BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 391
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 391 (Pan)
          As Amended  June 7, 2012
          2/3 vote.  Urgency
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |     |(June 1, 2011)  |SENATE: |35-0 |(June 14,      |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2012)          |
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                     (vote not relevant)

          Original Committee Reference:    L.& E.  

           SUMMARY  :   Establishes the process and fee schedule to implement 
          a single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system for 
          pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers as specified administered by 
          the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

           The Senate amendments  delete the Assembly version of this bill, 
          and instead:

          1)Authorize the DOJ, in consultation with local law enforcement, 
            to develop a single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting 
            system.

          2)Provide until the single, statewide, uniform electronic 
            reporting system is implemented for information to be reported 
            by the current paper format. 

          3)Authorize for 30 days, that the DOJ implements the single, 
            statewide, uniform electronic reporting system, dealers shall 
            continue to report on paper form.

          4)Require a coin dealer who makes more than 10 transactions per 
            week to electronically report using the single, statewide, 
            uniform electronic reporting system.

          5)Provide that the secondhand dealer and pawnbroker licensing 
            authority, as specified, shall collect a fee not to exceed the 
            actual costs incurred to process the application and transmit 
            the fee to the DOJ. 

          6)Revise the requirements for a secondhand dealer's renewal 
            application.









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          7)Require each applicant for initial license and renewal license 
            to pay a fee not to exceed $300, as specified, to the DOJ.

          8)Provide that the fees assessed shall be no more than necessary 
            to cover reasonable and regulatory costs to the DOJ for the 
            following:

             a)   Processing initial license applications; 

             b)   Processing renewal applications; and,

             c)   Implementing, operating and maintaining the single, 
               statewide, uniform electronic reporting system.

          9)Provide that within 120 days of the effective date of this 
            bill, all licensees holding a license issued before the 
            effective date of this bill, shall pay a fee not to exceed 
            $288 to DOJ.

          10)Establish the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Fund, as 
            specified. 

          11)Require an applicant to submit fingerprint images and related 
            information required by the DOJ for the purposes of obtaining 
            specified criminal history. 

          12)Authorize the DOJ to charge a fee to cover the costs of 
            processing the criminal record check process.

          13)Add an urgency clause.
           
          EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Defines "secondhand dealer" to include any person, 
            co-partnership, firm, or corporation whose business includes 
            buying, selling, trading, taking in pawn, accepting for sale 
            on consignment, accepting for auctioning, or auctioning 
            secondhand tangible personal property.

          2)Requires every secondhand dealer or coin dealer to report 
            daily, to local law enforcement or on the first working day 
            after receipt or purchase of the property, on specified forms 
            approved by the DOJ, all tangible personal property, except 
            for firearms, taken in trade, taken in pawn, accepted for sale 
            on consignment, or accepted for auctioning. 








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          3)Establishes identification requirements for the intended 
            seller or pledger of the property and requires it be verified 
            by the person taking the information, as specified.

          4)Authorizes law enforcement to accept applications and grant a 
            license permitting the licensee to engage in the business of 
            secondhand dealer, as defined, to an applicant who has not 
            been convicted of an attempt to receive stolen property or any 
            other offense involving stolen property.

          5)Establishes specified requirements for a coin dealer who 
            engages in less than 10 transactions each week in which he or 
            she has purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, accepted for 
            sale or consignment, or accepted for auctioning tangible 
            personal property.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill required the Employment 
          Development Department (EDD), on or before July 1, 2012, to 
          provide in-person unemployment benefit assistance in five of the 
          comprehensive state one-stop career centers.  It further 
          provided that the unemployment benefit services would be funded 
          with existing monies available to the EDD for the administration 
          of the unemployment insurance compensation program.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee:

          One-time costs of $1.2 million (Special Fund) to the DOJ in 
          2012-13 to develop the electronic reporting system, to be offset 
          through the collection of a combination of fees, both from a 
          new/renewal license fee of $300 and a one-time fee of $288 
          imposed on pre-existing licensees. The DOJ estimates $1,382,000 
          in fees will be collected from an estimated 4,800 licensees 
          statewide within 120 days of the bill's enactment.  Additional 
          time may be required for sufficient funding to be available to 
          initiate development of the system to the extent there are fewer 
          licensees statewide. 

          Ongoing costs of $691,000 (Special Fund) in 2013-14 and 
          thereafter to the DOJ to operate and maintain the electronic 
          reporting system, to be offset by biennial license renewal fees 
          and new license application fees of $720,000 from an estimated 
          2,400 licensees in 2013-14 and annually thereafter.  +To the 
          extent there are fewer new/renewed licensees and/or increased 








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          costs for ongoing system operation and maintenance, annual costs 
          in the initial years of operation may not be fully covered by 
          fees.
              
          Potential increase in the Proposition 98 minimum funding 
          guarantee in the range of $550,000 one-time and $288,000 
          (General Fund) ongoing should the increased revenues be 
          considered General Fund proceeds of taxes for purposes of 
          calculating the minimum school funding obligation.

          Ongoing costs to the DOJ to process fingerprint images for new 
          licensees, to be fully offset by fees of $32 per applicant 
          (Fingerprint Fee Account). 

          Ongoing costs to local licensing authorities, to be offset by 
          fees authorized to be charged to applicants to recover the 
          actual costs of processing applications.  Clarifying language to 
          include costs for the collection and transmittal of license fees 
          in the authorized fee is recommended to ensure full cost 
          recovery by licensing agencies.

          Some degree of economic stimulus resulting from cost savings 
          realized by affected businesses through operational efficiencies 
          gained by transitioning from the paper reporting process to the 
          electronic reporting system.

          Non-reimbursable local enforcement costs for increased 
          enforcement of licensing requirements and investigations 
          associated with the recovery of stolen property. 

           COMMENTS  :   According to the author, "this bill increases the 
          licensing fee paid by secondhand dealers and pawn brokers to 
          $300 biennially, to fund the development and operation of a 
          personal property database with the DOJ."  

          This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the 
          Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted.  This 
          bill, as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with the 
          Assembly actions.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 
          319-3301 










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