BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 715|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 715
Author: Dickinson (D)
Amended: 6/25/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 7/2/13
AYES: Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
NOES: Walters, Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Evans
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-28, 5/28/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Evidence: interpreters
SOURCE : Consumer Attorneys of California
DIGEST : This bill revises cross-references and deletes
obsolete provisions of the Evidence Code (EVID).
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Governs the waiver of court fees and costs.
2. Provides that in any action or proceeding in specified cases
involving domestic violence, parental rights, and marriage
dissolution or legal separation involving a protective order,
an interpreter must be present to interpret the proceedings
in a language that the party understands, and to assist
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communication between the party and his/her attorney. This
requirement is contingent upon federal funding.
3. Provides that the fees of an interpreter be waived for a
party who needs an interpreter and appears in forma pauperis
pursuant to specified law. Requires that the Judicial
Council amend a specified provision of a Rule of Court and
revise its forms accordingly by July 1, 1996.
This bill corrects the cross-reference to the sections relating
to parties appearing forma pauperis and removes obsolete
language requiring the Judicial Council to revise its forms by
July 1, 1996.
Background
Under California law, EVID Section 755, a party who needs an
interpreter and appears in forma pauperis (a phrase indicating
the permission given by a court to an indigent person to
initiate a legal action without having to pay for court fees or
costs due to his/her lack of financial resources) is entitled to
have the fees for that interpreter waived pursuant to a
specified section of law that previously provided procedures for
granting a court fee waiver to a litigant who cannot afford to
pay the fee.
Pursuant to AB 2448 (Feuer, Chapter 462, Statutes of 2008), that
referenced section was revised, recast, and included in other
sections of the Government Code, with greater detail on the
procedures for making a determination on an application for a
fee waiver and a recovery of fees after a waiver has been
provided.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/13)
Consumer Attorneys of California (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Passed in 2009, Article 6 (commencing with Section 68630) of
Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Government Code provides a
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comprehensive statutory scheme for fee waivers for litigants
who cannot afford to pay the fee. This code section repealed
former Government Code [Section] 68511.3.
However, Evidence Code [Section] 755(b) which governs the
waiver of interpreter fees for person appearing in forma
pauperis, still contains the erroneous reference to Government
Code [Section] 68511.3. This cross reference needs to be
corrected in order to avoid confusion.
. . . This bill will simply delete that obsolete reference
and reference the correct code section: Article 6 (commencing
with Section 68630) of Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Government
Code.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-28, 5/28/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bonilla,
Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro,
Cooley, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Ch�vez, Conway, Dahle, Daly,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Salas, Wagner, Waldron,
Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bocanegra, Buchanan, Hall, Holden, Mitchell,
Pan, Vacancy
AL:k 7/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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