Amended  IN  Assembly  March 14, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2702

Introduced by Assembly Member Chen

February 14, 2024

An act to add Article 8 (commencing with Section 1330) to Chapter 3 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2702, as amended, Chen. Schools Training programs for clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians: grants.
Existing law establishes a State Department of Public Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law requires the department to license and regulate clinical laboratories and various clinical laboratory personnel, including medical laboratory technicians. Existing law prohibits a person from operating a school, as defined, or conducting any course for the purpose of training or preparing persons to perform duties subject to those provisions, as specified, without having first secured the approval of the department. Existing law imposes on the department specified duties related to the approval and regulation of schools and clinical laboratory scientist programs for instruction in clinical laboratory technique.
This bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a grant program to provide funding to schools training programs that both offer training programs for clinical laboratory scientists or medical laboratory technicians, and are approved by the department or accredited by a recognized accrediting program approved by the department. The bill would also authorize the department to award grants to those schools training programs in the amount of no more than $600,000, to be used within 3 years of receiving a grant.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Article 8 (commencing with Section 1330) is added to Chapter 3 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
Article  8. Clinical Laboratory Training Grant Program

1330.
 (a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department may establish a grant program to provide funding to schools training programs that meet both of the following criteria:
(1) Offer training programs for clinical laboratory scientists or medical laboratory technicians.
(2) Are approved by the department or accredited by a recognized accrediting program approved by the department.
(b) The department may award grants to schools training programs in the amount of no more than six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000), to be used within three years of receiving a grant.