Board approves corrected minutes, establishes two‑member work group to study dispensing‑optician committee

The California State Board of Optometry on Feb. 14 approved corrected meeting minutes from Dec. 6, 2024, and voted to establish a two‑member work group to study the structure and purpose of the statutorily created Dispensing Optician Committee (DOC).

Minutes: The board considered agenda item 4, approval of minutes from the Dec. 6, 2024 meeting. Doctor Wong moved to approve the minutes as corrected; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll‑call vote. The board asked staff to correct a misspelled name in the minutes (Brad Garding, enforcement manager), and Secretary Bragg performed the roll call for the approval vote.

Dispensing Optician Committee (DOC): The DOC was created by the Legislature when opticianry moved to the board in 2017 and is a statutory advisory body made up of appointees rather than a board‑created committee. Board members noted the DOC had not met since April 2021 because it lacked a quorum and discussed whether the statutory committee remains the best vehicle for opticianry input.

After discussion, the board voted to authorize President Garcia to appoint a two‑member work group to investigate the DOC’s future role and report back to the full board. The motion to create the work group was made and seconded; the board approved it by roll‑call vote. The motion authorized the president to name two board members to the work group; the board did not at this meeting name the two designees publicly. The work group will coordinate with staff and stakeholders and prepare options for the board to consider during the upcoming sunset review process.

Tabling of opticianry rulemaking: Board staff said an item to adopt opticianry disciplinary guidelines would be brought back at a future meeting because additional work was needed. The board agreed to table that proposed rulemaking and revisit it at the April meeting.

Why it matters: The DOC’s statutory status means the Legislature and sunset reviewers commonly ask the board about its membership, quorum and function. The two‑member work group is intended to produce options the board can use when answering sunset review questions and when considering whether to recommend statutory changes or to adopt an internal board committee model.

Next steps: Staff will post corrected minutes and the board president will appoint the two work‑group members. The work group will report back at a future meeting, and staff will return the opticianry rulemaking package after additional revisions.