BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 154| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 154 Author: Wolk (D) Amended: 4/5/11 Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 3/29/11 AYES: Evans, Corbett, Leno NOES: Harman, Blakeslee SUBJECT : Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence: Solano County SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill deletes a January 1, 2012 sunset date relative to Solano County increasing fees for certified copies of vital records thereby extending existing law indefinitely. ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the Solano County Board of Supervisors, upon making specified findings and declarations, to increase the fees for marriage licenses and confidential marriage licenses, as well as certified copies of marriage, birth, and death certificates, by up to $2, with further increases permitted on an annual basis, based on the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan area for the preceding year. Existing law provides that the authorization for the fee increases will sunset on January 1, 2012. (Government Code Section CONTINUED SB 154 Page 2 26840.11; Health and Safety Code Section 103628) Existing law directs that these fees be deposited into a special fund to be used for governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence and family violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 18309.5) Existing law provides that the Solano County Board of Supervisors must submit to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees, by July 1, 2009, a report regarding such fee increases. The report must provide the amounts of fees received and expended as well as the outcomes achieved as a result of the expenditures. (Government Code Section 26840.11; Health and Safety Code Section 103628) This bill extends the authorization for the Solano County Board of Supervisors to increase fees for the purposes specified above, indefinitely. This bill, in addition to the existing report contained in existing law (above), also requires a preliminary report and a follow-up report no later than July 1, 2014. Background AB 2010 (Hancock), Chapter 830, Statutes of 2004, authorized the Counties of Alameda and Solano to raise the fees for marriage licenses and for certified copies of vital records for each county to provide for oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts in each respective county. These efforts include coordination among the court system, the district attorney's office, the public defender's office, law enforcement, the probation department, mental health, substance abuse, child welfare services, adult protective services, and other agencies and community-based organizations in the counties. AB 2010 authorized a fee increase of up to $2 for each county, with further increases permitted on an annual basis, using the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan area. AB 2010 contained a sunset of January 1, 2010, and required a report on each county's program to the Legislature by July 1, 2009. SB 635 (Wiggins), Chapter 356, Statutes of 2009, CONTINUED SB 154 Page 3 extended the sunset for the pilot program in Solano County for an additional year to January 1, 2011. Last year, SB 1222 (Wolk), Chapter 520, Statutes of 2010, extended Solano County's pilot program originally created by AB 2010 until January 1, 2012. The introduced version of the bill had a sunset of January 1, 2014. When this bill was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee, it was amended to shorten this sunset because there were concerns about the amount of revenue raised and the proposed use of the funds. The Family Justice Center (FJC) model was originally developed in San Diego, which opened a center in 2002. The idea behind the FJC model is to create a coordinated, single-point-of-access center offering comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence, thereby reducing the number of locations a victim must visit in order to receive critical services. The United States Department of Justice, through its Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), has identified the Family Justice Center model as a best practice in the field of domestic violence. According to the OVW, documented and public FJC outcomes include a reduction in the rate of homicide; increased victim safety; improved offender prosecution; reduced fear and anxiety for victims and their children; increased efficiency among service providers through the provision of collaborative victims; and increased community support for the provision of services and their children. (Casey Gwinn and Gael Strack, Hope for Hurting Families: Creating Family Justice Centers Across America, Volcano Press, 2006) Prior Legislation SB 1222 (Wolk), Chapter 520, Statutes of 2010. (See Background above) AB 1770 (Galgiani), Chapter 578, Statutes of 2010, established a similar domestic violence prevention funding pilot program in Stanislaus County. AB 73 (Hayashi), Chapter 215, Statutes of 2009, deleted the sunset for the pilot programs in Alameda and the City of Berkeley. CONTINUED SB 154 Page 4 AB 2231 (Hayashi), 2008, would have extended the sunset date for pilot programs in Alameda and Solano Counties, and the City of Berkeley that authorizes increased fees in specified vital records and marriage licenses from January 1, 2010, to January 1, 2015. The bill was vetoed by the Governor. AB 1712 (Hancock), Chapter 545, Statutes of 2005, authorized the City of Berkeley to increase the fees for certified copies of birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up to $2. AB 2010 (Hancock), Chapter 830, Statutes of 2004, authorized Alameda and Solano Counties to increase the fees for marriage licenses, and for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records. SB 425 (Torlakson), Chapter 90, Statutes of 2001, authorized a pilot program in Contra Costa County, allowing the county to provide governmental oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts within the county. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 4/5/11) LIFT3 Support Group Solano County Board of Supervisors Solano County District Attorney Solano County Probation Department Superior Court of California, County of Solano Triad Family Services ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, the fees collected by the Solano County Board of Supervisors through this pilot program are an important source of domestic violence program funding for the county, and are deposited into a fund to be used for a Solano County Family Justice Center. The author's office explains that Solano County would like to continue this effort. CONTINUED SB 154 Page 5 RJG:mw 4/5/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED