June 18, 2002 - Sacramento - SB 1951 passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on a 9-1 vote. The California acupuncture profession asked for specific amendments to the bill, while our adversaries, the Council of Colleges, supported the bill as is. Senator Figueroa eventually accepted amendments proposed by Assembly Member Wyman on behalf of the profession to require that studies be conducted by the Little Hoover Commission, and independent government policy commission.

Oppose-unless-amended testimony was provided by representatives of the acupuncturist profession and one school (South Baylo), and support-if-amended testimony was provided by the Acupuncture Board. All requested specific amendments to SB 1951, such as a budget, faculty board member qualifications, etc. Senator Figueroa made it clear that she had no intentions of changing the language of bill, discounting or ignoring most of our very reasonable suggestions, as she had done for the past two months, and during the proceedings of the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee that she chaired, and which was sponsoring SB 1951.

Immediately preceeding the hearing on SB 1951 was the hearing on SB 1950, the Medical Board's sunrise legislation. Senator Figueroa, the Medical Board, and physicians' organizations testified that they had been meeting and working together for the past few weeks to work out some compromise language for them, but had clearly not come to any final agreements. SB 1950 passed on condition that Figueroa would continue to work with the medical board and their profession. No such willingness or agreement to work with our profession or board was forthcoming, and an patchwork agenda continued to be moved forward with little respect for the expert opinions of profession or the board they were to effect.

Committee members Wyman, Koretz, and Cardenas seemed to be aware of Figueroa's single-mindedness, and asked her for some clarifications, such as how the passage of SB 1943 (Chu) would interfere or conflict with the passage of SB 1951, as she had claimed. Initially referencing AB 1943  as "the opposing bill" in her testimony, Figueroa was unable to provide any evidence to support that statement, and eventually conceded that SB 1951 (Figueroa) and AB 1943 (Chu) actually would not conflict in implementation. She also agreed to set a hearing date for AB 1943 in the Senate Business and Professions Committee. Members of the committee questioned the ability of the Department of Consumer Affairs to hire a truly "independent" consultant, given the Department's history of mysterious and unnecessary delays with processing the Acupuncture Board's regulatory proposals the past two years.

Realizing that her bill would be left for dead in committee, Figueroa agreed to amendments offered by Assembly Member Wyman, which would specifically assign the review of scope of practice, curriculum, school approval, and examination, to the Little Hoover Commission instead of a "consultant" hired by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The Little Hoover Commission is an independent, bipartisan state commission appointed by the Governor and the Legislature, which studies issues presented to it by the Governor and the Legislature. Wyman had previously served on the Commission. However, when the vote was finally called, most committee members declined to vote at all, apparently wanting time to consult with each other off the record.

In the hallway, Senator Figueroa was confronted by acupuncturists who asked her why she did not want to work with the profession. Figueroa's response was to tell them that she would simply sunset the Acupuncture Board if the profession didn't accept her bill the way she wrote it, and get her some votes on the committee. Some lively discourse ensured. However, the matter was soon taken out of everyone's hands as Wyman and other committee members decided that the Little Hoover Commission amendment was satisfactory, and upon opening up the vote again, the Committee voted SB 1951 out by 9-1. The agreement was that SB 1951 would be amended and watched by members who also served on the Health Committee where the bill would proceed next week.

Next stop for SB 1951: Assembly Health Committee