AB 427 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Social workers: interstate compact.

Summary

Existing law, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of clinical social workers by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law requires the board to issue a clinical social worker license to each applicant who qualifies pursuant to the act and who successfully passes a California law and ethics examination and a clinical examination. This bill would ratify and approve the Social Work Licensure Compact, which authorizes member states to issue multistate licenses to applicants meeting specified education and experience requirements. Under the compact, a multistate license grants the holder an authorization to practice in other member states. The compact provides for the creation of a commission and requires the board to select a delegate to serve on the commission. This bill would require the board to comply with the requirements of the compact and to adopt regulations necessary to implement that compact. Existing law prohibits an individual from styling themselves, or holding themselves out to be, a "licensed clinical social worker," and makes it unlawful to engage in the practice of clinical social work unless they hold a license under the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act. This bill would instead prohibit those acts unless they hold a license under the act or under the above-described compact. This bill would become operative only upon certification by the Director of Consumer Affairs that a majority of the board has voted in favor of joining the compact and would require the director to notify the Secretary of State and the Legislative Counsel Bureau of the date of that certification.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/24/25 - Amended Assembly → 04/09/25 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Apr 9, 2025

MODERATE

The April 9 amendment to AB 427 adds a conditional operative date mechanism requiring the Director of Consumer Affairs to certify that a majority of the Board of Behavioral Sciences has voted in favor of joining the Social Work Licensure Compact before the multistate license provisions take effect. It also removes prior legislative intent and findings language, updates gendered language to gender-neutral terms, and changes references from 'article' to 'chapter' in Section 4996.

Scope change

The bill's scope is effectively narrowed by adding a gatekeeping condition: the multistate license provisions will not take effect until the Board of Behavioral Sciences affirmatively votes in favor and the Director certifies that vote. This means the compact provisions are no longer automatically operative upon the bill's effective date.

TIMELINE

Added a new operative date condition: the multistate license provisions of Section 4996(d) will only become operative upon certification by the Director of Consumer Affairs that a majority of the Board of Behavioral Sciences has voted in favor of joining the compact. The director must also notify the Secretary of State and Legislative Counsel Bureau of the certification date.

SCOPE

Removed the legislative intent statement and related findings/declarations about including California in the federal Social Work Licensure Compact that appeared in the prior version's digest.

TECHNICAL

Updated gendered language throughout Section 4996 to gender-neutral terms (e.g., 'himself or herself' changed to 'themselves,' 'he or she' changed to 'they').

Changed references from 'this article' to 'this chapter' in Section 4996, aligning terminology with the broader chapter structure.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now has fiscal implications requiring committee review.

02/05/25 - Introduced → 03/24/25 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Mar 24, 2025

MODERATE

AB 427 was dramatically expanded from a simple findings-and-declarations bill expressing legislative intent to join the Social Work Licensure Compact into a full ratification and implementation bill. The amended version actually ratifies the compact, amends existing licensing law (Section 4996) to recognize multistate licenses as valid, and adds an entirely new Article 6 to the Business and Professions Code containing the complete text of the compact, including eligibility requirements, a governing commission, adverse action procedures, and military family provisions.

Scope change

The bill expanded from a purely declaratory measure (stating legislative intent with no operative effect) to a comprehensive implementation bill that ratifies an interstate compact, creates a new regulatory framework for multistate social work licensure, amends existing licensing prohibitions, and establishes a joint interstate commission with rulemaking and enforcement authority.

SCOPE

The bill changed from a non-substantive findings-and-declarations bill (expressing only legislative intent) to an operative bill that ratifies the Social Work Licensure Compact and adds its full text into California law as new Article 6 of the Business and Professions Code.

Military family provisions were added allowing active military members or their spouses to retain their home state designation for multistate licensing purposes during active duty periods, regardless of where they are stationed.

ELIGIBILITY

Section 4996 was amended so that a person is considered to hold a valid license if they hold either a single-state license under the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act OR a multistate license/authorization under the compact. This means out-of-state social workers with multistate licenses can legally practice in California without obtaining a separate California license.

REQUIREMENT

New eligibility criteria for multistate licenses were established: clinical category requires a master's degree in social work from an accredited program plus 3,000 hours or 2 years of postgraduate supervised clinical practice; master's category requires the same education and practice requirements; bachelor's category requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited program. All categories require passing a qualifying national exam (or equivalent), fingerprint-based criminal history check, and notification of adverse actions within 30 days.

ENFORCEMENT

A new Social Work Licensure Compact Commission was established as a joint government agency of all member states. The commission can adopt rules with the force of law, levy annual assessments on member states, impose fees on licensees, conduct joint investigations, and enforce compliance. Remote states can take adverse action against a multistate authorization within their state, while only the home state can act against the multistate license itself.

FISCAL

The fiscal committee review requirement changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amended bill now has fiscal implications requiring committee review, likely due to the commission's ability to levy assessments on member states and impose fees on licensees.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

lower

May 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

lower

May 14, 2025

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 8).

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on B. & P.

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Coms. on B. & P. and JUD.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 8.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors