BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 674
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: bonilla
VERSION: 4/6/11
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 21, 2011
SUBJECT:
Vehicle registration surcharge: fingerprint identification
systems
DESCRIPTION:
This bill repeals the January 1, 2012 sunset date on law that
allows counties to impose a $1 surcharge on vehicle registration
fees to fund fingerprint identification systems.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law establishes a basic vehicle registration fee of
$34, plus a $22 surcharge for additional personnel for the
California Highway Patrol, and authorizes local agencies to
impose separate vehicle registration fee surcharges in their
respective jurisdictions for a variety of special programs,
including $1 for fingerprint identification programs. County
boards of supervisors adopt resolutions imposing the surcharge
and declaring the purpose of and need for the surcharge. In
counties that have imposed the surcharge, commercial vehicles
pay an additional $2 and other vehicles pay an additional $1
with their vehicle registrations for the fingerprint program.
Existing law continuously appropriates the funds generated by
the $1 and $2 surcharges, which are collected by the Department
of Motor Vehicles and disbursed by the State Controller to each
county that has adopted the required resolution. Counties may
only spend these revenues to fund programs that enhance the
capacity of local law enforcement to provide automated mobile
and fixed location fingerprint identification of individuals who
may be involved in driving under the influence of alcohol or
drugs, vehicular manslaughter, and other vehicle-related crimes,
as well as other crimes committed while operating a motor
vehicle.
Every participating county must issue a fiscal year-end report
AB 674 (BONILLA) Page 2
to the State Controller, and the State Controller must annually
submit to the Legislature a revenue and expenditure summary for
each participating county.
Existing law repeals the provisions authorizing and governing
the fingerprint identification program on January 1, 2012.
This bill repeals the January 1, 2012 sunset date, thereby
making this program permanent.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . Since 1986, the State Department of
Justice has operated an automated fingerprint identification
program, known as Cal-ID. This program is designed to assist
law enforcement agencies in various ways, including verifying
the identity of persons placed under arrest, identifying human
remains, and identifying criminal suspects, by the use of
fingerprints.
Local law enforcement agencies have access to the Cal-ID
system, but many agencies had, in the past, reported that the
necessary access equipment was antiquated and they were not
financially able to take full advantage of the significant
advances in the related technology.
In light of these shortcomings, the Legislature enacted SB 720
(Lockyer), Chapter 587, Statutes of 1997, which authorized,
until January 1, 2003, participating counties to impose the $1
annual surcharge to fund local law enforcement use of
automated mobile and fixed-location fingerprint identification
equipment (live-scan). AB 879 (Keeley), Chapter 986, Statutes
of 2002 extended the sunset date to 2006 and added
requirements for participating counties to report to the State
Controller and for the Controller to report to the Legislature
on the program. In 2005, AB 857 (Bass), Chapter 470, extended
the sunset date until January 1, 2012. This bill repeals
that sunset date.
2.Proposition 26 . Proposition 26 requires that any "change in
statute which results in a taxpayer paying a higher tax must
be imposed by an act passed by not less than two-thirds of all
member elected to each of the two houses of the Legislature."
This bill does not result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax
but delegates to county boards of supervisors the authority to
impose a surcharge on vehicle registrations to fund a specific
AB 674 (BONILLA) Page 3
government function. Ultimately, county counsels would have
to determine a vote threshold at the county level, so while
this bill is a majority vote measure in the Legislature, the
local action to impose or continue the registration surcharges
may be a two-thirds vote of the electorate in a county.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 53-24
Appr: 12-5
Trans: 9-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 15,
2011)
SUPPORT: California State Sheriffs' Association
(co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(co-sponsors)
Alameda County Sheriff's Office
Amador County Sheriff-Coroner
Butte County Office of the Sheriff
California Association of Crime Lab Directors
(CACLD)
California District Attorneys Association
California Peace Officers' Association (CPOA)
California Police Chiefs Association Inc.
California State Association of Counties
California State Sheriffs' Association (CSSA)
Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC)
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
County of San Luis Obispo
County of Santa Clara
Mono County Sheriff's Office
Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department
Placer County Sheriff Coroner-Marshal
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department
Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department
State Coalition of Probation Organizations of
California (SCOPO)
AB 674 (BONILLA) Page 4
OPPOSED: California Taxpayers Association
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association