Department of Consumer Affairs Further Extends Series of Licensing Waivers Pertaining to the Medical Board of California During State of Emergency and Prioritizes Complaints Against Licensees Who Divert COVID-19 Vaccines

By Ellen Williams In December 2020 and January 2021, Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Director, Kimberly Kirchmeyer, issued a series of orders extending the deadlines for licensing waivers issued as a result of Governor Newsom’s March 30, 2020 State of Continue reading

State Bar of California Board of Trustees Postpones Consideration of Creating New Rule of Professional Conduct Concerning Campaign Contributions and Prosecutorial Conflicts

By Kirstin Jensvold-Rumage  On January 22, 2021, the State Bar of California Board of Trustees voted to defer creation of a new Rule of Professional Conduct or Ethics Opinion related to law enforcement unions’ financial contributions to prosecutorial campaigns, and Continue reading

OAL Approves California Board of Accountancy’s Peer Review Reporting Regulations

By Connor Greth On December 3, 2020, approved CBA’s proposal to amend section 45, Title 16 of the CCR, to clarify that only accounting firms, as opposed to individual licensees, are required to report peer review information to the Board. Continue reading

Dental Board Announces That Dentists Can Administer Covid-19 Vaccine

By Jonathan Greenbergs On January 4, 2021, the Dental Board of California (DBC) published an announcement from the Department of Consumer Affairs(DCA), DCA Waiver DCA-21-104, which waives restrictions on dentists from ordering and administering COVID-19 vaccines. To order or administer Continue reading

California Department of Insurance Proposes Regulation to Increase Transparency of Dental Benefits Coverage

By: Jennifer Wilczynski On January 19, 2021, the California Department of Insurance (DOI) filed a request for adoption of emergency regulations regarding the Summary of Dental Benefits and Coverage Disclosure Matrix (SDBC) with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Prior Continue reading

Former Executive Director Files Lawsuit Against the California Public Utilities Commission

By: Madison Orcutt On December 4, 2020, the former executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Alice Stebbins, filed a complaint against the Commission in the San Francisco Superior Court (Alice Stebbins v. California Public Utilities Commission, et Continue reading

Nurses Contend with the Suspension of Regulatory Nurse-to-Patient Ratios

By Kendra J. Muller On December 11, 2020, and again on January 24, 2021, Heidi W. Steinecker, Deputy Director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), announced a suspension of regulatory enforcement for hospitals that is valid until March Continue reading

Attorney General of California Files Lawsuit Against the U.S. Department of Education for Alleged Rollback of Federal Oversight of For-Profit Schools

By Madison Beck On January 15, 2021, in People of the State of California v. United States Department of Education, et al., Case No. 21-cv-00384 (N.D. Cal), Xavier Becerra, the Attorney General of California, filed a complaint on behalf of Continue reading

Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to License Debt Collectors and Buyers

By Stephanie Mendivil SB 908 (Wieckowski), as amended August 24, 2020, amends sections 1788.11 and 1788.52 of the Civil Code, and adds Division 25 to the Financial Code, titled “Debt Collection Licensing Act,” relating to debt collectors. Specifically, the bill Continue reading

Legislature Enacts California Consumer Financial Protection Law and Reorganizes and Renames the Department of Business Oversight As the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation  

By Stephanie Mendivil On September 25, 2020, Governor Newsom signed a series of bills to establish a California consumer financial protection watchdog agency, modeled after the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that is designed to expand the state’s authority and Continue reading