BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 898 (Alejo)
Hearing Date: 08/25/2011 Amended: 07/13/2011
Consultant: Jolie Onodera Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 898 would increase the minimum restitution fine
for a felony conviction from $200 to $300 and for a misdemeanor
conviction from $100 to $150.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Increased minimum Unknown; increased revenue in theSpecial*
restitution fines millions of dollars - $2,800 per ten
percent increase in collections;
potential
impact to collection of other
fees/finesLoc/Gen/Spec**
*Restitution Fund
**Various Special Funds
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Existing law creates the Victims of Crime Program, administered
by the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB),
to reimburse victims of crime for the losses suffered as a
direct result of criminal acts. Indemnification is made from the
Restitution Fund, into which restitution fines are deposited.
Under current law, the restitution fine for a felony offense
shall not be less than $200 but not more than $10,000; for a
misdemeanor offense, the restitution fine shall not be less than
$100 but not more than $1,000. This bill would increase the
minimum restitution fines for felony and misdemeanor offenses to
$300 and $150, respectively.
The minimum restitution fine for a felony conviction has not
been raised since 1993, when the minimum was raised from $100 to
its current level of $200. The minimum restitution fine of $100
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for a misdemeanor conviction was set in 1994 and has likewise
not been increased. Adjusting the minimum fines for inflation
based on the Consumer Price Index as determined by the U.S.
Department of Labor since the rates were set, the increased
rates appear consistent with the rate of inflation ($200 in 1993
is equivalent to $312 in 2011; $100 in 1994 is equivalent to
$152 in 2011).
The VCGCB received $57 million in restitution fines in 2009-10,
almost exclusively generated from minimum fine impositions. By
increasing the minimum fines by 50 percent, the maximum
potential increase in revenue would be up to $28 million per
year if collections at the increased rates continued at the same
level. However, some level of attrition is expected in the
collection of the higher fine as offenders typically have
limited funds. Collection of the increased fine impositions at
10 to 25 percent of the current rate of collection could
increase fine revenue from $2.8 million to $7.1 million per
year.
Because current law does not allow an offender's ability to pay
to result in a restitution fine lower than the minimum, it is
unlikely the provisions of this bill would result in a reduction
in fine collections. However, to the extent there is an increase
in the level of restitution fines charged and collected could
result in an impact on the timing and collection of various
other fees and fines. Current law under Penal Code section
1203.1d prioritizes the order in which delinquent court-ordered
debt received is to be satisfied. The priorities are 1) victim
restitution, 2) state surcharge, 3) restitution fines, penalty
assessments, and other fines, with payments made on a
proportional basis to the total amount levied for all of these
items, and 4) state/county/city reimbursements, and special
revenue items. The full impact is unknown at this time and would
vary by county and a specific court and/or county's ability to
collect outstanding fees/fines. To the extent the increased
minimum restitution fines result in a larger proportion of total
payments due could result in a proportional impact/delay in
collection of other outstanding fines and penalties, impacting
various local, state, and special funds.
The projected fiscal condition of the Restitution Fund (as of
February 2011) indicates a reserve of $23 million at the
conclusion of 2011-12, $13.5 million in 2012-13, declining to
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virtually no reserve in 2013-14. Although the provisions of this
bill are likely to increase revenues into the fund,
strengthening the condition of the fund would also be dependent
upon the impact of various efforts to improve administrative
efficiencies and the timely payment of claims recently
undertaken by the VCGCB.
Related Legislation. SB 208 (Alquist) 2011 amends the same
section of the Penal Code as this measure and was recently
signed by the Governor and chaptered into law on July 1, 2011.
Double-jointing language will be required in order to avoid
chaptering out issues.
The author's proposed amendments would phase in the minimum
restitution fine increase over three years to mitigate the
impact on the collection of other outstanding court-ordered
fees/fines.