BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2291|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2291
Author: Mendoza (D)
Amended: 8/4/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 5-2, 6/25/08
AYES: Oropeza, Cogdill, Alquist, Scott, Wiggins
NOES: Machado, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: McClintock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-10, 5/15/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Income tax check-off: Municipal Shelter
Spay-Neuter Fund
SOURCE : Concerned Dog Owners
DIGEST : This bill adds the Municipal Shelter Fund as a
Voluntary Contributin on the Personal Income Tax Form.
ANALYSIS : Existing law allows taxpayers to contribute
(not tax liabilities) to one or more of the 11 voluntary
contribution funds listed on the state personal income tax
return.
Each voluntary contribution fund must meet a minimum annual
contribution of $250,000. The minimum contribution amount
does not apply to the California Seniors Special Fund, the
CONTINUED
AB 2291
Page
2
California Firefighters Memorial Fund, and the California
Peace Officer Foundation Memorial Fund. This minimum
contribution amount is adjusted annually for inflation for
all voluntary contribution funds, except for those
referenced above, and the California Fund for Senior
Citizens. Except for the California Seniors Special Fund,
each voluntary contribution fund has a sunset date.
This bill allows taxpayers to designate on their tax
returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax
liability be transferred to the Municipal Shelter
Spay-Neuter Fund, which will be created by this bill.
However, the bill provides that a voluntary contribution
designation for this fund may not be added on the tax
return until another voluntary contribution designation is
removed from the return.
This bill provides that all money contributed to the fund
pursuant to these provisions, upon appropriations by the
Legislature, be allocate to the Franchise Tax Board and the
Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and to
the Department of Food and Agriculture for distribution of
grants to eligible municipal shelters on a first-come-first
-served basis, as specified for the purposes of providing
low cost or free spay-neuter services and for
administrative cost. This bill requires eligible municipal
shelters, in order to receive a grant, to file an
application with the Department of Food and Agriculture, as
specified.
This bill provides that these voluntary contribution
provisions are repealed on either January 1 of the 5th
taxable year following the taxable year the fund first
appears on the personal income tax return, or on January 1
of an earlier calendar year, if the Franchise Tax Board
estimates that the annual contribution amount will be less
than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable
years.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
The Franchise Tax Board estimates no fiscal impact for
fiscal year 2008-09 and revenue losses of less than
CONTINUED
AB 2291
Page
3
$150,000 in fiscal year 2009-10 and 2010-11.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/7/08)
Concerned Dog Owners (source)
American Kennel Club
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Animal Switchboard
Atherton Acres, Boarding and Training Kennels
Cairn Terrier Club of Northern California
California Animal Association
California Animal Control Directors Association
California Federation for Animal Legislation
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California State Association of Counties
Golden Gate Pembroke Welsh Corgi Fanciers, Inc.
International Humane Association of California
Irish Terrier Club of America
League of California Cities
Norcal Golden Retriever Club
Northern California Pug Club
Pembroke Welsh Corgie Club of Southern California
Portuguese Water Dog Club of Northern California
Redwood Belgian Tervuren Club
Sacramento Sierra St. Bernard Club
San Lorenzo Dog Training Club, Inc.
South Bay Collie Fanciers, Inc.
State Humane Association
The Humane Society of the United States
Tien-Shan Pugs
United Animal Nations
Working Riensenschnauzer Federation
Yorkshire Terrier Club of Los Angeles
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/7/08)
Animal Issues Movement
PetPac
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill creates the Municipal Spay-Neuter Fund, and place
a check-off box on the State Income Tax Form for taxpayers
to voluntarily donate to this fund. Each year almost one
million health dogs and cats are born in California. Many
CONTINUED
AB 2291
Page
4
of these animals find themselves without a home and are
unfortunately euthanized. One way to help ease this
problem is by encouraging people to spay or neuter their
animals. We know that one major hurdle to this effort is
the cost of Spay-Neuter services. Currently, sterilization
of cats can range from $60 to $150 while the costs for dogs
can range from $200 to $450. For lower income Californians
this is a difficult expenditure. Studies show the primary
reasons people do not sterilize their pets are cost and
lack of access to spay/neuter services. The higher the
cost, the lower the rate of compliance will be. The "Low
Cost/Free Spay Neuter Fund" allows willing Californians to
donate money to help increase access to Spay-Neuter
services for low income Californians.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Arambula, Beall, Berg, Brownley,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis,
De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani,
Garcia, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Keene, Krekorian, Laird, Leno,
Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mendoza, Nava, Nunez,
Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer,
Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Wolk, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, DeVore, Gaines,
Huff, La Malfa, Nakanishi, Niello, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Benoit, Dymally, Garrick, Karnette,
Mullin, Soto
DLW:do 8/8/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED