SB 861: Updates to Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensing Regulations
October 10, 2025
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The Frame
This bill changes the administrative requirements and fee structures for several licensed professions in California, directly impacting how contractors, dental hygienists, and private postsecondary schools operate and report information to the state.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Dental hygienists
The bill changes the fee caps for their professional license applications and initial licensure.
Contractors
Inactive contractors are exempted from workers' compensation requirements, and the process for paying investigation fees is modified.
Private postsecondary students
Institutions are required to provide updated catalogs and performance fact sheets before enrollment.
Shorthand reporters
The accuracy requirement for their qualifier examination is lowered from 97.5% to 95%.
Last recorded activity October 10, 2025.
Introduced.
Summary
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this bill affect dental hygiene licensing fees?
Do inactive contractors still need workers' compensation insurance?
What changes for private postsecondary students?
Why It Matters
This bill changes the administrative requirements and fee structures for several licensed professions in California, directly impacting how contractors, dental hygienists, and private postsecondary schools operate and report information to the state.
News Coverage
Lobbying Activity
ADVOCAL
on behalf of CALIFORNIA CASKET RETAILERS ASSOCIATION
SACRAMENTO ADVOCATES INC.
on behalf of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF AUDIOLOGY
RICHARD ROBINSON & ASSOCIATES INC.
on behalf of KPMG LLP
RICHARD ROBINSON & ASSOCIATES INC.
on behalf of ERNST & YOUNG LLP
RICHARD ROBINSON & ASSOCIATES INC.
on behalf of DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
RICHARD ROBINSON & ASSOCIATES INC.
on behalf of ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP
OCHOA & SILLAS
on behalf of COALITION FOR NATURAL HEALTH THE
ROSE & KINDEL
on behalf of CALIFORNIA PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
KAHL/POWNALL ADVOCATES
on behalf of COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
BGR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
on behalf of AFFIRM, INC.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Regulatory Cleanup
The bill demonstrates a broad effort to standardize and update language across multiple, disparate professional licensing boards simultaneously.
Connected Entities
Sources
openstates.org
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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