administrative Hearings.
SEC. 8. Section 4800 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4800. (a) There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs a
Veterinary Medical Board in which the administration of this chapter
is vested. The board consists of the following members:
(1) Four licensed veterinarians.
(2) One registered veterinary technician.
(3) Three public members.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section
renders the board subject to review by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature. However, the review of the board shall
be limited to those issues identified by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature and shall not involve the preparation
or submission of a sunset review document or evaluative
questionnaire.
SEC. 9. Section 4804.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4804.5. The board may appoint a person exempt from civil service
who shall be designated as an executive officer and who shall
exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the board and
vested in him or her by this chapter.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 10. Section 4836.2 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4836.2. (a) Applications for a veterinary assistant controlled
substance permit shall be upon a form furnished by the board.
(b) The fee for filing an application for a veterinary assistant
controlled substance permit shall be set by the board in an amount
the board determines is reasonably necessary to provide sufficient
funds to carry out the purposes of this section, not to exceed one
hundred dollars ($100).
(c) The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the controlled
substance permit of a veterinary assistant after notice and hearing
for any cause provided in this subdivision. The proceedings under
this section shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions for
administrative adjudication in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and
the board shall have all the powers granted therein. The board may
revoke or suspend a veterinary assistant controlled substance permit
for any of the following reasons:
(1) The employment of fraud, misrepresentation, or deception in
obtaining a veterinary assistant controlled substance permit.
(2) Chronic inebriety or habitual use of controlled substances.
(3) The veterinary assistant to whom the permit is issued has been
convicted of a state or federal felony controlled substance
violation.
(4) Violating or attempts to violate, directly or indirectly, or
assisting in or abetting the violation of, or conspiring to violate,
any provision of this chapter, or of the regulations adopted under
this chapter.
(d) The board shall not issue a veterinary assistant controlled
substance permit to any applicant with a state or federal felony
controlled substance conviction.
(e) (1) As part of the application for a veterinary assistant
controlled substance permit, the applicant shall submit to the
Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information, as
required by the Department of Justice for all veterinary assistant
applicants, for the purposes of obtaining information as to the
existence and content of a record of state or federal convictions and
state or federal arrests and information as to the existence and
content of a record of state or federal arrests for which the
Department of Justice establishes that the person is free on bail or
on his or her own recognizance pending trial or appeal.
(2) When received, the Department of Justice shall forward to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation requests for federal summary criminal
history information that it receives pursuant to this section. The
Department of Justice shall review any information returned to it
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and compile and disseminate
a response to the board summarizing that information.
(3) The Department of Justice shall provide a state or federal
level response to the board pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(p) of Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(4) The Department of Justice shall charge a reasonable fee
sufficient to cover the cost of processing the request described in
this subdivision.
(f) The board shall request from the Department of Justice
subsequent notification service, as provided pursuant to Section
11105.2 of the Penal Code, for persons described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e).
(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2015.
SEC. 11. Section 4841.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4841.5. To be eligible to take the written and practical
examination for registration as a registered veterinary technician,
the applicant shall:
(a) Be at least 18 years of age.
(b) (1) Furnish satisfactory evidence of graduation from, at
minimum, a two-year curriculum in veterinary technology, in a college
or other postsecondary institution approved by the board, or the
equivalent thereof as determined by the board. In the case of a
private postsecondary institution, the institution shall also be
approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, education or a combination
of education and clinical practice experience may constitute the
equivalent of the graduation requirement imposed under this
subdivision, as determined by the board.
SEC. 12. Section 4844 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
4844. A person who fails to renew his certificate of registration
within five years after its expiration may not renew it, and it
shall not be restored, reissued, or reinstated thereafter, but that
person may apply for and obtain a new certificate of registration if:
(a) He or she is not subject to denial of registration under
Section 480.
(b) No fact, circumstance, or condition exists which, if the
certificate of registration were issued, would justify its revocation
or suspension.
(c) He or she takes and passes the examination, if any, that would
be required of him or her if he or she were then applying for a
certificate of registration for the first time, or otherwise
establishes to the satisfaction of the board that, with due regard
for the public interest, he or she is qualified to be a registered
veterinary technician.
(d) He or she pays all of the fees that would be required of him
or her if he or she were applying for the certificate of registration
for the first time.
The board may, by regulation, provide for the waiver or refund of
all or any part of the examination fee when a certificate of
registration is issued without an examination pursuant to this
section.
SEC. 13. Section 11506 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
11506. This part shall be subject to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature. This part shall remain in
effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,
2019, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 14. Section 22259 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
22259. (a) This chapter shall be subject to review by the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
(b) This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
