Dental, Vocational Nursing Consumer Boards To Expire

A dental board, vocational nursing board and three other consumer boards will expire at the end of June 2008 if legislation is not approved to extend their charters, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Due to a constitutional prohibition, lawmakers would have to pass emergency funding this year to extend the boards past June 2008. Otherwise, the Legislature would have to approve bills next year re-establishing the existence of each board starting no earlier than 2009.

Both the Senate and Assembly adjourned at the end of September without passing SB 797 or AB 1545, two bills to extend the sunset of four consumer boards, including the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians.

Alicia Trost, spokesperson for Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland), said the move was "unintentional" and lawmakers "are working to correct this."

The dental board will expire because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed a measure (SB 534) that would have established a separate regulatory board for dental hygienists; the bill also would have reauthorized the dental board (Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, 10/18).