BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 909 Page 1 GOVERNOR'S VETO AB 909 (Gray) As Amended September 3, 2013 2/3 vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-1 |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, | | | | | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-1 |(September 10, | | | | | | |2013) | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 909 Page 2 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. AB 909 Page 3 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 AB 909 Page 4 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, AB 909 Page 5 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 AB 909 Page 6 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 AB 909 Page 7 $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 Page 8 "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 FN: 0002936