BILL ANALYSIS
SB 641
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 641 (Corbett)
As Amended May 20, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
JUDICIARY 10-0
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Tran, Brownley, | | |
| |Evans, Jones, Knight, | | |
| |Krekorian, Lieu, Monning, | | |
| |Silva | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Continues the State Bar's authority to assess and
collect dues from licensed attorneys in California in order to
support the State Bar's operations, including discipline.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the State Bar to continue to collect active
membership dues of up to $410 for the year 2010, maintaining
2009 dues levels.
2)Provides that the State Bar shall have a preference for using
in-house employees for information technology (IT) projects,
whenever possible. Further provides that nothing in the bill
shall be read to be inconsistent with any memorandum of
understanding between the State Bar and the recognized
employee organizations or any relevant principles of labor
law.
3)Increases the State Bar's informal bid contracting authority
limits from $50,000 to $100,000 for contracts for IT goods
and/or services, as specified.
4)Requires the State Bar to report to the Senate and Assembly
Judiciary Committees on or before April 1, 2010, and annually
thereafter, on the impact of the changes made per 3) above.
In addition to a description of the impact of those changes,
the report shall include, with specificity, the following: 1)
the projects that previously would have been required to
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comply with Article 4 (commencing with Section 10335) of
Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code,
but are no longer subject to that requirement because the
contract amount is between $50,000 and $100,000; and, 2)
whether the changes have improved the efficiency of the
contracting process. This provision sunsets on January 1,
2014.
5)Provides that the fees paid by limited liability partnerships
(LLPs) and law corporations to the State Bar shall be used for
its regulatory and disciplinary purposes.
6)Provides that at the time of filing an Application for
Issuance of a Certificate of Registration as a LLP pursuant to
the Rules of the State Bar, an applicant for registration
shall also file with the State Bar a separate form stating
that the limited liability partnership has complied with the
security requirements described in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 16956 of the Corporations Code.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires all attorneys who practice law in California to be
members of the State Bar and establishes the State Bar for the
purpose of regulating the legal profession. Pursuant to the
State Bar Act, the annual mandatory membership fee set by the
State Bar's Board of Governors to pay for discipline and other
functions must be ratified by the Legislature.
2)Authorizes the State Bar to collect $315 in annual membership
fees from active members for a total annual dues bill of $410
for the year 2009. The other $95 is pursuant to statutory
authorization to assess annually the following fees: $40 for
the Client Security Fund; $25 for disciplinary activities; $10
to fund the Lawyer Assistance Program; $10 special assessment
to fund information technology upgrades (expires January 1,
2011); and, $10 for the Building Fund (expires January 1,
2014).
3)Authorizes the State Bar to collect $75 in annual membership
fees from inactive members for a total annual dues bill of
$125 for the year 2009. The other $50 is pursuant to
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statutory authorization to assess annually the following fees:
$10 for the Client Security Fund; $25 for disciplinary
activities; $5 to fund the Lawyer Assistance Program; and, $10
for the Building Fund (expires January 1, 2014).
4)Prohibits the use by the State Bar of mandatory dues to fund
political and ideological activities, as a violation of a
member's First Amendment freedom of speech rights, where such
expenditures were not necessarily or reasonably incurred for
the purpose of regulating the legal profession or improving
the quality of the legal services available to the people of
the state. Existing law allows members to deduct up to $10
from the mandatory dues if the member does not wish to fund
legislative activities and non-Keller lobbying and activities
with his or her dues. (Keller v. State Bar of California
(1990) 496 U.S. 1.)
5)Requires LLPs and law corporations to register with the State
Bar.
6)Prohibits the State Bar from awarding a contract for goods
and/or services for more than $50,000 unless it complies with
specified public contracting requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Authorizes the State Bar to collect annual membership
fees for 2010, keeping with the typical approach of an annual
dues authorization bill to ensure the State Bar is appropriately
funded and provide helpful and appropriate legislative oversight
of the State Bar's many important functions. The bill
authorizes the State Bar to continue to collect active
membership dues of up to $410 for the year 2010, maintaining
2009 dues levels. It would also clarify that the State Bar can
deposit fees collected from law corporations and limited
liability companies in the State Bar's general fund to be used
for regulatory and disciplinary purposes. This change is
intended to assist the State Bar in its non-dues revenue
adjustments to help ensure that it can fulfill its public
protection and member services roles. This bill would also
increase the State Bar's informal bid contracting authority
limits from $50,000 to $100,000 for IT contracts only. The
increased threshold for these contracts is intended to help
provide the State Bar with greater flexibility.
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As of May 1, 2009, the State Bar had 164,392 active members and
46,589 inactive members, which represents a slight annual
increase in both active members and inactive members. Total
State Bar membership is listed at 222,146, which includes 2,015
Judge members and 9,150 members who are "Not Eligible to
Practice Law."
Existing law prohibits the use by the State Bar of mandatory
dues to fund political and ideological activities, as a
violation of a member's First Amendment freedom of speech
rights, where such expenditures are not necessarily or
reasonably incurred for the purpose of regulating the legal
profession or improving the quality of the legal services
available to the people of the state (Keller). Current law also
allows members to deduct $5 from their current dues if they do
not want their dues used by the State Bar to lobby on
legislation outside the limits of Keller, and limits the State
Bar's expenditures on non-Keller lobbying and related activities
to an amount raised by members paying the "$5 voluntary dues,"
as specified by a formula. Thus, consistent with existing law,
the membership dues authorized by this bill will fund only
mandatory programs of the State Bar, and any member may deduct
$5 from dues if the member does not wish to fund "non-Keller"
activities of the State Bar.
This bill would maintain the current $410 annual membership dues
level for active members for 2009. For several reasons, the
author believes that a flat dues bill for 2010 appears
appropriate.
Active member dues levels have increased slightly over the years
as follows: $250 (1999); $395 (2000); $345 (2001); $390 (2002);
$395 (2006); $400 (2007); and, $410 (2009) (the 2009 amount
includes a $10 building fund assessment to be used for the
construction, purchase, or lease of a facility in southern
California).
The State Bar has indicated that it is planning to implement the
following cost reduction measures: 1) defund 46 vacant
positions totaling a 9% workforce reduction (saves $4 to $5
million annually); 2) end General Fund subsidy of the Lawyer's
Assistance Fund and implement plans to reduce funding to the
statutory minimum (saves approximately $300,000 in 2010 and
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increasing in future years); and, 3) end the print edition of
the CalBar Journal in 2010 (saves approximately $1.1 million
annually).
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0001567