BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2051
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 17, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
AB 2051 (Cohn) - As Amended: April 19, 2006
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:6-2
Public Safety 4-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill establishes training and services for lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) victims of domestic violence,
and funds these services with revenues from a fee for same-sex
domestic partners who register with the state pursuant to
current law. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes a $23 fee (above the current $10 fee) for persons
of the same-sex registering as domestic partners with the
Secretary of State (SOS). The fee is to be used for the
development and support of an LGBT curriculum for training on
domestic violence, to support service providers who serve the
LGBT community, printing and distribution of an LGBT-specific
domestic abuse brochure, and grants to provide services to
victims of LGBT domestic abuse.
2)Requires the fee to be deposited in the newly-created Equality
in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund, which
would be continuously appropriated and administered by the
Department of Health Services (DHS).
3)Requires the SOS to provide same-sex couples with an LGBT
domestic abuse brochure, along with their Certificate of
Registered Domestic Partnership.
4)Requires the Maternal and Child Health Branch of DHS, which
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issues grants to battered women's shelters to provide
emergency shelter for women and their children escaping family
violence, to include grants to underserved communities,
including the LGBT community.
5)Requires that the training program required for law
enforcement officers on the handling of domestic violence
complaints, as required to be developed by the Commission on
Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST), be expanded to
include instruction on the nature and extent of domestic
violence in the LGBT community.
6)Requires that statewide training workshops on domestic
violence conducted by the Office of Emergency Services (OES)
include a curriculum on LGBT domestic abuse.
7)Requires DHS, using funds from the Equality in Prevention and
Services for Domestic Abuse Fund, to develop and disseminate
an LGBT-specific domestic abuse brochure and administer a
program of grants that support LGBT victims of domestic
violence.
AB 2051
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual increased fee revenues, for domestic partnership
registrations, of about $140,000 based on about 6,000 new
registrations annually.
2)One-time costs of around $50,000 for the SOS to establish the
new fee collection process for same-sex domestic partner
registrants.
3)Absorbable costs to POST to incorporate LGBT-related domestic
violence into the existing domestic violence training program
and for the additional law enforcement training.
4)Costs to DHS for printing and distributing the brochure and
for administering the new grant program and providing grants
are unknown, but could be around $2 million annually for a
viable grant program.
5)One-time costs of around $50,000 for OES to develop curriculum
on LGBT domestic violence for its training workshops.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . In support of this bill, which is sponsored by
Equality California, the author writes, "This bill will ensure
that LGBT victims of intimate partner abuse have access to
culturally appropriate education and services that encourage
them to break the cycle of violence. . . . From a community
perspective, many LGBT victims are afraid to access shelter
services for fear of "outing" themselves or being further
harmed by service providers who lack the understanding and
sensitivity to meet their needs. Gay male and transgender
victims may feel particularly uncomfortable at a women's
shelter. LGBT victims of domestic violence are much more
likely to seek safe havens at community centers and
organizations that cater directly to the LGBT community. In
addition, law enforcement, domestic violence shelters and
other providers require better training to serve LGBT victims,
especially in parts of the state that do not have
LGBT-specific organizations."
There is no government source that systematically reports LGBT
domestic violence and statistics on the rate of abuse in the
LGBT community. However, a number of studies have reviewed the
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prevalence of domestic violence in the gay and lesbian
community. It appears that, while there are not sufficient
data on which to draw firm conclusions, the prevalence of
domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships is
comparable to the prevalence in heterosexual relationships.
(Gregory Merrill and Valerie Wolfe, Battered Gay Men: An
Exploration of Abuse, Help Seeking, and Why They Stay, Journal
of Homosexuality (2000).)
2)Opposition . The Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women, the
National Coalition of Free Men and several individuals oppose
the bill because, they argue, it discriminates against men.
While this bill, by adding in training and services for
victims of LGBT domestic violence, purports to be about
inclusion, it ignores male victims of domestic violence who
have been battered by women.
The author responds that this bill only addresses the narrow
issue of domestic abuse in the LGBT community, and does not
seek to any possible shortcomings or inconsistencies in
current law.
3)Costs Outweigh Revenues . As shown above, the revenue generated
by the increased registration fees falls far short of what
would be needed to adequately fund the other requirements of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081