AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman

February 9, 2026

An act to amend Section 450.2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law establishes various boards, including advisory boards, commissions, examining committees, committees, or other similarly constituted bodies, within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations. Existing law prohibits a public member of a board from being a current or past licensee of that board or a close family member of a licensee of that board.

This bill would define “close family member” for purposes of that provision to mean a parent, stepparent, sibling, child by blood, adoption, or marriage, spouse, domestic partner, cohabitant, stepchild, immediate in-law, aunt, uncle, first cousin, grandparent, or grandchild. include a parent or a child. The bill would require each board within the department to adopt regulations consistent with these provisions that provide guidance on how to determine whether the existence of a relationship other than a parent-child relationship prohibits an individual from serving as a public member of a board.

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

SECTION 1.

Section 450.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

450.2.

(a) In order to avoid a potential for a conflict of interest, a public member of a board shall not:

(1) Be a current or past licensee of that board.

(2) Be a close family member of a licensee of that board.

(b) For purposes of this section, “close family member” means a parent, stepparent, sibling, child by blood, adoption, or marriage, spouse, domestic partner, cohabitant, stepchild, immediate in-law, aunt, uncle, first cousin, grandparent, or grandchild. includes, but is not limited to, a parent or a child.