BILL ANALYSIS SB 314 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 30, 2009 Counsel: Nicole J. Hanson ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Juan Arambula, Chair SB 314 (Calderon) - As Amended: June 1, 2009 SUMMARY : Directs the State Controller to deduct unpaid restitution fines from a person's income tax refund; and authorizes the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB) to authorize reimbursement of more than $2,000 for a victim's relocation expenses, where the additional money is appropriate due to the unusual, dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requests the Controller to offset delinquent accounts against personal income tax refunds which have been certified by the Franchise Tax Board, in the following priority: a) The non-payment of child or family support accounts enforced by a local child support agency. b) The non-payment of child or family support accounts enforced by a person other than a local child support agency. c) The non-payment of spousal support accounts enforced by a local child support agency. d) The non-payment of spousal support accounts enforced by a person other than a local child support agency. e) The benefit overpayment accounts administered by the Employment Development Department if no signed reimbursement agreement exists, or if two consecutive payments on a reimbursement agreement are delinquent at any time. f) The other offset accounts in the priority determined by the Controller. (Government Code Section 124193.) SB 314 Page 2 2)Authorizes a cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed $2,000 to a victim for expenses incurred in relocating, if the expenses are determined by law enforcement to be necessary for the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional well-being of the victim. [Government Code Section 13957(8)(A).] 3)Directs cash payments or reimbursements to only be awarded to one claimant per crime giving rise to the relocation. VCGCB may authorize more than one relocation per crime if necessary for the personal safety or emotional well-being of the claimant. However, the total cash payment or reimbursement for all relocations due to the same crime shall not exceed $2,000. For purposes of this paragraph a claimant is the crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a person who resided with the deceased at the time of the crime. [Government Code Section 13957(8)(B).] 4)Allows VCGCB, under compelling circumstances, to award a second cash payment or reimbursement to a victim for another crime if both of the following conditions are met: a) The crime occurs more than three years from the date of the crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash payment or reimbursement. b) The crime does not involve the same offender. [Government Code Section 13957(8)(C).] FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Because victims of violent crimes are often left with physical, emotional, and financial scars, it is essential that the Victim Compensation Program (VCP) be in a position to assist victims. By assigning debts to the VCP a higher priority within the tax collecting schedule, SB 314 makes sure that the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) collects these debts in a more timely manner." 2)Background : According to information provided by the author, "The Victims' Restitution Fund receives most of its revenue SB 314 Page 3 from fines and penalties collected from criminal offenders. Continuous raiding by the Governor and/or Legislature has left the Victims Restitution Fund (housed under the VCGCB) threatened with insolvency. Under current law, State agencies may order that the FTB divert tax return money to agencies that are owed outstanding debt. Different types of debt are assigned different priority levels in order to determine their order of payment. "SB 314 puts payments to the Restitution Fund from the FTB at a higher priority than payments to other entities. The purpose of this is to restore funds as soon as possible back into the Victims Restitution Fund. Secondly, SB 314 gives VCGCB the authority to award more money than what is currently allowed for victims needing assistance with relocation assistance. The ability to award additional funds shall be done at the Board's discretion where the Board deems it to be appropriate due to extenuating circumstances." 3)Condition of the Victims of Crime Fund : (Please see charts on next page) SB 314 Page 4 2007- 2008 Financial Summary (in millions) --------------------------------------------------- |BEGINING FUND BALANCE | 136.2 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Revenue | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Restitution Fines and Fees | 63.1 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Penalty Assessments | 54.0 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Restitution Orders | 7.0 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Civil or Criminal Violations | 1.9 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Liens on Civil Suits | 1.2 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Federal VOCA Grant | 32.1 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Miscellaneous Revenue | 1.2 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Subtotal FY 2007-08 Revenue | 160.5 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Total Reserves and FY | | |2007-08 Revenue |296.7 | --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- |EXPENDITURES | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Adjusted Claims Payments | 82.1 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| SB 314 Page 5 | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Program Costs | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Salaries and Benefits | 21.7 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Joint Powers Contracts | 11.1 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Criminal Restitution Compact | 2.9 | |Contracts | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Interagency and Other | 1.8 | |Contracts | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Facilities Operations & Pro | 3.8 | |Rata | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Data Center and Processing | 4.0 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Operating Expenses | 1.5 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Total Program Costs |46.8 | | | | --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- |SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Department of Justice | 6.7 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Office of Emergency Services | 10.2 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Ten Percent Rebate Program | 5.7 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |State Controllers Office | 0.03 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |County Special Elections | 2.6 | |Costs | | |-----------------------------+---------------------| | | | SB 314 Page 6 |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Total Special Appropriations | 25.2 | |-----------------------------+---------------------| |Total Expenditures |154.1 | | | | --------------------------------------------------- ENDING FUND BALANCE 142.6 The fund balance will be reduced by more than one-half pursuant to the recent budget agreement: 2008-2009 Transfer to General Fund -80 4)Transfer of $80 Million to the General Fund from Victims Fund : As is noted at the end of the tables above, $80 million has been or will be transferred from the Victims of Crime Fund to the General Fund because of the ongoing fiscal budget crisis. Further, increased awareness of the fund by victims, better victim assistance in local agencies with "joint powers" agreements with the fund and other pressures on the fund arguably demonstrates a need for more aggressive and complete collection of restitution fines and orders. This bill will direct the Controller to deduct delinquent restitution fine amounts from a person's income tax refunds. Child, spousal and family support orders will have greater priority for deductions from a person's income tax refund. Arguably, this bill will allow more efficient and thorough collection of restitution fines without harming the dependents of persons with delinquent restitution fines. 5)Increased Relocation Expenses : Under existing laws and rules, a victim may receive a maximum of $70,000 in compensation from the compensation program. However, there are limits for specific expenses, including a maximum of $2,000 for relocation expenses. A victim can be compensated for moving twice in response to a single crime. Further, a victim who has received compensation for relocation after one crime can receive compensation for relocation where necessary after a new crime, if the second crime was committed by a different perpetrator. Arguably, circumstances will arise where a victim has reasonably incurred more than $2,000 in relocation expenses. This bill SB 314 Page 7 would allow a victim to receive more than $2,000 in reimbursement in "unusual, dire or exceptional circumstances." This bill does not entitle a crime victim to the additional reimbursement. The VCGCB would determine if such circumstances have been established. 6)Argument in Support : According to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office , "SB 314 allows the VCGCB to increase the cash payment or reimbursement for relocation if the VCGCB finds this amount is appropriate due the unusual, dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim. "By allowing for flexibility in increasing victim expenses for relocation above the $2,000 limit, SB 314 recognizes that the price of victim safety cannot be 'pigeon-holed.' The amendments in SB 314 also allow for the Controller to offset fines owed to the Victims' Restitution Fund from a convicted defendant's income tax refund. This revenue collection scheme is another avenue within government control to make sure court-ordered fines are paid and the Restitution Fund continues to be solvent to support victims' programs. "This year, the Restitution Fund was 'raided' by millions to help balance the State Budget. SB 314 would prohibit this practice. The claims' programs subcontracted by the VCGCB have not received an increase in the budget for over five years. Funds collected for the Victims' Restitutions should be earmarked to support victims and programs that assist victims." 7)Argument in Opposition : According to the Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety , "As a matter of law, a restitution order is not a community property debt. For individuals who have a restitution order, who are married and file a joint income tax return, there is no safeguard in this legislation to protect the community property interest of the innocent spouse in an income tax refund. Further, as the existing statute provides a priority for the payment of child and spousal support, an individual that is subject to a restitution order and the individual's spouse have a financial incentive to live together unmarried subject to a child support and spousal support court order to assure that any earrings and refunds are paid first for familial responsibilities pursuant to a court order rather than restitution. SB 314 Page 8 "There can be no doubt but that victims of crimes should be entitled to restitution for any loss they suffer, as should the taxpayers who may be able to recover some of the costs incurred by the criminal activity. However, restitution should not be at the expense of an innocent spouse or the children of a person subject to a restitution order. This proposal almost mandates that an individual not work, or work in a manner that does not require reporting of income, in order to support a wife and family, or survive upon social service payments. Surely, the author should not want an increased demand for social support services in order to recover such a small amount for restitution." 8)Prior Legislation : a) AB 2928 (Spitzer), Chapter 752, Statutes of 2008, allows CDCR to refer restitution awards to the FTB for collection. b) AB 105 (Cohn), Chapter 539, Statutes of 2006, provides that the VCGCB may authorize more than one reimbursement for relocation of one victim per crime if necessary for the personal safety or emotional well being of the victim. The total cash payment or reimbursement for all relocations due to the same crime shall not exceed the current $2,000. c) AB 2413 (Spitzer), Chapter 571, Statutes of 2006, creates a pilot program to allow victims of crime to be reimbursed for child care expenses incurred as a result of the crime. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Coalition Against Sexual Assault California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association Chief Probation Officers of California Crime Victims United of California Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Opposition Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety SB 314 Page 9 Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744