BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó





                                                                  AB 909

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          GOVERNOR'S VETO
          AB 909 (Gray)
          As Amended  September 3, 2013
          2/3 vote

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          |ASSEMBLY:  |77-1 |(May 30, 2013)  |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9,  |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2013)          |
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |77-1 |(September 10,  |        |     |               |
          |           |     |2013)           |        |     |               |
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           Original Committee Reference:    PUB. S.  

           SUMMARY  :  Requires, on or after January 1, 2015, the Department  
          of Justice (DOJ) to establish the Metal Theft Task Force Program  
          (MTTFP).  

           The Senate amendments  replace the Board of State and Community  
          Corrections (BSCC) with the DOJ as the administering agency for  
          the MTTFP, and make a technical clarification.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes, as of July 1, 2012, the BSCC.  The BSCC shall be  
            an entity independent of the California Department of  
            Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).  The Governor may  
            appoint an executive officer of the BSCC, subject to Senate  
            confirmation, who shall hold the office at the pleasure of the  
            Governor.  The executive officer shall be the administrative  
            head of BSCC and shall exercise all duties and functions  
            necessary to ensure that the responsibilities of the BSCC are  
            successfully discharged.

          2)Provides that the mission of BSCC shall include providing  
            statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance  
            to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships  










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            in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system,  
            including addressing gang problems.  This mission shall  
            reflect the principle of aligning fiscal policy and  
            correctional practices, including, but not limited to  
            prevention, intervention, suppression, supervision, and  
            incapacitation, to promote a justice investment strategy that  
            fits each county and is consistent with the integrated  
            statewide goal of improved public safety through  
            cost-effective, promising, and evidence-based strategies for  
            managing criminal justice populations.

          3)Requires the BSCC to act as the supervisory board of the state  
            planning agency pursuant to federal acts.  It shall annually  
            review and approve, or review, revise, and approve, the  
            comprehensive state plan for the improvement of criminal  
            justice and delinquency and gang prevention activities  
            throughout the state, shall establish priorities for the use  
            of funds as are available pursuant to federal acts, and shall  
            approve the expenditure of all funds pursuant to such plans or  
            federal acts, provided that the approval of those expenditures  
            may be granted to single projects or to groups of projects.

          4)Provides that the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera,  
            Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare may develop within  
            its respective jurisdiction a Central Valley Rural Crime  
            Prevention Program (CVRCPP), which shall be administered by  
            the county district attorney's office of each respective  
            county under a joint powers agreement with the corresponding  
            county sheriff's office.  

          5)Provides that the parties to each agreement shall form a  
            regional task force known as the "Central Valley Rural Crime  
            Task Force," which includes the county agricultural  
            commissioner, the county district attorney, the county  
            sheriff, and interested property owners or associations.  

          6)Requires the Central Valley Rural Crime Task Force to develop  
            rural crime prevention programs which contain a system for  
            reporting rural crimes that enable the swift recovery of  
            stolen goods and the apprehension of criminal suspects.  











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           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill:

          1)Required the BSCC to establish the MTTFP.  Administration of  
            the overall program and the evaluation and monitoring of all  
            grants disbursed shall be performed by the BSCC.

          2)Provided that money appropriated to the BSCC for the program,  
            after deduction for actual and necessary administrative costs,  
            shall be expended to fund programs that enhance to enhance the  
            capacity of local law enforcement and prosecutors to deter,  
            investigate, and prosecute metal theft and related metal theft  
            crimes.

          3)Stated that up to 10% of the funds may, upon appropriation, be  
            used for developing and maintaining a statewide database on  
            metal theft and related recycling crimes for use in developing  
            and distributing intelligence information to participating law  
            enforcement agencies.

          4)Required the BSCC to develop specific guidelines and  
            administrative procedures for the selection of regional task  
            forces to receive funds as follows:

             a)   Each regional task force that seeks funds shall submit a  
               written application to the BSCC setting forth in detail the  
               proposed use of funds;

             b)   Each regional task force shall be identified by a name  
               that is appropriate to the area it serves.  In order to  
               qualify for funds a regional task force shall be comprised  
               of local law enforcement and prosecutors from at least two  
               counties;

             c)   Each task force may consult with experts from the United  
               States military, the California Military Department, the  
               Department of Justice, other law enforcement entities, and  
               various other state and private organizations, including  
               pertinent trade associations, as deemed necessary to  
               maximize the effectiveness of the program; and, 

             d)   Priority shall be given to regional task forces outside  










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               of the 13 counties under the existing Central Valley Rural  
               Crime Prevention Program (CVRCPP).

          5)Provided that the program guidelines shall include all of the  
            following selection criteria that shall be considered by the  
            BSCC in awarding grant funds:

             a)   The number of metal theft or related recycling crime  
               cases filed in the prior year;

             b)   The number of metal theft or related recycling crime  
               cases investigated in the prior year;

             c)   The number of victims involved in the cases filed;

             d)   The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the  
               victims, including damage caused by theft;

             e)   Local funds available to assist the regional task force;  
               and, 

             f)   The number of licensed recycling facilities in the  
               region.

          6)Required that each regional task force that has been awarded  
            funds authorized under the program during the previous  
            grant-funding cycle, upon reapplication for funds to the BSCC  
            in each successive year, shall submit a detailed accounting of  
            funds received and expended in the prior year in addition to  
            any other information required to be submitted.

          7)Required that the accounting of funds received and expended in  
            the previous year contain all of the following information:

             a)   The amount of funds received and expended;

             b)   The use to which those funds were put, including payment  
               of salaries and expenses, purchases of equipment and  
               supplies, and other expenditures by type; and,

             c)   The number of filed complaints, investigations, arrests,  










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               and convictions that resulted from expenditure of the  
               funds.

          8)Required the BSCC to regularly review the effectiveness of the  
            program in deterring, investigating, and prosecuting metal  
            theft and related recycling crimes, and shall present a report  
            to the Legislature and the Governor based on information  
            provided by the regional task forces in an annual report to  
            the BSCC which shall contain all of the following: 

             a)   The number of metal theft or related recycling crime  
               cases filed in the prior year;

             b)   The number of metal theft or related recycling crime  
               cases investigated in the prior year;

             c)   The number of victims involved in the cases filed;

             d)   The number of convictions obtained in the prior year;

             e)   The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the  
               victims, including damage caused by theft; and, 

             f)   An accounting of funds received and expended, as  
               specified.

          9)Established the MTTFF within the State Treasury.  Transfers to  
            the MTTFF shall be deposited in the Treasury, or in a state  
            depository bank approved by the Treasurer.  These funds upon  
            appropriation by the Legislature will be available for the  
            purposes of the program.

          10)Provided that the fund shall consist of moneys deposited into  
            the fund from the federal government, industry, and private  
            sources.  General Fund moneys shall not be deposited into the  
            fund nor used to implement the program.

          11)Stated that funds provided under this program are intended to  
            ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the necessary  
            personnel and tools to successfully combat metal theft and  
            related recycling crimes, which include, but are not limited  










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            to all of the following offenses:

             a)   The theft of metals, including, but not limited to,  
               nonferrous metals;

             b)   The purchase and recycling of stolen metals, including,  
               but not limited to recycled beverage containers, by  
               recyclers;

             c)   The transportation of stolen metals from this state to  
               another state; and,

             d)   The transportation of stolen metals from another state  
               to this state.

          12)Stated that the MTTFP shall not be implemented until the  
            Department of Finance determines that sufficient funds have  
            been deposited in the MTTFF to implement the program and the  
            funds have been made available upon appropriation by the  
            Legislature.  

          13)Provided that the BSCC shall be required to implement this  
            program only upon the availability of funds appropriated for  
            this purpose, in an amount sufficient to cover all costs  
            relating to the implementation and continuing administration  
            of this title.

          14)Provided that this section shall become operative on January  
            1, 2015.
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee:

          1)Significant one-time and ongoing costs potentially in excess  
            of $230,000 to $350,000 (Special Fund*) to the DOJ for  
            personnel and equipment costs to implement and administer the  
            statewide program.  Any costs in excess of those determined  
            "actual and necessary administrative costs," would be borne by  
            other fund sources.   

          2)Additional one-time costs potentially in excess of $500,000 to  










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            $1 million (Special Fund*) for the mandated development of a  
            statewide database on metal theft and recycling crimes.  Costs  
            would be dependent on the parameters and complexity of the  
            database.  Ongoing costs in the low hundreds of thousands of  
            dollars for maintenance and quality control.  

          3)Major funding from the newly established MTTFP Fund in the  
            millions of dollars, consisting of funds from the federal  
            government, industry, and private sources, would be required  
            to support the activities of regional task forces statewide.

          4)Potential future cost-savings statewide to the courts, state  
            prison/county jail systems, and law enforcement, as well as to  
            businesses in the form of reduced economic loss, to the extent  
            the operation of the program results in savings realized  
            through crime prevention, crime suppression, and prosecutions  
            resulting from the program. 

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "Scrap metal theft is a  
          highly profitable crime which is victimizing farmers and  
          ranchers at a time when the Great Recession is already plunging  
          many into bankruptcy.  A single theft can be devastating, often  
          resulting in thousands of dollars in repairs.

          "In 2008, Farm Bureau and the California State Sheriffs'  
          Association co-sponsored legislation to address the high rates  
          of metal theft in California.  This legislation, AB 844  
          (Berryhill, Ch.731, Stat. 2008), made junk dealers and recyclers  
          accountable for who they bought from by changed how scrap metal  
          payments were made. Despite the new transaction requirements,  
          metal theft rates have continued to rise.

          "AB 909 furthers efforts to protect our communities by ensuring  
          law enforcement and district attorneys have the resources they  
          need to combat metal theft.  The bill creates a Metal Theft Task  
          Force which is modeled after highly successful programs in the  
          Central Valley and Central Coast.  This voluntary program would  
          provide grants to regional task forces to ensure their ability  
          to pursue metal thieves and recover stolen property."

           GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE  :










                                                                  AB 909

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          "This bill requires the Department of Justice to establish the  
          Metal Theft Task Force Program to provide grants to local law  
          enforcement agencies and prosecutors to enforce metal theft and  
          related recycling laws. 

          "This bill creates a new enforcement effort without identifying  
          a funding source. Today I signed SB 485, which does provide a  
          funding source for greater enforcement within the existing  
          infrastructure. More can certainly be done, but let's build on  
          stable funding base." 


          Analysis Prepared by  :    Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)  
          319-3744 



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