Bill Text: CA SB1479 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Business and professions.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 634, Statutes of 2016. [SB1479 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1479-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1479 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 634
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development (Senators Hill (Chair), Bates, Berryhill, Block,
Galgiani, Hernandez, Jackson, Mendoza, and Wieckowski)
MARCH 10, 2016
An act to amend Sections 5092, 5094.3, 5550.2, 7074, 7159.5,
7612.6, 7844, and 7887 of the Business and Professions Code, and to
amend Section 13995.1 of the Government Code, relating to business
and professions.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1479, Committee on Business, Professions and Economic
Development. Business and professions.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of
accountants by the California Board of Accountancy, which is within
the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires an
applicant for licensure as a certified public accountant to provide
documentation to the board of the completion of a certain number of
units of ethics study, as specified. Existing law requires a portion
of those units to come from courses containing specified terms in the
course title, including, but not limited to, corporate governance.
This bill would instead require those units to come from courses
in specified subjects relating to ethics.
(2) The Architects Practice Act provides for the licensure and
regulation of architects and landscape architects by the California
Architects Board, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs,
and requires a person to pass an examination as a condition of
licensure as an architect. Existing law authorizes the board to grant
eligibility to a candidate to take the licensure examination if he
or she is enrolled in an Additional Path to Architecture Licensing
program that integrates the experience and examination components
offered by a National Architectural Accrediting Board-accredited
degree program.
This bill would instead authorize the board to grant eligibility
to a candidate to take the licensure examination if he or she is
enrolled in a degree program accepted by the National Council of
Architectural Registration Boards that integrates the licensure
degree experience and examination components required under that act.
(3) The Contractors' State License Law provides for the licensure
and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State License
Board, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs. That law
requires, except as specified, an application for an original
license, an additional classification, or for a change of qualifier
to become void when certain conditions are met, including if the
applicant or examinee for the applicant has failed to appear for the
scheduled qualifying examination and fails to request and pay the fee
for rescheduling within 90 days of notification of failure to appear
or if the applicant or the examinee for the applicant has failed to
achieve a passing grade in the scheduled qualifying examination and
fails to request and pay the fee for rescheduling within 90 days of
notification of failure to pass the examination.
This bill would delete those above-mentioned conditions as reasons
for an application for an original license, an additional
classification, or for a change of qualifier to become void.
With respect to home improvement contracts between an owner or
tenant and a contractor, whether a general contractor or a specialty
contractor, that is licensed or subject to be licensed with regard to
the transaction, existing statutory law makes the failure to comply
with specified provisions governing the furnishing of a performance
and payment bond a cause for discipline. Existing regulatory law
requires a licensee seeking approval of a blanket bond to meet
certain conditions and to submit to the board an Application for
Approval of Blanket Performance and Payment Bond. Existing regulatory
law requires a licensee to be licensed in this state in an active
status for not less than 5 years prior to submitting that
application.
This bill would instead require such a licensee to be licensed for
not less than 2 years prior to submitting that application.
(4) Existing law, the Cemetery and Funeral Act, requires each
cemetery authority to annually file with the Cemetery and Funeral
Bureau a specified written report that includes information relating
to the general and special endowment care funds. Existing law
requires the report to be accompanied by an annual audit report of
those funds and specifies the scope of the audit.
This bill would require the audit to be prepared in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles.
(5) The Geologist and Geophysicist Act provides for the
registration and regulation of professional geologists and
professional geophysicists by the Board for Professional Engineers,
Land Surveyors, and Geologists, which is within the Department of
Consumer Affairs. That act requires an applicant for registration to
take an examination and requires the examination to be held at the
times and places within the state that the board determines.
This bill would authorize the board to make arrangements with a
public or private organization to conduct the examination. The bill
would authorize the board to contract with such an organization for
materials or services related to the examination and would authorize
the board to allow an organization specified by the board to receive,
directly from applicants, payments of the examination fees charged
by that organization for materials and services.
(6) The California Tourism Marketing Act requires the Governor to
appoint a Tourism Selection Committee, as specified, and provides
that the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development has the power to veto actions of the commission. That act
states various findings and declarations by the Legislature
regarding the tourism industry in California, including that the
mechanism created by that act to fund generic promotions be pursuant
to the supervision and oversight of the secretary.
This bill would instead find and declare that the mechanism to
fund generic promotions be pursuant to the supervision and oversight
of the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5092 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
5092. (a) To qualify for the certified public accountant license,
an applicant who is applying under this section shall meet the
education, examination, and experience requirements specified in
subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), or otherwise prescribed pursuant to
this article. The board may adopt regulations as necessary to
implement this section.
(b) An applicant for the certified public accountant license shall
present satisfactory evidence that the applicant has completed a
baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university,
meeting, at a minimum, the standards described in Section 5094, the
total educational program to include a minimum of 24 semester units
in accounting subjects and 24 semester units in business related
subjects. This evidence shall be provided prior to admission to the
examination for the certified public accountant license, except that
an applicant who applied, qualified, and sat for at least two
subjects of the examination for the certified public accountant
license before May 15, 2002, may provide this evidence at the time of
application for licensure.
(c) An applicant for the certified public accountant license shall
pass an examination prescribed by the board pursuant to this
article.
(d) The applicant shall show, to the satisfaction of the board,
that the applicant has had two years of qualifying experience. This
experience may include providing any type of service or advice
involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management
advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills. To be
qualifying under this section, experience shall have been performed
in accordance with applicable professional standards. Experience in
public accounting shall be completed under the supervision or in the
employ of a person licensed or otherwise having comparable authority
under the laws of any state or country to engage in the practice of
public accountancy. Experience in private or governmental accounting
or auditing shall be completed under the supervision of an individual
licensed by a state to engage in the practice of public accountancy.
(e) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2014, but
shall become or remain operative if the educational requirements in
ethics study and accounting study established by subdivision (b) of
Section 5093, Section 5094.3, and Section 5094.6 are reduced or
eliminated.
(f) The amendment to subdivision (d) of Section 5094.3 made by the
measure adding this subdivision shall not be deemed to reduce or
eliminate the educational requirements of Section 5094.3 for purposes
of subdivision (e) of this section.
SEC. 2. Section 5094.3 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
5094.3. (a) An applicant for licensure as a certified public
accountant shall, to the satisfaction of the board, provide
documentation of the completion of 10 semester units or 15 quarter
units of ethics study, as set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Section 5093, in the manner prescribed in this section.
(b) (1) Between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016, inclusive,
an applicant shall complete 10 semester units or 15 quarter units in
courses described in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).
(2) Beginning January 1, 2017, an applicant shall complete 10
semester units or 15 quarter units in courses described in
subdivisions (c), (d), (e), and (f).
(c) A minimum of three semester units or four quarter units in
courses at an upper division level or higher devoted to accounting
ethics or accountants' professional responsibilities, unless the
course was completed at a community college, in which case it need
not be completed at the upper division level or higher.
(d) Between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016, inclusive, a
maximum of 10 semester units or 15 quarter units, and on and after
January 1, 2017, a maximum of 7 semester units or 11 quarter units,
in the following subjects relating to ethics:
(1) Business, government, and society.
(2) Business law.
(3) Corporate governance.
(4) Corporate social responsibility.
(5) Ethics.
(6) Fraud.
(7) Human resources management.
(8) Business leadership.
(9) Legal environment of business.
(10) Management of organizations.
(11) Morals.
(12) Organizational behavior.
(13) Professional responsibilities.
(14) Auditing.
(e) (1) A maximum of three semester units or four quarter units in
courses taken in the following disciplines:
(A) Philosophy.
(B) Religion.
(C) Theology.
(2) To qualify under this subdivision, the course title shall
contain one or more of the terms "introduction," "introductory,"
"general," "fundamentals of," "principles," "foundation of," or
"survey of," or have the name of the discipline as the sole name of
the course title.
(f) A maximum of one semester unit of ethics study for completion
of a course specific to financial statement audits.
(g) An applicant who has successfully passed the examination
requirement specified under Section 5082 on or before December 31,
2013, is exempt from this section unless the applicant fails to
obtain the qualifying experience as specified in Section 5092 or 5093
on or before December 31, 2015.
SEC. 3. Section 5550.2 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
5550.2. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 5552, the
board may grant eligibility to take the licensure examination to a
candidate enrolled in a degree program accepted by the National
Council of Architectural Registration Boards that integrates the
licensure degree experience and examination components required under
this chapter. The eligibility point shall be determined by that
degree program.
SEC. 4. Section 7074 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7074. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, an
application for an original license, for an additional
classification, or for a change of qualifier shall become void when:
(1) The applicant or the examinee for the applicant has failed to
achieve a passing grade in the qualifying examination within 18
months after the application has been deemed acceptable by the board.
(2) The applicant for an original license, after having been
notified to do so, fails to pay the initial license fee within 90
days from the date of the notice.
(3) The applicant, after having been notified to do so, fails to
file within 90 days from the date of the notice any bond or cash
deposit or other documents that may be required for issuance or
granting pursuant to this chapter.
(4) After filing, the applicant withdraws the application.
(5) The applicant fails to return the application rejected by the
board for insufficiency or incompleteness within 90 days from the
date of original notice or rejection.
(6) The application is denied after disciplinary proceedings
conducted in accordance with the provisions of this code.
(b) The void date on an application may be extended up to 90 days
or one examination may be rescheduled without a fee upon documented
evidence by the applicant that the failure to complete the
application process or to appear for an examination was due to a
medical emergency or other circumstance beyond the control of the
applicant.
(c) An application voided pursuant to this section shall remain in
the possession of the registrar for the period as he or she deems
necessary and shall not be returned to the applicant. Any
reapplication for a license shall be accompanied by the fee fixed by
this chapter.
SEC. 5. Section 7159.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7159.5. This section applies to all home improvement contracts,
as defined in Section 7151.2, between an owner or tenant and a
contractor, whether a general contractor or a specialty contractor,
that is licensed or subject to be licensed pursuant to this chapter
with regard to the transaction.
(a) Failure by the licensee or a person subject to be licensed
under this chapter, or by his or her agent or salesperson, to comply
with the following provisions is cause for discipline:
(1) The contract shall be in writing and shall include the agreed
contract amount in dollars and cents. The contract amount shall
include the entire cost of the contract, including profit, labor, and
materials, but excluding finance charges.
(2) If there is a separate finance charge between the contractor
and the person contracting for home improvement, the finance charge
shall be set out separately from the contract amount.
(3) If a downpayment will be charged, the downpayment may not
exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or 10 percent of the contract
amount, whichever is less.
(4) If, in addition to a downpayment, the contract provides for
payments to be made prior to completion of the work, the contract
shall include a schedule of payments in dollars and cents
specifically referencing the amount of work or services to be
performed and any materials and equipment to be supplied.
(5) Except for a downpayment, the contractor may neither request
nor accept payment that exceeds the value of the work performed or
material delivered.
(6) Upon any payment by the person contracting for home
improvement, and prior to any further payment being made, the
contractor shall, if requested, obtain and furnish to the person a
full and unconditional release from any potential lien claimant claim
or mechanics lien authorized pursuant to Sections 8400 and 8404 of
the Civil Code for any portion of the work for which payment has been
made. The person contracting for home improvement may withhold all
further payments until these releases are furnished.
(7) If the contract provides for a payment of a salesperson's
commission out of the contract price, that payment shall be made on a
pro rata basis in proportion to the schedule of payments made to the
contractor by the disbursing party in accordance with paragraph (4).
(8) A contractor furnishing a performance and payment bond, lien
and completion bond, or a bond equivalent or joint control approved
by the registrar covering full performance and payment is exempt from
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), and need not include, as part of the
contract, the statement regarding the downpayment specified in
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (d) of Section 7159,
the details and statement regarding progress payments specified in
paragraph (9) of subdivision (d) of Section 7159, or the Mechanics
Lien Warning specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) of Section
7159. A contractor furnishing these bonds, bond equivalents, or a
joint control approved by the registrar may accept payment prior to
completion. If the contract provides for a contractor to furnish
joint control, the contractor shall not have any financial or other
interest in the joint control. Notwithstanding any other law, a
licensee shall be licensed in this state in an active status for not
less than two years prior to submitting an Application for Approval
of Blanket Performance and Payment Bond as provided in Section 858.2
of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations as it read on
January 1, 2016.
(b) A violation of paragraph (1), (3), or (5) of subdivision (a)
by a licensee or a person subject to be licensed under this chapter,
or by his or her agent or salesperson, is a misdemeanor punishable by
a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than
five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(1) An indictment or information against a person who is not
licensed but who is required to be licensed under this chapter shall
be brought, or a criminal complaint filed, for a violation of this
section, in accordance with paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of
Section 802 of the Penal Code, within four years from the date of the
contract or, if the contract is not reduced to writing, from the
date the buyer makes the first payment to the contractor.
(2) An indictment or information against a person who is licensed
under this chapter shall be brought, or a criminal complaint filed,
for a violation of this section, in accordance with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d) of Section 802 of the Penal Code, within two years
from the date of the contract or, if the contract is not reduced to
writing, from the date the buyer makes the first payment to the
contractor.
(3) The limitations on actions in this subdivision shall not apply
to any administrative action filed against a licensed contractor.
(c) Any person who violates this section as part of a plan or
scheme to defraud an owner or tenant of a residential or
nonresidential structure, including a mobilehome or manufactured
home, in connection with the offer or performance of repairs to the
structure for damage caused by a natural disaster, shall be ordered
by the court to make full restitution to the victim based on the
person's ability to pay, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section
1203.1b of the Penal Code. In addition to full restitution, and
imprisonment authorized by this section, the court may impose a fine
of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), based upon the defendant's
ability to pay. This subdivision applies to natural disasters for
which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to
Section 8625 of the Government Code, or for which an emergency or
major disaster is declared by the President of the United States.
SEC. 6. Section 7612.6 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7612.6. (a) Each cemetery authority shall file with the bureau
annually, on or before June 1, or within five months after close of
their fiscal year provided approval has been granted by the bureau as
provided for in Section 7612.7, a written report in a form
prescribed by the bureau setting forth the following:
(1) The number of square feet of grave space and the number of
crypts and niches sold or disposed of under endowment care by
specific periods as set forth in the form prescribed.
(2) The amount collected and deposited in both the general and
special endowment care funds segregated as to the amounts for crypts,
niches, and grave space by specific periods as set forth either on
the accrual or cash basis at the option of the cemetery authority.
(3) A statement showing separately the total amount of the general
and special endowment care funds invested in each of the investments
authorized by law and the amount of cash on hand not invested, which
statement shall actually show the financial condition of the funds.
(4) A statement showing separately the location, description, and
character of the investments in which the special endowment care
funds are invested. The statement shall show the valuations of any
securities held in the endowment care fund as valued pursuant to
Section 7614.7.
(5) A statement showing the transactions entered into between the
corporation or any officer, employee, or stockholder thereof and the
trustees of the endowment care funds with respect to those endowment
care funds. The statement shall show the dates, amounts of the
transactions, and shall contain a statement of the reasons for those
transactions.
(b) The report shall be verified by the president or vice
president and one other officer of the cemetery corporation. The
information submitted pursuant to paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5)
of subdivision (a) shall be accompanied by an annual audit report,
prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,
of the endowment care fund and special care fund signed by a
certified public accountant or public accountant. The scope of the
audit shall include the inspection, review, and audit of the general
purpose financial statements of the endowment care fund and special
care fund, which shall include the balance sheet, the statement of
revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance.
(c) If a cemetery authority files a written request prior to the
date the report is due, the bureau may, in its discretion, grant an
additional 30 days within which to file the report.
SEC. 7. Section 7844 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7844. (a) Examination for licensure shall be held at the times
and places within the state as the board shall determine. The scope
of examinations and the methods of procedure may be prescribed by
rule of the board.
(b) The board may make arrangements with a public or private
organization to conduct the examination. The board may contract with
a public or private organization for materials or services related to
the examination.
(c) The board may authorize an organization specified by the board
to receive directly from applicants payment of the examination fees
charged by that organization as payment for examination materials and
services.
SEC. 8. Section 7887 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7887. The amount of the fees prescribed by this chapter shall be
fixed by the board in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) The fee for filing each application for licensure as a
geologist or a geophysicist or certification as a specialty geologist
or a specialty geophysicist and for administration of the
examination shall be fixed at not more than two hundred fifty dollars
($250).
(b) The license fee for a geologist or for a geophysicist and the
fee for the certification in a specialty shall be fixed at an amount
equal to the renewal fee in effect on the last regular renewal date
before the date on which the certificate is issued, except that, with
respect to certificates that will expire less than one year after
issuance, the fee shall be fixed at an amount equal to 50 percent of
the renewal fee in effect on the last regular renewal date before the
date on which the certificate is issued. The board may, by
appropriate regulation, provide for the waiver or refund of the
initial certificate fee where the certificate is issued less than 45
days before the date on which it will expire.
(c) The duplicate certificate fee shall be fixed at not more than
six dollars ($6).
(d) The renewal fee for a geologist or for a geophysicist shall be
fixed at not more than four hundred dollars ($400).
(e) The renewal fee for a specialty geologist or for a specialty
geophysicist shall be fixed at not more than one hundred dollars
($100).
(f) Notwithstanding Section 163.5, the delinquency fee for a
certificate is an amount equal to 50 percent of the renewal fee in
effect on the last regular renewal date.
(g) Each applicant for licensure as a geologist shall pay an
examination fee fixed at an amount equal to the actual cost to the
board to administer the examination described in subdivision (d) of
Section 7841, unless an applicant pays the examination fee directly
to an organization pursuant to Section 7844.
(h) Each applicant for licensure as a geophysicist or
certification as an engineering geologist or certification as a
hydrogeologist shall pay an examination fee fixed by the board at an
amount equal to the actual cost to the board for the development and
maintenance of the written examination, and shall not exceed one
hundred dollars ($100).
(i) The fee for a retired license shall be fixed at not more than
50 percent of the fee for filing an application for licensure as a
geologist or a geophysicist in effect on the date of application for
a retired license.
SEC. 9. Section 13995.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
13995.1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Tourism is among California's biggest industries, contributing
over fifty-two billion dollars ($52,000,000,000) to the state
economy and employing nearly 700,000 Californians in 1995.
(b) In order to retain and expand the tourism industry in
California, it is necessary to market travel to and within
California.
(c) State funding, while an important component of marketing, has
been unable to generate sufficient funds to meet the threshold levels
of funding necessary to reverse recent losses of California's
tourism market share.
(d) In regard to the need for a cooperative partnership between
business and industry:
(1) It is in the state's public interest and vital to the welfare
of the state's economy to expand the market for, and develop,
California tourism through a cooperative partnership funded in part
by the state that will allow generic promotion and communication
programs.
(2) The mechanism established by this chapter is intended to play
a unique role in advancing the opportunity to expand tourism in
California, and it is intended to increase the opportunity for
tourism to the benefit of the tourism industry and the consumers of
the State of California.
(3) Programs implemented pursuant to this chapter are intended to
complement the marketing activities of individual competitors within
the tourism industry.
(4) While it is recognized that smaller businesses participating
in the tourism market often lack the resources or market power to
conduct these activities on their own, the programs are intended to
be of benefit to businesses of all sizes.
(5) These programs are not intended to, and they do not, impede
the right or ability of individual businesses to conduct activities
designed to increase the tourism market generally or their own
respective shares of the California tourism market, and nothing in
the mechanism established by this chapter shall prevent an individual
business or participant in the industry from seeking to expand its
market through alternative or complementary means, or both.
(6) (A) An individual business's own advertising initiatives are
typically designed to increase its share of the California tourism
market rather than to increase or expand the overall size of that
market.
(B) In contrast, generic promotion of California as a tourism
destination is intended and designed to maintain or increase the
overall demand for California tourism and to maintain or increase the
size of that market, often by utilizing promotional methods and
techniques that individual businesses typically are unable, or have
no incentive, to employ.
(7) This chapter creates a mechanism to fund generic promotions
that, pursuant to the required supervision and oversight of the
director as specified in this chapter, further specific state
governmental goals, as established by the Legislature, and result in
a promotion program that produces nonideological and commercial
communication that bears the characteristics of, and is entitled to
all the privileges and protections of, government speech.
(8) The programs implemented pursuant to this chapter shall be
carried out in an effective and coordinated manner that is designed
to strengthen the tourism industry and the state's economy as a
whole.
(9) Independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs
will assist the Legislature in ensuring that the objectives of the
programs as set out in this section are met.
(e) An industry-approved assessment provides a private-sector
financing mechanism that, in partnership with state funding, will
provide the amount of marketing necessary to increase tourism
marketing expenditures by California.
(f) The goal of the assessments is to assess the least amount per
business, in the least intrusive manner, spread across the greatest
practical number of tourism industry segments.
(g) The California Travel and Tourism Commission shall target an
amount determined to be sufficient to market effectively travel and
tourism to and within the state.
(h) In the course of developing its written marketing plan
pursuant to Section 13995.45, the California Travel and Tourism
Commission shall, to the maximum extent feasible, do both of the
following:
(1) Seek advice and recommendations from all segments of
California's travel and tourism industry and from all geographic
regions of the state.
(2) Harmonize, as appropriate, its marketing plan with the travel
and tourism marketing activities and objectives of the various
industry segments and geographic regions.
(i) The California Travel and Tourism Commission's marketing
budget shall be spent principally to bring travelers and tourists
into the state. No more than 15 percent of the commission's assessed
funds in any year shall be spent to promote travel within California,
unless approved by at least two-thirds of the commissioners.
