Optometry board touts faster licensing and new mobile/home programs; mobile clinic cap questioned

The California State Board of Optometry told a joint Assembly and Senate sunset hearing that it has overhauled licensing operations, reduced application turnaround to days, and implemented regulations to allow mobile optometric offices and home-based vision care — steps the board said will increase access to eye care for underserved children and homebound patients.

Board president Dr. Jeffrey Garcia and executive officer Gregory Pruden told the committees that licensing turnaround for new optometry graduates has fallen from about three months to less than three days for completed applications, and that continuing-education audit activity has been reconstituted (the board now samples roughly 7.5% of renewing optometrists for CE compliance). The board also has finalized regulations for two access programs: a mobile optometric office permit system and a home residence program that allows licensed optometrists to provide care to homebound patients in certain circumstances.

Mobile clinics and the cap Several legislators and public commenters — including representatives of Vision to Learn, a nonprofit that provides school-based eye exams and glasses — urged removal or expansion of a statutory cap that limits the number of mobile optometric offices an entity may obtain during the first renewal period. Witnesses said the cap was originally intended as a short-term constraint during implementation and that, by statute, the cap was intended to expire; stakeholders noted the Legislature’s original intent and asked that the cap be eliminated to serve more students in underserved areas.

Scope-of-practice and technology Senator Weber Pearson raised concerns about the board’s consideration of regulations to allow optometrists to use radio-frequency technology to treat dry eye, noting potential conflicts with earlier legislation (cited as AB 407) that restricts surgical procedures. Witnesses and commenter groups discussed modernizing optometric scope-of-practice statutes, while several legislators emphasized that any expansion should ensure training standards are equivalent to physician-level requirements for surgical procedures.

Consumer protection and retail compliance Board members acknowledged continuing compliance challenges with some corporate retail optical providers and indicated they will work with the Legislature on potential statutory changes to prevent entities from evading registration or oversight. The board also described a fund-condition challenge and a prior period of structural deficit but said a recent regulatory fee adjustment (implemented July 1, 2024) was intended to stabilize finances; the board reported a modest projected surplus for the current fiscal year but noted dynamic reserve assumptions in the staff report.

Stakeholder examples Vision to Learn and other mobile providers described hundreds to thousands of school-based exams and free eyeglass distributions in districts with limited access; public commenters and industry advocates urged the board and legislators to remove implementation obstacles so successful mobile programs can scale.

Next steps The board said it will continue outreach to community colleges and other partners to strengthen workforce pipelines, implement mobile and home-care permit processes and work with the Legislature to resolve corporate-registration and retail-compliance gaps.