Bill Text: CA SB1273 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Athletic trainers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-16 - Set, first hearing. Failed passage in committee. (Ayes 2. Noes 1. Page 3188.) Reconsideration granted. [SB1273 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1273-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1273 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Fong )
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Chapter 5.8 (commencing with Section 2697.2) to
Division 2 of, and to repeal Section 2697.8 of, the Business and
Professions Code, relating to athletic trainers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1273, as amended, Lowenthal. Athletic trainers.
Existing law provides for the regulation of various professions
and vocations, including those of an athlete agent.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2013, provide for the
licensure and regulation of athletic trainers, as defined, by an
Athletic Trainer Licensing Committee, to be established by the bill
within the State Athletic Commission.
Physical Therapy Board of California. Under the bill, the
committee would be comprised of 8 members, as specified, appointed by
the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation, the Physical
Therapy Board of California, the Senate Committee on Rules, and
the Speaker of the Assembly. The bill would, except as specified,
prohibit a person from practicing as an athletic trainer or using
certain titles without a license issued by the committee. The bill
would require an applicant for licensure to meet certain educational
requirements, pass a specified examination, hold specified athletic
trainer certification, possess emergency cardiac care certification,
and submit an application and pay fees established by the committee.
The bill would specify that a license shall be valid for 3
2 years and is subject to renewal upon the
completion of specified requirements including the payment of a
renewal fee. The bill would define the practice of athletic training
and prescribe supervision and other requirements on athletic
trainers. The bill would create the Athletic Trainers Account, within
the Contingent Fund of the State Athletic Commission,
Physical Therapy Fund, would direct the deposit
of the application and renewal fees into this account, and would make
those fees available to the committee subject to appropriation by
the Legislature.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California is one of only three states that does not currently
regulate the practice of athletic training. This continued lack of
regulation creates the risk that individuals who have lost or are
unable to obtain licensure in another state will come to California
to practice, thereby putting the public in danger and degrading the
standards of the profession as a whole.
(b) There is a pressing and immediate need to regulate the
profession of athletic training in order to protect the public
health, safety, and welfare. This need is particularly important
because athletic trainers often work with schoolage children.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.8 (commencing with Section 2697.2) is added to
Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.8. ATHLETIC TRAINERS
2697.2. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Athletic Trainers Practice Act.
2697.4. For the purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Athletic trainer" means a person who meets the requirements
of this chapter and is licensed by the committee.
(b) "Board" means the Medical Physical
Therapy Board of California.
(c) "Committee" means the Athletic Trainer Licensing Committee.
2697.6. (a) No person shall engage in the practice of athletic
training unless licensed pursuant to this chapter.
(b) No person shall use the title "athletic trainer," "licensed
athletic trainer," "certified athletic trainer," "athletic trainer
certified," "a.t.," "a.t.l.," "c.a.t.," "a.t.c.," or any other
variation of these terms, or any other similar terms indicating that
the person is an athletic trainer unless that person is licensed
pursuant to this chapter.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a person who
practiced athletic training in California for a period of
seven 15 consecutive years prior to January 1,
2013, and is not eligible for an athletic training license
may use the title "athletic trainer" without being licensed by the
committee. committee, upon registration with
the board. However, on and after January 1, 2016, no person may
use the title "athletic trainer" unless he or she is licensed by the
committee pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
2697.8. (a) There is established an Athletic Trainer Licensing
Committee within the State Athletic Commission
Physical Therapy Board of California . The committee shall
consist of eight members.
(b) The eight committee members shall include the following:
(1) Four licensed athletic trainers. Initially, the committee
shall include four athletic trainers who have satisfied the
requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 2697.12 and who will
satisfy the remainder of the licensure requirements described in
Section 2697.12 as soon as it is practically possible.
(2) One public member.
(3) Two licensees , in any combination, chosen
from the following: physicians and surgeons licensed by the
board Medical Board of California or osteopathic
physicians and surgeons licensed by the Osteopathic Medical Board of
California.
(4) One member from the State Athletic Commission
licensed physical therapist .
(c) Subject to confirmation by the Senate, the Governor shall
appoint two of the licensed athletic trainers, the public member, and
the physicians and surgeons or osteophathic physicians and surgeons
as described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b). The Senate
Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint
a licensed athletic trainer. The Physical Therapy Board of
California shall appoint the licensed physical therapist.
(d) (1) All appointments shall be for a term of four years and
shall expire on June 30 of the year in which the term expires.
Vacancies shall be filled for any unexpired term.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for initial appointments made
on or after January 1, 2013, the public member appointed by the
Governor shall serve a term of one year. Two of the
The two athletic trainers appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly shall serve
terms of three years, and the remaining members shall serve terms of
four years.
(e) Each member of the committee shall receive per diem and
expenses as provided in Section 103.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends
that date. The repeal of this section renders the committee subject
to the review required by Article 7.5 (commencing with Section
9147.7) of the Government Code.
2697.10. (a) The committee shall adopt, repeal, and amend
regulations as may be necessary to enable it to carry into effect the
provisions of this chapter. All regulations shall be in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
(b) In promulgating regulations, the committee may consult the
professional standards issued by the National Athletic Trainers'
Association (NATA) , the NATA Board of
Certification, Inc., the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic
Training Education, or any other nationally recognized
professional association. organization.
(c) The committee shall approve programs for the education and
training of athletic trainers.
(d) Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the
committee in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary
functions. Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with
other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public
shall be paramount.
2697.12. The committee shall issue an athletic trainer license to
an applicant who meets all of the following requirements:
(a) Has submitted an application developed by the committee that
includes evidence that the applicant has completed athletic trainer
certification eligibility requirements from an athletic training
education program at a four-year college or university approved by
the committee.
(b) Has passed an athletic training certification examination
offered by the NATA Board of Certification, Inc., its
predecessors or successors, or a nationally
accredited athletic trainer certification agency approved by the
committee.
(c) Holds current athletic training certification from the
NATA Board of Certification, Inc., its predecessors or successors, or
a nationally accredited athletic trainer certification agency
approved by the committee.
(d) Possesses an emergency cardiac care certification from a
certification body, approved by the committee, that adheres to the
most current international guidelines for cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and emergency cardiac care.
(e) Has paid the application fee established by the committee.
2697.14. A license issued by the committee pursuant to Section
2697.12 shall be valid for three two
years and thereafter shall be subject to the renewal requirements
described in Sections 2697.16 and 2697.18.
2697.16. The committee shall establish license application and
renewal fees in an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable
regulatory costs of carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
2697.18. The committee shall renew a license if an applicant
meets all of the following requirements:
(a) Pays the renewal fee as established by the committee.
(b) Submits proof of satisfactory completion of continuing
education, as determined by the committee.
(c)
(b) Submits proof of current emergency cardiac care
certification meeting the requirements of subdivision (c)
(d) of Section 2697.12.
(d)
(c) Demonstrates that his or her license is otherwise
in good standing, including, that the applicant for renewal possesses
a current, unencumbered certification from the NATA Board of
Certification, Inc., its predecessors or successors, or
a nationally accredited athletic trainer certification agency
approved by the committee.
2697.20. (a) The practice of athletic training is the
professional treatment of a patient for risk management and injury
and illness prevention; the clinical evaluation and
assessment of a patient for an injury or illness,
an illness sustained or exacerbated while participating in
physical activity, or both; the immediate care and treatment of
a patient for an injury or illness, an
illness sustained or exacerbated while participating in physical
activity, or both; and the rehabilitation and reconditioning of
a patient's patient from injury
or illness, or from an illness sustained or
exacerbated while participating in physical activity, or both.
An athletic trainer shall refer a patient to an appropriate licensed
health care provider when the treatment or management of the injury,
illness, or condition is does not
fall within the scope of practice
education, training, and experience of an athletic trainer.
(b) No licensee shall provide, offer to provide, or represent that
he or she is qualified to provide any treatment that he or she is
not qualified to perform by his or her education, training, or
experience, or that he or she is otherwise prohibited by law from
performing.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall authorize an athletic trainer to
perform grade 5 joint mobilizations.
(d) An athletic trainer shall render treatment within his or
her scope of practice under the direction of a physician and
surgeon licensed by the board Medical Board
of California or an osteopathic physician and surgeon licensed
by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. This direction shall
be provided by verbal order when the directing physician and surgeon
or osteopathic physician and surgeon is present and by written order
or by athletic training treatment plans or protocols, to be
established by the physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and
surgeon, when the directing physician and surgeon or osteopathic
physician and surgeon is not present.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law and consistent
with the provisions of this chapter, the committee may establish
other alternative mechanisms for the adequate supervision
direction of an athletic trainer.
2697.22. The requirements of this chapter do not apply to the
following:
(a) An athletic trainer licensed , certified, or registered
in another state who is in California temporarily ,
traveling with a team or organization, to engage in the
practice of athletic training for, among other things, an athletic or
sporting event.
(b) An athletic trainer licensed, certified, or registered in
another state who is invited by a sponsoring organization, such as
the United States Olympic Training Center
Committee , to temporarily provide athletic training services
under his or her state's scope of practice.
(c) A student enrolled in an athletic training education program,
while participating in educational activities during the course
of his or her educational rotations under the supervision and
guidance of an athletic trainer licensed under this chapter.
chapter or other licensed health care
provider.
(d) A member or employee of the United States Armed
Forces, licensed, certified, or registered in another state, as part
of his or her temporary federal deployment or
employment in California for a limited time.
2697.24. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit,
impair, or otherwise apply to the practice of any person licensed and
regulated under any other chapter of Division 2 (commencing with
Section 500).
2697.26. The committee may order the denial of an application
for, or the issuance subject to terms and conditions of, or the
suspension or revocation of, or the imposition of probationary
conditions upon an athletic trainer's license after a hearing for
unprofessional conduct that includes, but is not limited to, a
violation of this chapter or the regulations adopted by the committee
pursuant to this chapter.
2697.28. There is established in the Contingent Fund of
the State Athletic Commission Physical Therapy Fund
the Athletic Trainers Account. All fees collected pursuant to
this chapter shall be paid into the account. These fees shall be
available to the committee, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
for the regulatory purpose of carrying out the provisions of this
chapter.
2697.30. This chapter shall become operative on January 1, 2013.
