03/06/1997 01:35 PM Senate L&C

               SB  88 BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY                             
                                                                              
  CHAIRMAN LEMAN  announced  SB 88  to be up for consideration.                
                                                                               
  MS. REARDON  explained that SB 88 extends the Board of Public                
 Accountancy and also reflects a number of audit recommendations. It           
 extends the Board until 2003 and Section 2 deletes a sentence that            
 indicated a board member could have two complete terms because that           
 conflicted with the central licensing statute which says you can              
 only have parts of two terms.                                                 
                                                                               
 The rest of the section removes a confusing aspect of the statute             
 which has never really been applied.  It seemed to indicate that in           
 order to practice as an accountant, you needed both a license and             
 a permit to practice.  In fact, you only need a license.  There was           
 also reference to an annual permit or fee and under the centralized           
 licensing statute all Division licenses are issued for two years.             
 So this is clarified.                                                         
                                                                               
 The repealer in Section 7 repeals statutory reference to temporary            
 accountancy licenses which haven't been issued and appear                     
 unnecessary.                                                                  
                                                                               
  MS. THOMAS  said she had no objections to the bill as written.               
                                                                               
  MR. CHARLES GRIFFIN,  Chairman, Board of Public Accountancy, said            
 the Board concurs with all the major recommendations.  The only               
 thing is there appears to be some shortcomings in the review                  
 process.  Some members feel that the boards should be a bit more              
 autonomous.  CHAIRMAN LEMAN commented that he agreed with him and             
 said he had talked with Ms. Reardon about that topic.  He suggested           
 that it be dealt with in a separate bill.                                     
                                                                               
  SENATOR MACKIE  moved to delete "2003" and insert "2001."  There             
 were no objections and it was adopted.                                        
                                                                               
  SENATOR MACKIE  moved to pass CSSB 88(L&C) from committee with               
 individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note.  There           
 were no objections and it was so ordered.