California Proposition 44, Regulation of Chiropractors (March 2002)

California Proposition 44 was on the March 5, 2002 statewide ballot in California as a legislatively-referred state statute, where it was approved.

Proposition 44 requires the Board of Chiropractic Examiners to revoke for ten years the license of a chiropractor who is convicted for a second time, or is convicted of multiple counts in a single case, of various specified offenses, including insurance fraud. After the ten-year period, the chiropractor may apply to the board to reinstate his or her license. Until Proposition 44 was approved, the Board of Chiropractic Examiners had discretion over which punishment to assess for the specific offenses mentioned in Proposition 44.

Proposition 44 came about because although the California State Legislature wanted to pass a reform measure to crack down on insurance fraud that applied equally to those in the medical profession (including chiropractors) and attorneys, its hands were tied as far as enacting regulations on chiropractors because of a 1922 ballot proposition, Proposition 16. Proposition 16 enshrined in the California Constitution that any change in the law that regulating chiropractors has to be approved by a vote of the people.

Election results

Proposition 44
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		3,758,718	79.8%
No		952,790	20.2%

Text of measure

Title

The ballot title was:

Chiropractors. Unprofessional Conduct. Legislative Initiative Amendment.

Question

The question on the ballot was:

"Should the Chiropractic Act be amended to alter procedures and penalties in cases of various specified offenses, including insurance fraud?"

Ballot summary

The ballot summary prepared by the Attorney General of California said:

"Amends Chiropractic Act to specify practices constituting unprofessional conduct; require investigation of licensee in certain circumstances and license revocation upon second conviction, or multiple convictions, of specified insurance fraud offenses.

Fiscal impact

See also: Fiscal impact statement

The fiscal estimate provided by the California Legislative Analyst's Office said:

• Negligible additional state costs to implement the measure's provisions.
• Potential state savings, of an unknown amount, in lower workers' compensation and Medi-Cal costs.

Path to the ballot

Proposition 44 was voted onto the ballot by the California State Legislature via Senate Bill 1988 of the 1999–2000 Regular Session (Chapter 867, Statutes of 2000).

Votes in legislature to refer to ballot
Chamber	Ayes	Noes
Assembly	63	13
Senate	13	0

See also

• California 2002 ballot propositions.

External links

• Official Voter Guide
• Smart Voter information about Prop 44
• Top 10 donors to Proposition 44
• Website of the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners
• Official declaration of the March 5, 2002 vote
• March 5, 2002 ballot proposition voter guide (PDF)
• Legislative Analyst's summary of Proposition 44