BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1225
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1225 (Veterans Affairs Committee)
          As Amended  January 24, 2012
          Majority vote 

           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS         8-0                  
          APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
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          |Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill,  |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey,          |
          |     |Allen, Butler, Eng, Hill, |     |Blumenfield, Bradford,    |
          |     |Ma, Smyth                 |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
          |     |                          |     |Chesbro, Donnelly, Gatto, |
          |     |                          |     |Hall, Hill, Ammiano,      |
          |     |                          |     |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio, Wagner           |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           
          SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the sale, trade or transfer of all or any 
          part of a veteran's commemorative property (Property), if 
          certain conditions are met.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Prohibits the purchase, sale or transfer of Property, unless 
            otherwise exempted.

          2)Authorizes an unincorporated association, cemetery 
            corporation, or religious corporation, except a municipal 
            corporation, as specified, that owns or controls a cemetery 
            where any Property has been placed to petition the Cemetery 
            and Funeral Bureau (Bureau) for permission to sell, trade or 
            transfer all or any part of the Property.

          3)Authorizes the Bureau to approve the sale, trade or transfer 
            of the Property under certain conditions.

          4)Requires the Bureau to fix a date, time, and place of the 
            hearing, not exceeding 100 days after the petition is 
            received.

          5)Requires the Bureau to render its decision in writing within 
            60 days of the hearing and forward a copy of the decision to 
            each person who appeared at the hearing.

          6)Provides that an order or determination of the Bureau granting 








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            the petition may specify the manner in which the petitioner is 
            to use or apply the proceeds of the sale, trade, or transfer.

          7)Provides that if the petitioner is an unincorporated 
            association or corporation subject to the Nonprofit 
            Corporation Law, as specified, the Bureau is authorized to 
            direct the petitioner to deposit the proceeds of the sale, 
            trade, or transfer in the permanent maintenance fund 
            maintained by the petitioner pursuant to the Nonprofit 
            Corporation Law.

          8)Authorizes the Bureau to adopt any regulations related to 
            petitions, hearings, and procedures to further the purposes of 
            this bill.

          9)Specifies that a person violating any provision of this bill 
            is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of no less 
            than $100 or more than $1,000; by imprisonment in a county 
            jail for no less than 10 days or more than six months; or, by 
            both that fine and imprisonment; and, in addition is liable 
            for all costs, expenses, and disbursements paid or incurred by 
            the person prosecuting the case.


           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the Bureau within the Department of Consumer 
            Affairs.

          2)Prohibits a cemetery owned and operated by a city, county, or 
            city and county from engaging in the business of selling 
            monuments or markers, and also prohibits the cemetery's 
            officers and employees who manage, operate, or otherwise 
            maintain the cemetery from engaging in the private business of 
            selling monuments or markets.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee:

          1)Costs of approximately $150,000 per year for the workload 
            associated with the requirement that the Bureau approve any 
            sales, trades, or transfers of commemorative property. 

            The bill currently requires the funding for this legislation 








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            to come from the State Funeral Directors and Embalmers Fund.  
            The correct funding source is the Cemetery Fund. 

          2)Under correctional realignment instituted in 2011, the 
            creation of new misdemeanors should be viewed in a new light.  
            Counties are taking on significant new responsibilities for 
            housing and supervising felons.  New misdemeanors place 
            additional pressure on counties to identify additional 
            programs, including incarceration and probation, at a time 
            when jail and program space - and attendant staffing - will be 
            at a premium in many counties.  While the fiscal and 
            programmatic consequences of most new misdemeanors are likely 
            to be relatively minor, any additional cumulative pressure on 
            realignment efforts merits careful consideration. 

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "In recent years, a market 
          has developed for veteran commemorative cemetery property.  This 
          property includes monuments, headstones, markers, memorials, and 
          plaques.  They have become very valuable in the antiques market, 
          and this has led to thieves stealing them from cemeteries.  It 
          started with Civil War property but has progressed to include 
          property from the Vietnam War era.  Additionally, some property 
          is targeted because of the metal contained in it and later sold 
          as scrap metal.

          "This bill prohibits the unauthorized sale, purchase, or 
          transfer of any veteran commemorative cemetery property that is 
          over 50 years old if such property is currently placed or 
          located within a cemetery.  The bill does allow authorized sales 
          of the property through the Bureau."

          Metal theft has become increasingly common as prices for metals 
          have recently risen dramatically.  Commonly stolen metals 
          include copper, aluminum, brass, and bronze.  Thieves recently 
          stole copper plaques commemorating Veterans from a Long Beach 
          cemetery.

          This bill seeks to prevent the theft of Property by making the 
          sale or transfer of these items illegal.

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









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