Business and professions.

Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is under the control of the director of the Director of Consumer Affairs, is comprised of various boards, as defined, that license and regulate various professions and vocations. With respect to the Department of Consumer Affairs, existing law provides that the Governor has power to remove from office any member of any board appointed by the Governor for specified reasons, including incompetence. This bill would instead provide that the appointing authority has power to remove a board member from office for those specified reasons. Existing law authorizes the director to audit and review, upon the director's own initiative or upon the request of a consumer or licensee, inquiries and complaints regarding, among other things, dismissals of disciplinary cases of specified licensees and requires the director to report to the Chairpersons of the Senate Business and Professions Committee and the Assembly Health Committee annually regarding any findings from such an audit or review. This bill would instead require the director to report to the Chairpersons of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. Existing law defines the term "licentiate" to mean any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated or referred to, as specified. This bill would instead define "licensee" to mean any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated or referred to, as specified, and would provide that any reference to licentiate be deemed to refer to licensee. This bill would make other conforming and nonsubstantive changes, including replacing gendered terms with nongendered terms, updating cross-references, and deleting obsolete provisions. This bill would provide that any section of any act that is enacted by the Legislature during the 2019 calendar year that takes effect on or before January 1, 2020, and affects any section of law amended by this bill, would prevail over this bill, whether that act is enacted prior to, or subsequent to, the enactment of this bill.