Brown Approves Law Reinstating State Registered Nursing Board
On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation (SB 98) reinstating California's Board of Registered Nursing, which was disbanded earlier this year, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports (Siders, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 2/14).
Background
Last fall, Brown vetoed a bill (SB 538) that would have extended by four years the board's powers to license and discipline California's 400,000 registered nurses. As a result, the board disbanded Jan. 1 after operating for 106 years.
SB 538 also would have made certain investigators for the board eligible for more generous pensions.
Brown wrote in his veto message that the measure made "no sense fiscally and flies in the face of much needed pension reform."
Board employees, who investigated 8,000 cases annually, joined the state Department of Consumer Affairs (California Healthline, 1/25).
Details of the New Law
The new bill that Brown signed into law reinstates the board through 2015.
It excluded language that would have expanded pension benefits for board investigators ("Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 2/14).
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