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CBA liaison outlines licensing modernization, AB 1175 and continuing-education changes
Summary
Nancy Corrigan, the CBA board liaison, summarized board priorities including a legislative proposal to modernize licensure mobility and licensure requirements, continuing-education rulemaking and other regulatory actions. The board plans a rulemaking package and is promoting Assembly Bill 1175.
Nancy Corrigan, CBA board liaison to the Enforcement Advisory Committee, reported on the board's January 23 and March 20 meetings and outlined major policy priorities on May 1.
Corrigan said the board is advancing a legislative proposal to modernize mobility and update CPA licensure requirements, including moving toward degree-focused eligibility and an updated experience requirement. “These enhancements would really move the CBA to, like, a minimum requirement of a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration,” Corrigan said, adding the proposal would shift emphasis from semester units to the degree and create a more streamlined transcript review process.
Under the legislative proposal the board discussed, minimum subject-area expectations would include 24 semester units in accounting subjects, 24 in business subjects and three in ethics. The board would set the experience requirement at two years, authorize acceptance of a master's degree that may count as one year of experience, and consider specifying targeted experience pathways for certain certifications or training programs.
Corrigan said staff are drafting regulatory language to implement the proposal if the bill becomes law and are preparing a rulemaking package with a target to file by November. She told the committee that Assembly Bill 1175, introduced Feb. 21 by Assemblymember Jackie Irwin, contains the licensing enhancements and mobility provisions the board is promoting.
Corrigan also summarized current rulemaking and policy work on continuing education. The board is considering allowing several categories as nontechnical continuing education: harassment-prevention training, workplace-violence prevention, workplace-stress management, employee wellness and world languages. Staff also recommended removing the restriction on foreign-language courses and renaming “specialized industry and industry accounting” subject areas to “specialized industry knowledge.”
Other changes Corrigan reported include permitting excess hours from fraud courses to count toward overall CE requirements and clarifying the governmental-auditing renewal language so auditors still meet Yellow Book requirements while removing a separate 24-hour governmental auditing CE box on the renewal form.
Corrigan said the board reviewed public comments and staff responses on a proposed rule to clarify when firms may provide attest services if ownership is comprised solely of CPAs who only hold the general experience requirement; staff were directed to move forward with a rulemaking file to submit to the Office of Administrative Law.
The board also removed a prior five-year California-residency requirement for retired-license status, provided other retirement criteria are met, Corrigan said. She encouraged committee members to review archived meeting materials for details and noted the board's next meeting is scheduled for May 15.
Ending: Corrigan's report was informational. Committee members praised the focus on degree-based eligibility and the foreign-language CE change; no formal committee action was taken on the board's policy items.
