BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                 AB 412
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         ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
         AB 412 (Williams)
         As Amended May 27, 2011
         Majority vote 

          HEALTH              15-0        LOCAL GOVERNMENT              9-0
          
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         |Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Smyth, Alejo, Bradford,   |
         |     |Bonilla, Eng, Gordon,     |     |Campos, Davis, Gordon,    |
         |     |Hayashi,                  |     |Hueso, Knight, Norby      |
         |     |Roger Hernández, Bonnie   |     |                          |
         |     |Lowenthal, Mitchell,      |     |                          |
         |     |Nestande, Pan,            |     |                          |
         |     |V. Manuel Pérez, Smyth,   |     |                          |
         |     |Williams                  |     |                          |
         |     |                          |     |                          |
          ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          APPROPRIATIONS      17-0                                        
          
          -------------------------------- 
         |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey,          |
         |     |Blumenfield, Bradford,    |
         |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
         |     |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto,   |
         |     |Hall, Hill, Lara,         |
         |     |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
         |     |Solorio, Wagner           |
         |     |                          |
          -------------------------------- 
          SUMMARY  :  Enacts, for Santa Barbara County only until January 1, 
         2014, a penalty of $5 for every $10 in base fines imposed on 
         criminal offenses and certain vehicle code offenses and provides 
         that the amount collected is to be deposited in a county 
         established Maddy Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund.  
         Specifically,  this bill  :  

         1)Establishes, in Santa Barbara County, a penalty of $5 for every 
           $10 to be imposed on fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected 
           for all criminal offenses and those vehicle code offenses 
           related to driving under the influence and sunsets January 1, 
           2014.

         2)Requires the proceeds of the penalty assessment to be payable in 








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           the same manner as funds in a county Maddy EMS Fund.

         3)Conditions implementation of this bill upon adoption of a 
           resolution of necessity by the Santa Barbara County Board of 
           Supervisors.

         4)Requires the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to report 
           to the Legislature on the actions taken to implement alternative 
           local sources of funding. 

         5)Exempts restitution fines, specified penalties, and parking 
           offenses from imposition of the additional penalty calculation.

         6)States legislative intent that Santa Barbara County secures a 
           permanent local funding mechanism to ensure the continuation of 
           trauma care in the region before January 1, 2014.

          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
         Committee:

         1)Revenue to Santa Barbara County of approximately $700,000 
           annually from penalty assessments, upon the Santa Barbara County 
           Board of Supervisors' approval.
         2)Increasing assessments may result in diminishing returns to 
           existing assessments.  As current penalty assessments quadruple 
           the base fine, increasing fines and assessments may have the 
           unintended consequence of reduced fine collections.  Judges may 
           reduce base fines or indigent defendants facing ever-increasing 
           fees may simply choose to spend time in jail in lieu of paying 
           the fine, causing taxpayers to pay the jail costs while state 
           and local government receive fewer penalty funds.

          COMMENTS  :  According to the author, this bill is necessary to 
         reenact the authorization for Santa Barbara County to impose an 
         additional penalty of $5 for every $10 in base fines collected for 
         all criminal offenses and five specific vehicle code violations 
         relating to driving under the influence that expired on January 1, 
         2011, to provide funding to the Maddy EMS Fund.  The author states 
         that at the time of the enactment of the penalty assessment 
         intended as the Maddy EMS Fund, Santa Barbara did not have a 
         trauma center and elected to use the funding for the aging court 
         system.  The author further argues that counties do not have the 
         authority to raise penalty assessments at the local level and it 
         is necessary to ask the state for such authority.  








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         SB 12 (Maddy), Chapter 1240, Statutes of 1987, authorizes counties 
         to establish a fund to reimburse physicians for the uncompensated 
         costs of emergency care and other county emergency services 
         through a $1 penalty assessment (PA) on fines, forfeitures, and 
         penalties.  The Maddy EMS Fund was part of a comprehensive scheme 
         regulating the treatment of uninsured patients in hospital 
         emergency departments.  AB 544 (Isenberg), Chapter 189, Statutes 
         of 1991, consolidates various county optional penalty assessments, 
         including the $2 for the Maddy Fund, into the combined PA.  AB 544 
         also required any county that had established a Maddy EMS Fund 
         continue to use the penalty revenue in the amount originally 
         authorized plus a growth factor.  Counties that had not 
         established a Maddy EMS Fund by June 1, 1991, were authorized to 
         set aside up to 28% of the newly consolidated PA, using up to $2 
         of the $7 fee collected.

         SB 635 (Dunn), Chapter 524, Statutes of 2004, grants Santa Barbara 
         County authority to impose and collect an additional penalty of $5 
         for every $10 of base fine on every criminal penalty and $2.50 on 
         every parking penalty, through SB 635 (Dunn), Chapter 524, 
         Statutes of 2004.  SB 635 included a January 1, 2007 sunset and a 
         requirement that the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County 
         report to the Legislature whether, and to the extent that, actions 
         are taken by Santa Barbara County to implement alternative local 
         sources of funding.  AB 2265 (Nava), Chapter 768, Statutes of 
         2006, extends the sunset date for the additional $5 for every $10 
         in base fines for all criminal offenses, including all vehicle 
         code offenses and the $2.50 additional penalty on all parking 
         penalties for the Maddy EMS Fund in Santa Barbara County from 
         January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2009.  AB 2265 also made 
         legislative findings that the county required additional time to 
         develop an appropriate local measure and that the Legislature 
         expects the county to place a proposed county tax ordinance on the 
         November 2008 ballot.  

         AB 1900 (Nava), Chapter 323, Statutes of 2008, extends the sunset 
         date until January 1, 2011 and has therefore expired.  AB 1900 
         covered all criminal offenses, but limited the vehicle code 
         violations to those relating to driving under the influence and 
         excluded parking penalties.  AB 1900 also required the Board of 
         Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara to report to the 
         Legislature whether, and to the extent that, any actions are taken 
         by the County of Santa Barbara to implement alternative local 








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         sources of funding.
          

         Analysis Prepared by  :    Marjorie Swartz / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097 
                                                           FN: 0001060