LEGISLATIVE ADVISORY: AB 282 (Aguiar-Curry). Psychologists: licensure (Effective January 1, 2024).

Assembly Bill (AB) 282 (Aguiar-Curry, Chapter 425, Statutes of 2023) was signed by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2023, and amends Business and Professions Code 2914.

Existing law requires that each applicant to the Board of Psychology (“Board”) for licensure as a psychologist must take and pass any examination required by the Board. Regulations were adopted to effectuate this statutory requirement for licensing examinations, establish eligibility criteria for each examination, and specify parameters for other examination-related processes. The required examinations are the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards' (ASPPB) Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and the California Psychology Laws and Ethics Examination (CPLEE).

This bill allows an applicant for licensure who has completed all academic coursework required for a qualifying doctoral degree to take either the EPPP or the CPLEE, or both examinations. This bill also requires the Board to implement an additional process to verify eligibility requirements if they are beyond the completion of academic coursework that are imposed by a national licensing examination entity, as specified.

This bill will change the structure of existing eligibility criteria and other examination-related processes, as specified in regulations. Amendments to existing regulations are necessary to effectuate these new criteria and efforts on a regulatory package are already underway. The Board is aiming for the regulatory amendments to be approved by the Office of Administrative Law in the fourth quarter of 2025 and to implement the new criteria as required by this bill on January 1, 2026. Subscribe to the Board’s email notification list to get email alerts on the regulatory changes related to this bill.