By Emily Powers On February 29th and March 1st, the Medical Board of California (MBC) held its Quarterly Board meeting in Los Angeles. A key agenda item included reviewing the Executive Management Report, specifically the Enforcement Program Summary. The Enforcement administrative team reported that the Board is moving towards a “collaborative enforcement process,” at the recommendation of the Enforcement Monitor Report from August 2023. That report identified four key problem areas with the enforcement process: 1) inadequate investigator workforce staffing that resulted in investigation delay ..read more

By Erol Kilic On December 21, 2023, CSLB published its Sunset Review Report in preparation for its Sunset Review Oversight hearing before the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. The Board’s enabling act, section 7000, et seq. of the Business and Profession Code is scheduled to “sunset” or be repealed on January 1, 2025, if it is not extended during sunset review. CSLB’s report includes a summary of the Board’s activities over the past four years, updates the legislature regarding issues raised during its previous ..read more

By Erol Kilic On December 28, 2023, DBC published its Sunset Review Report Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3 in preparation for its Sunset Review Oversight hearing before the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee. The Board’s enabling act, section 1600, et seq. of the Business and Professions Code is scheduled to “sunset” or be repealed on January 1, 2025, if it is not extended during sunset review. DBC’s report includes a summary of the Board’s activities over the past six years, updates the legislature regarding issues r ..read more

By Erol Kilic On April 10, 2024, the CPUC will hold a final public forum for Southern California Edison (SCE) customers to comment on SCE’s proposed electricity rate increases for 2025 through 2028. The first two public forums were held virtually on March 5 and March 20, 2024, while the April 10, 2024, public forum will be accessible in-person only. The public forum will begin with a summary of SCE’s rate increase proposal, followed by a public comment period. At least one SCE representative will be available to answer questions regarding individual customer bills or service issues. The public ..read more

By Erol Kilic On December 6, 2023, the Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB) announced a joint operation with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Insurance (CDI) that successfully identified nine unlicensed contractors in a Monterey County sting in mid-November. Under current law, a California contractor’s license is required for any construction bid or contract work that is more than $500, including materials and labor. Further, unlicensed workers must disclose the person is unlicensed in contracting service advertisements and prohibited from bid ..read more

By Erol Kilic On February 15, 2024, pursuant to SB 598 (Hueso) (Chapter 362, Statutes of 2017), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a decision on Rulemaking 18-07-005, a pilot program to use community-based organizations (CBOs) to address service disconnections and assist customers’ utility debts. The CPUC initiated the pilot program’s development in April 2022 to instruct utilities on creating proposals to assist California communities on high electric bills following the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new Arrears Case Management Pilot Program is designed to r ..read more

By Erol Kilic SB 40 (Umberg), as amended September 7, 2023, amends various sections of the Business and Professions Code. According to the Senate Floor Analysis, the State Bar’s highest priority is public protection, including swift disciplinary actions against incompetent attorneys. In light of the Girardi misconduct and the May and Lazar reports, the Senate analysis recognized the State Bar has failed in its mission. The last round of Assembly amendments significantly altered several State Bar regulations. SB 40 is the State Bar’s annual licensing fee bill, but also amends a broad variety of ..read more

By Emily Powers On April 28, 2023, the Contractors State Licensing Board of California (CSLB) proposed a new regulation to address Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). According to the Board’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, BESS are separate electrical systems that can complement photovoltaic solar energy systems (referred to as PV systems). PV systems convert energy from the sun to electricity for an end user. BESS stores excess electrical energy from the PV system for use when the PV system is not generating electricity, such as in cloudy weather and at night or during a utility outage. Ho ..read more

By Emily Powers On September 27, 2023, Governor Newsom signed two bills, SB 345 (Skinner) (Chapter 260, Statutes of 2023) and AB 1707 (Pacheco) (Chapter 258, Statutes of 2023), to protect California’s doctors and other health care providers from criminalization, civil litigation, and licensure discipline regarding reproductive and gender-affirming health care services that are illegal in other states but are legal in California. The Medical Board of California (MBC) supported both bills. In passing these protections, Governor Newsom stated: “Radical politicians continue their all out assault ..read more

By Alexandra Harten On May 15, 2023, the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) published notice of its intent to amend sections 6, 7.1, 7.3, 8.2, 9.2, 9.3, and 13, Title 16 of the CCR to revise the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination and add submission requirements for early admission, which are outlined in the proposed language. According to the initial statement of reasons, the proposed regulations regarding early entry are the Board’s efforts to implement AB 298 (Irwin) (Chapter 300, Statutes of 2021), which provides an exemption allowing applicants to sit for the CPA Exam prior t ..read more