BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1065| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 1065 Author: Kehoe (D) Amended: 8/6/12 Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMM. : Not relevant SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/4/12 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Price SENATE FLOOR : 32-2, 6/7/12 AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson, Evans, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Yee NOES: Fuller, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Padilla, Price, Rubio, Runner, Strickland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 8/22/12 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : State claims SOURCE : California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board DIGEST : This bill appropriates $624,672.86 from the CONTINUED SB 1065 Page 2 General Fund to pay for 117 claims against the state. Assembly Amendments increase the Senate version appropriation from $167,329.15 to $624,672.86. ANALYSIS : The State Board of Control was established in 1945. It was revised and renamed the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (Board) by AB 2491 (Jackson), Chapter 1016, Statutes of 2000. Government Code Section 13928 requires the Board to ensure that all claims have been approved by the Board, and for which there exists no legally available appropriation, are submitted for legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year. In general, the Board will approve claims in November and in February. Those claims are reported to the chairs of the Appropriations Committees who introduce bills appropriating General Funds and special funds to pay the claims. These bills may appropriate funds in amounts to the penny for tens to hundreds of claims, usually stale-dated warrants. Government Code Section 906 provides for the payment of interest on claims approved by the Board for which an appropriation has been made beginning 30 days after the effective date of the law by which the appropriation is enacted. The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants is the most prevalent claim approved by the Board. For stale-dated warrants, the State Controller must confirm that (1) the check was not cashed and has not been issued and (2) more than three years have elapsed since the check was issued and the monies have reverted to the General Fund or to the relevant special fund. For these warrants, an appropriation is needed to reissue the payment. This category also may include state treasury bonds that have not been redeemed within ten years of their maturity date (there are no such claims in this bill), but the majority of warrants are payroll or tax refund checks. Comments All but two of the 117 claims are for stale-dated warrants (expired checks), ranging from $55 to $381,000. The four stale-dated warrants over $10,000 account for $438,300, or 72% of the costs of the 115 stale-dated warrants in this CONTINUED SB 1065 Page 3 bill. The remaining 111 average $1,516. For stale-dated warrant claims, the Controller must confirm the check was not cashed, that at least three years have passed since the check was issued, and that the funds have reverted to the General Fund. The two claims that are not stale-dated warrants are a DMV refund of overpaid Vehicle License Fees ($2,570) and an FTB refund of funds taken from an escrow account as a result of a tax lien, that was subsequently determined to be an overpayment of taxes ($39,082.) For these two claims only, there is a 15% surcharge charged to the affected departments (FTB and DMV) for board costs that amounts to $6,300. Related Legislation AB 1531 (Fuentes) appropriate $859,738.51from the General Fund ($789,202.20) and various special funds for the payment of 273 claims approved by the Board. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, appropriates $167,329.15 from the General Fund. SUPPORT : (Verified 6/5/12) California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (source) Department of Finance ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 08/22/12 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, CONTINUED SB 1065 Page 4 Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández DLW:dn 8/22/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED