Physical Therapy Board votes to pursue legislation to raise fee caps after budget modeling
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Summary
The Physical Therapy Board of California voted 4-0 on March 19 to ask the legislature, as part of its sunset review, to raise statutory fee caps to address a projected structural shortfall. Staff presented a driver‑based cost model and interactive dashboard showing multiple fee scenarios and reserve impacts.
The Physical Therapy Board of California voted 4-0 on March 19 to pursue legislative authority in its sunset package to raise statutory fee caps after staff warned that current fees would leave the board structurally imbalanced over the next several fiscal years.
Board President Dr. Karen Brandon opened the discussion by calling for a data‑driven review of the board’s fund condition. Department of Consumer Affairs senior fiscal adviser Matt Nishimini presented a driver‑based cost model that estimates direct and indirect costs per application and projects the board’s finances out five years. The model showed that current statutory fee caps leave the board subsidizing license processing; staff estimated a per‑application cost for some PT initial licenses in the range of several hundred dollars and projected reserves would decline under current fee levels.
Nishimini demonstrated an interactive dashboard that allowed board members to test scenarios. In staff examples, raising certain caps to $500 produced incremental annual revenue in the low hundred‑thousands; doubling current caps to $600 would produce substantially larger gains and eliminate near‑term reserve concerns under the assumptions used. Staff emphasized that raising statutory caps would only provide legislative authority; any actual fee increases would require a separate regulatory rulemaking and stakeholder engagement.
Board members discussed implementation issues, including accounting (pro rata) impacts, timing with the board’s biannual renewal cycle, potential barriers to entry for applicants, and the operating costs passed through by outside entities such as the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Administrative Hearings. Executive Officer Jason Kaiser and staff said the board could pursue a staggered approach if it preferred and reminded members that the legislative change — if enacted — would not become effective until January 1, 2027, and that regulatory processes could take 8–16 months thereafter.
After questions and public comment, the board considered a motion to pursue amendments to Business and Professions Code §2688 as part of its sunset review to raise caps on specified application, initial license and renewal fees (the draft language presented included examples of caps up to $600 for some fee types). The motion authorized the executive officer to confer with legislators regarding the language. The vote was taken by roll call with four affirmative votes, the motion carried 4-0.
Stacy DeFeo, executive director of the California Physical Therapy Association, spoke during the public comment period and said her organization appreciated the transparency of the financial presentation and remained neutral while it monitors the next steps and engages in future regulatory proceedings.
The board left open the details of which exact fees would be adjusted and in what order; staff will return to the board with more specific regulatory proposals if legislative authority is obtained. For now, the board’s formal action was to request legislative authority in the sunset bill package and to authorize staff to coordinate with legislators and stakeholders.
