Business and professions.

(1) Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires licensed contractors to be classified and authorizes them to be classified as, among other things, a plumbing contractor, an electrical contractor, a sign contractor, and a well-drilling contractor. Existing law requires all plumbing contractors, sign contractors, and well-drilling contractors to display on their business motor vehicle certain identifying information pertaining to their contractor's license. This bill would make that requirement applicable, instead, to C-36 plumbing contractors, C-45 sign contractors, and C-57 well-drilling contractors. Existing law authorizes persons to obtain blank license application, renewal, or reinstatement forms from the Department of Consumer Affairs. This bill would instead authorize persons to obtain blank license applications from the board. (2) Existing law establishes within the Department of Consumer Affairs the State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind that, among others things, licenses and regulates schools and instructors for the training of guide dogs for the blind and the instruction of blind persons in the use of guide dogs. Existing law requires those schools to furnish to the board an independent audit of the school's finances, as specified, within 180 days after the end of a calendar year. This bill would instead require a school to furnish that audit within 90 days after a calendar year end. Existing law requires applicants for an instructor's license to file an application with the secretary. Under existing law, the secretary keeps the records of the boards and carries out other duties as prescribed by the board. This bill would instead require the executive officer to keep those records and carry out those duties and would require the application described above to be filed with the board. Existing law prohibits a person from selling, giving, or furnishing any guide dog or seeing-eye dog to a blind person unless certain requirements have been met, including that the dog has been neutered. Under existing law, a certificate from a veterinarian certifying that those requirements have been met is required to be delivered to the recipient of the dog at the time of delivery. This bill would require that the dog be spayed or neutered and would require that certificate to be delivered at the time the dog is assigned to a blind person. Because a violation of these requirements would constitute a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Under existing law, prior to January 1, 2011, regulatory boards and other boards in state government, as specified, were subject to review by the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection. On and after January 1, 2011, existing law requires boards scheduled for repeal to be evaluated by the Joint Sunset Review Committee. Existing law in effect prior to January 1, 2011, required the former Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection, upon request from the chairperson of the appropriate policy committee, to evaluate plans for the establishment and operation of a new specified state board or to create a new category of licensed professionals. This bill would instead require the appropriate policy committees to evaluate those plans. (4) Under existing law, there exists the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, consisting of 15 members, including professional members appointed by the Governor, at least one of whom is required to be a licensed professional engineer or land surveyor from each of a local public agency and a state agency. This bill would authorize the Governor to appoint a licensed geologist or geophysicist to fill the local public agency and state agency requirements. Existing law authorizes the board to receive and investigate complaints against professional engineers, engineers-in-training, land surveyors, and land surveyors-in-training. This bill would authorize the board to investigate the actions of any professional engineer, engineer-in-training, land surveyor, or land surveyor-in-training upon the receipt of a complaint or upon the board's own initiative. Under existing law, the board is authorized to appoint committees to perform duties, as specified. This bill would repeal that authorization and instead authorize the board to establish technical advisory committees, as specified. The bill would require the board to establish relations with bodies that regulate the practice of professional engineering and land surveying, or closely related professions, in other states, as specified. Under existing law, the board is required to prepare an annual list of the names and addresses of geologists and geophysicists registered by it and a list of every person whose registration was suspended or revoked the previous year and to mail the list to the county clerks of each county. This bill would instead require the board to compile and maintain a register of all licensees including the licensee's name, address of record, type of branch license, license number, and the license issuance and expiration dates. Existing law provides for the registration and regulation of geologists. This bill would provide for certification as a geologist-in-training. (5) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, provides for procedures and qualifications for issuance by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of an initial qualification certificate required for a person who is in active control or management, as specified, of a licensed repossession agency and requires every person employed by or contracting with an agency to be registered with the bureau. This bill would authorize a person to work as a qualified certificate holder or as a registrant pending receipt of the qualification certificate or registration card if he or she has been approved by the bureau and carries on his or her person a hardcopy printout or electronic copy of the approval, as specified, and a valid picture identification. Existing law specifies circumstances for disposal of personal effects removed by a repossession agency from repossessed collateral, including maintaining permanent records. This bill would specify that those records shall be maintained for 4 years. (6) Existing law requires a tax preparer to complete annually a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education, including 12 hours in federal taxation, and 4 hours in California taxation, and an additional 4 hours in federal taxation or California taxation. This bill would instead require a tax preparer to complete annually 15 hours of continuing education in federal taxation and 5 hours in California taxation. Existing law requires a tax preparer to register with the California Tax Education Council and requires the council to notify the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney of any notice the council receives of a failure of a tax preparer to so register which failure constitutes a violation of these provisions. This bill would instead authorize the council to make this notification. (7) Existing law requires any public works contract of any public entity to include an affidavit, as specified, affirming that the bidder has not participated in various collusive activities. This bill would recast these provisions to, instead, require every bid on every public works contract of any public entity to include a declaration under penalty of perjury that the bidder has not participated in various collusive activities, and to require that the declaration include a representation that the person executing the declaration on behalf of a corporation or other entity, as prescribed, is fully empowered to execute the declaration. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes. (9) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3099.2 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 1346, to be operative only if AB 1346 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last. (10) 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.