BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          AB 540 (Pan) - Reporting and tracking of violent deaths.
          
          Amended: June 18, 2013          Policy Vote: Health 7-2
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 30, 2013                           
          Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 540 would authorize the Department of Public  
          Health to establish and maintain a system for collecting data on  
          violent deaths in the state.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Ongoing costs of $470,000 per year for staff oversight and  
              payments to counties to provide information to the  
              Department of Public Health for entry into the tracking  
              system (unknown fund source).

          Background: Under current law, marriages, births, and deaths  
          must be registered with local governments. Current law requires  
          the Department of Public Health to operate a system to track  
          death registrations.

          From 2005 to 2008, the state participated in a federal program  
          to collect data from law enforcement, coroners, crime  
          laboratories, and other entities to track violent deaths. While  
          federal funding was available to participating states,  
          California was unable to obtain federal funding because the  
          Department of Public Health was unable to obtain all the  
          required information from local law enforcement agencies. 

          For the last three years, the Department has been operating a  
          pilot program to collect information on violent deaths from 14  
          counties. This activity has been funded from a private  
          foundation grant to the Department. This grant recently expired.

          Proposed Law: AB 540 would authorize the Department of Public  
          Health to establish and maintain a system for collecting data on  
          violent deaths in the state.









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          Specifically, the bill would authorize the Department to:
              Collect data on violent deaths from various sources,  
              including death certificates, law enforcement agencies, and  
              coroners;
              Contract with counties to collect information;
              Apply for grant funding for the program;
              Accept private or foundation funding for the program.

          Staff Comments: The Department of Public Health indicates that  
          it intends to apply for federal funding during the next round of  
          grant applications. Whether or not the Department is successful  
          in obtaining federal funding will likely depend, in part, on  
          whether local law enforcement agencies are willing to  
          participate in the program.