Amended  IN  Senate  June 07, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  May 23, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 29, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 342

Introduced by Assembly Member Valencia
(Coauthor: Assembly Member McKinnor)

January 31, 2023

An act to add Sections 5552.2 and 11347 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 342, as amended, Valencia. Architects and real estate appraisers: applicants and licensees: demographic information.
Existing law, the Architects Practice Act, establishes the California Architects Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of persons engaged in the practice of architecture. Existing law, the Real Estate Appraisers’ Licensing and Certification Law, establishes the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers in the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate real estate appraisers.
This bill would authorize the California Architects Board and the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers to request that a licensee identify their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity when an initial license is issued or at the time of license renewal. The bill would require the board and the bureau to maintain the confidentiality of the information and would prohibit the board and the bureau from requiring a licensee to provide the information as a condition of licensure or license renewal. The bill would authorize the board and the bureau to publish the aggregate demographic data they collect on their internet websites. The bill, beginning January 1, 2025, would require the board and the bureau to submit the aggregate demographic data they collect to the department and would require the department to post the information on the department’s internet website.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 5552.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

5552.2.
 (a) The board may request that a licensee identify their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. The data may be requested when an initial license is issued or at the time of license renewal.
(b) The board shall maintain the confidentiality of the information it receives from a licensee under this section and shall only release the information in an aggregate form that cannot be used to identify an individual.
(c) A licensee shall not be required to provide the information specified in subdivision (a) as a condition of licensure or license renewal, and a licensee shall not be subject to discipline for not providing the information specified in subdivision (a).
(d) The board may publish the aggregate demographic data that it collects pursuant to this section on its internet website.
(e) Beginning January 1, 2025, the board shall submit the aggregate demographic data that it collects pursuant to this section to the department. The department shall post the information provided by the board on the department’s website.

SEC. 2.

 Section 11347 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

11347.
 (a) The board bureau may request that a licensee identify their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. The data may be requested when an initial license is issued or at the time of license renewal.
(b) The board bureau shall maintain the confidentiality of the information it receives from a licensee under this section and shall only release the information in an aggregate form that cannot be used to identify an individual.
(c) A licensee shall not be required to provide the information specified in subdivision (a) as a condition of licensure or license renewal, and a licensee shall not be subject to discipline for not providing the information specified in subdivision (a).
(d) The board bureau may publish the aggregate demographic data that it collects pursuant to this section on its internet website.
(e) Beginning January 1, 2025, the board bureau shall submit the aggregate demographic data that it collects pursuant to this section to the department. The department shall post the information provided by the board bureau on the department’s website.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 1 and 2 of this act, which add Sections 5552.2 and 11347 to the Business and Professions Code, impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
In order to protect the privacy of licensees, while also gathering useful workforce data, it is necessary that some information collected from licensees only be released in aggregate form. In order to protect private and confidential information, it is necessary for that information to remain confidential.