State Board of Optometry: practice of optometry: licensure.

Existing law, the Optometry Practice Act, until January 1, 2018, establishes the State Board of Optometry. Under existing law, the State Board of Optometry is responsible for the licensure and regulation of the practice of optometry, registered dispensing opticians, spectacle lens dispensers, and contact lens dispensers. Existing law, until January 1, 2018, authorizes the State Board of Optometry to appoint an executive officer to perform duties delegated by the board. Existing law establishes the Optometry Fund and provides that all fee money collected under the act is paid into that fund and continuously appropriated. Existing law makes a violation of that act punishable as a crime. This bill would extend the operation of the board and the authority to appoint an executive officer to January 1, 2022. The bill would make all money collected under the act available only upon appropriation of the Legislature to carry out the purposes of the act. Existing law provides that registrations for spectacle lens dispensers and contact lens dispensers expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the birth month of the licensee during the 2nd year of a 2-year term if not renewed and that registrations for dispensing opticians expire at midnight on the last day of the month in which the license was issued during the 2nd year of a 2-year term if not renewed. This bill would instead provide that registrations for dispensing opticians, spectacle lens dispensers, and contact lens dispensers expire at midnight on the last day of the month in which the license was issued during the 2nd year of a 2-year term if not renewed. Existing law defines the term "advertise" for purposes of the Optometry Practice Act. Existing law makes it unlawful to advertise or hold himself or herself out as an optometrist without having first obtained a license and prohibits an optometrist from advertising or otherwise holding himself or herself out to be a specialist in eye disease and treatment. This bill would redefine the term "advertise" to also include the use of the Internet. By changing the definition of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the board to, at any time, inspect the premises in which optometry is being practiced or in which spectacle or contact lenses are fitted or dispensed and provides that this authority does not extend to premises that are not registered with the board. This bill would instead authorize the board or its designated agent, at any time, to inspect both any premise in which optometric services, as defined, are provided or reasonably suspected of being provided and any premise in which the services of dispensing, adjusting, or fitting of contact lenses or spectacle lenses are provided or reasonably suspected of being provided. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a license to practice optometry to a person who meets certain requirements, including that an applicant for licensure has never had his or her license to practice optometry revoked or suspended in any state where he or she holds a license. This bill would make this requirement inoperative on July 1, 2018. Existing law requires the board to permit a graduate of a foreign university who meets certain requirements to take the examinations for an optometrist license. This bill would repeal that provision. This bill would require the board to develop an interface with the National Practitioner Data Bank for the purpose of conducting inquiries on applicants for licensure, applicants for renewal of licensure, and current licensees, as specified. The bill, on and after July 1, 2018, would require the board, in addition to any other fees, to charge an applicant for licensure $2 and an applicant for renewal of licensure $4 for this purpose. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3057 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 443 to be operative only if this bill and AB 443 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.