Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, under the direction of the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law requires the division to maintain minimum standards for the competency and training of electricians through a system of testing and certification. Existing law requires the division to issue certification cards to electricians who have been certified and paid a fee, in accordance with certain procedures. This bill would authorize an individual who fails the certification examination to immediately submit an application to retake the examination, as specified. The bill would transfer authority over the certification of electricians from the division to the Contractors State License Board, contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes by the Legislature and pursuant to certain timelines and procedures.
Existing law, the Naturopathic Doctors Act, which is repealed on January 1, 2027, establishes the California Board of Naturopathic Medicine within the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate naturopathic doctors. The act requires the board to consist of 9 members, appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, or the Senate Committee on Rules, as specified, and requires each member of the board be appointed to a 4-year term. This bill would instead repeal those provisions on January 1, 2031. The bill would specify that the 4-year term expires 4 years after the date of the appointment. To ensure staggered terms, the bill would require that specified members appointed by the Governor after the effective date of this bill be appointed for prescribed term lengths and thereafter would require all appointments be for four-year terms. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to the provisions specifying the appointment authorities for the board members. Existing law sets forth fees associated with the application and renewal of a license, including a renewal fee of $1,000 and authorizing an increase to not more than $1,200. This bill would, instead, specify that this fee range applies to the renewal of an active license and would require the renewal fee for an inactive license to be one-half of the current renewal fee for an active license. The bill would authorize the board to accept the voluntary cancellation of a naturopathic doctor's license, as prescribed, upon the written request of the licensee, provided that the cancellation is not in lieu of an administrative enforcement action. Existing law requires an applicant to have received a degree in naturopathic medicine from an approved naturopathic medical school, as specified. Existing law requires the board to approve a naturopathic medical school program that is accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME) or another federally recognized accrediting body if the program meets specified admission and program requirements. This bill would, instead, require the board to approve a program that is accredited by either the CNME or a substantially equivalent accreditor, or that is housed in an accredited institution and meets standards substantially equivalent to those required by CNME, if the program meets the above-described admission and program requirements and other specified requirements. Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, makes it a crime to practice or hold oneself out as practicing medicine, as specified, without having a certificate to do so. Under existing law, providing services other than those specified is not a violation of that crime if the person providing those services discloses that they are not a licensed physician, among other things, and obtains a written acknowledgment from the client before providing those services. The Naturopathic Doctors Act makes it a crime to claim to be a naturopathic doctor without a valid license under the act but does not restrict use of the title "naturopath." The Naturopathic Doctors Act also does not limit activity otherwise allowed by law, including the practice of naturopathy, and authorizes an unlicensed person who engages in specified activities to represent that they "practice naturopathy," if they comply with the above-described provisions of the Medical Practice Act. This bill would revise and recast those provisions. Specifically, the bill would make it a crime to practice or hold oneself out as practicing naturopathic medicine, as specified, without having a license to do so. The bill would specify that engaging in activity that is otherwise allowed by law or using the title "naturopath" is a not a violation of this crime if the person complies with the above-described provisions of the Medical Practice Act and discloses they are not a naturopathic doctor, as provided. By establishing a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, prohibits use of any fictitious, false, or assumed name by a physician and surgeon or any doctor of podiatric medicine, as specified, in any public communication, advertisement, sign, or announcement of a practice without a fictitious-name permit. Existing law requires the Medical Board of California or the Division of Licensing to issue a fictitious-name permit if the applicant for the permit satisfies certain conditions, including having a name that includes specified designations. This bill would prohibit the use of any fictitious, false, or assumed name by a naturopathic doctor, as specified, in any public communication, advertisement, sign, or announcement of a practice without a fictitious-name permit. The bill would require the California Board of Naturopathic Medicine to issue a fictitious-name permit if the applicant for the permit satisfies certain conditions. The bill would require the application fee for a fictitious name permit to be $100 and would require the renewal fee for a fictitious-name permit to be $50. The Naturopathic Doctors Act authorizes the board to grant a license to an applicant who meets specified requirements, but who graduated before 1986, and passed a state or Canadian Province naturopathic licensing examination, as specified. The act requires that applications under this provision be received no later than December 31, 2007. This bill would repeal those provisions. 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.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate contractors. Existing law prohibits a person engaging in the business or acting in the capacity of a contractor from recovering compensation for work performed that requires a contractor's license unless the person was a duly licensed contractor at all times during the performance of the act or contract, except as specified. This bill would further exempt from that prohibition an action for compensation arising from a contract for specified projects, including for a public work of improvement or a commercial or institutional construction project, and would, instead, authorize a person to maintain an action for compensation under one of those contracts if the person was a duly licensed contractor at the time the contract was executed and during the portion of the performance of the contract for which compensation is sought. Existing law authorizes a person who uses the services of an unlicensed contractor to bring an action to recover all compensation paid to the unlicensed contractor for performance of any act or contract, except as provided. This bill would additionally exempt from that authorization an action for compensation arising from a contract for specified projects, including for a public work of improvement or a commercial or institutional construction project, and would, instead, authorize a person to bring an action under one of those contracts to recover the portion of compensation paid to the unlicensed contractor for work performed during the time in which the contractor was unlicensed.
(1) Existing federal law requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate health professional shortage areas and requires the secretary, in establishing criteria for the designation of those areas, to consider, among other things, the ratio of available health manpower to the number of individuals in an area or population group and indicators of a need for health services, as specified. Existing state law makes references to federally recognized or designated health professional shortage areas in various contexts, including, among others, the California Physician Corps Program, the California Reproductive Health Services Corps, the Oral Health Program, the Virtual Health Hub for Rural Communities Pilot Program, and health professions planning grants. This bill, until January 1, 2035, would define the term "health professional shortage area" to mean (1) an area determined by the Department of Health Care Access and Information to have a shortage of health professionals, (2) a health professional shortage area currently designated or recognized by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or (3) an area designated or recognized as a health professional shortage area by the United States Department of Health and Human Services on January 1, 2025, regardless of whether that area remains designated or recognized by the United States Department of Health and Human Services as a health professional shortage area. The bill would authorize the Department of Health Care Access and Information to revoke designations, as specified. (2) Existing law requires specified boards, including the Board of Registered Nursing and the Respiratory Care Board of California, to collect certain workforce data from their respective licensees and registrants for future workforce planning at least biennially. Existing law requires other boards that regulate healing arts licensees or registrants to request workforce data from their respective licensees and registrants for future workforce planning at least biennially. Existing law requires the workforce data collected or requested to include specified information, including, among others, the type of employer or classification of primary practice site, as specified. Existing law prohibits a licensee or registrant from being required to provide the information as a condition for license or registration renewal and prohibits licensees or registrants from being subject to discipline for not providing the information. Existing law requires the boards and the Department of Health Care Access and Information to maintain the confidentiality of licensee and registrant information collected pursuant to these provisions and authorizes release of the information only in aggregate form. Existing law requires each board to provide individual licensee and registrant data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information on a quarterly basis, as specified. This bill would require the workforce data to be collected or requested by boards at the time a license or registration is issued, except as specified. The bill would require the information collected or requested by boards to also include, among other things, the hours worked in inpatient care, hours worked in outpatient care, and whether the licensee or registrant offers a formal sliding fee scale. The bill would instead require each board to provide licensee and registrant data on a monthly basis. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 502 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 1271 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1271 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law authorizes a school district, county office of education, or charter school to provide emergency stock albuterol inhalers, as specified, to school nurses or trained personnel who have volunteered, and authorizes school nurses or trained personnel to use an emergency stock albuterol inhaler to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from respiratory distress, as provided. Existing law authorizes a prescription for emergency stock albuterol inhalers to be filled by local or mail order pharmacies or stock albuterol inhaler manufacturers. This bill would revise and recast that latter provision by making its provisions also apply to a childcare program, as defined, that is operated by or contracts with a school district, county office of education, or charter school, as provided. This bill would explicitly authorize a pharmacy to furnish stock albuterol inhalers to a local educational agency pursuant to a written order from an authorized prescriber. The bill would authorize a prescription for emergency stock albuterol inhalers also to be filled by stock albuterol wholesalers or distributers. The bill, for purposes of these provisions, would change references from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Education Commissioner in order to implement changes made by AB 181 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
