BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 60
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 25, 2013
Counsel: Shaun Naidu
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 60 (Wright) - As Amended: May 28, 2013
SUMMARY : Expands eligibility to human trafficking victims who
have suffered emotional injury for compensation from the
restitution fund administered by the California Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board (the Board) and removes
language relative to a lapsed pilot program.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that all persons who suffer losses as a result of
criminal activity shall have the right to restitution from the
perpetrators. [Cal. Const., Article I, Section 28(b)(13).]
2)Provides that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or
services is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished
by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and
a fine of not more than $500,000. [Penal Code Section
236.1(a).]
3)Provides that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a
violation of the crimes of enticing a minor girl to become a
prostitute, pimping, pandering, taking a child under 16 for a
lewd act, abducting a minor for prostitution, acts relating to
child pornography, sexually exploiting a minor, employing or
using a minor to perform a prohibited act, acts relating to
obscene material, participating in obscene conduct, or
extortion is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished
by imprisonment in the state prison for 8, 14, or 20 years and
a fine of not more than $500,000. [Penal Code Section
236.1(b).]
4)Provides that any person who causes, induces, or persuades, or
attempts to do so, a minor at the time of commission of the
offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the intent to
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effect or maintain a violation the crimes of enticing a minor
girl to become a prostitute, pimping, pandering, taking a
child under 16 for a lewd act, abducting a minor for
prostitution, acts relating to child pornography, sexually
exploiting a minor, employing or using a minor to perform a
prohibited act, acts relating to obscene material,
participating in obscene conduct, or extortion is guilty of
human trafficking and is punished as specified. [Penal Code
Section 236.1(c).]
5)Directs a court to order a defendant to make restitution to
the victim or victims of the defendant's crime. [Penal Code
Section 1202.4(f).]
6)Authorizes the Board to reimburse crime victims for the
pecuniary losses they suffer as a direct result of criminal
acts, with indemnification made from the restitution fund,
which is continuously appropriated to the Board for these
purposes. (Government Code Sections 13950-13968.)
7)Authorizes the Board to grant a crime victim's claim for
pecuniary loss for the following purposes:
a) Reimburse for the amount of medical or medical-related
expenses incurred by the victim, subject to specified
limitations.
b) Reimbursement for the amount of out-patient psychiatric,
psychological or other mental health counseling-related
expenses incurred by the victim, as specified. The victim
may be reimbursed for the expense of his or her out-patient
mental health counseling in an amount not to exceed
$10,000. Victims who are not eligible for up to $10,000 of
reimbursement may be eligible to be reimbursed for the
expense of their out-patient mental health counseling in an
amount not to exceed $3,000.
c) Reimbursement for the expenses of non-medical remedial
care and treatment rendered in accordance with a religious
method of healing recognized by state law.
d) Compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of
support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs
as a direct result of the victim's injury or the victim's
death, subject to specified limitations.
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e) Cash payment to, or on behalf of, the victim for job
retraining or similar employment-oriented services.
f) Reimbursement for the expense of installing or
increasing residential security, not to exceed $1,000, with
respect to a crime that occurred in the victim's residence,
upon verification by law enforcement to be necessary for
the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health
treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional
well-being of the victim.
g) Reimbursement for the expense of renovating or
retrofitting a victim's residence or a vehicle to make them
accessible or operational, if it is medically necessary.
h) Cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed $2,000 for
expenses incurred in relocating if the expenses are
determined by law enforcement to be necessary for the
personal safety or by a mental health treatment provider to
be necessary for the emotional well-being.
i) The board, under compelling circumstances, may allow
reimbursement for moving expenses to the same victim for a
second crime if both of the following conditions are met:
i) The crime occurs more than three years from the date
of the crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash
payment or reimbursement; and,
ii) The crime does not involve the same offender.
iii) Reimbursement to an individual who voluntarily, and
without anticipation of personal gain, pays or assumes
the obligation to pay the reasonable costs to clean the
scene of the crime in an amount not to exceed.
[Government Code Section 13957(a).]
8)Prohibits the total award to or on behalf of each victim from
exceeding $35,000, except that this amount may be increased to
$70,000 if federal funds for that increase are available.
[Government Code Section 13957(b).]
9)Provides that compensation paid by the Board may be on a
one-time or periodic basis. If periodic, the Board may
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increase, reduce, or terminate the amount of compensation
according to the applicant's need, subject to the maximum
limits provided. [Government Code Section 13957.7(b).]
10)Requires the Board to grant a hearing to an applicant who
believes he or she is entitled to compensation to contest a
staff recommendation to deny compensation in whole or in part.
(Government Code Section 13959.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "SB 60 is a
simple and humanitarian bill. It will make victims of the
crime of human trafficking eligible to receive help from the
Victims of Crime program. This crime is grossly underreported
and has devastating effects on the victim. There should be no
question that these victims should get the help this program
was exactly designed [to provide]."
2)Victims Currently Eligible for Compensation : Under existing
law, the following crime victims are eligible to file a claim
for compensation from the Board:
a) Those who suffer physical injury.
b) Those who suffer emotional injury and a threat of
physical injury.
c) Those who suffer emotional injury and:
i) The crime involved was rape, desertion of a child
under 14 with the intent to abandon, willful harm or
injury to a child, corporal punishment of a child,
incest, sodomy, child molestation, a forcible act of
sexual penetration, using a minor to perform a prohibited
act;
ii) The crime involved was failure of a parent or
guardian to provide for a child and the emotional injury
resulted from conduct other than a failure to pay child
support and criminal charges were filed;
iii) The crime involved was statutory rape and criminal
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charges were filed; or,
iv) The crime involved was a noncustodial person keeping
a child away from his or her lawful custodian or
deprivation of custody of a child or right to visit a
child, and the deprivation lasted for 30 days or more.
(Government Code Section 13955(f).)
3)State Audit of the Victim Compensation Program : In December
2008, the Bureau of State Audits (Bureau) released its report
concerning the Victim Compensation Program. In its report,
the Bureau highlighted the following findings:
a) From fiscal years 2001-02 through 2004-05, program
compensation payments decreased from $123.9 million to
$61.6 million-a 50% decline.
b) Despite the significant decline in payments, the costs
to support the program have increased. These costs make up
a significant portion of the Restitution Fund
disbursements-ranging from 26% to 42% annually.
c) The program did not always process applications and
bills as promptly or efficiently as it could have. Staff
took longer than 180 days to process applications in two
instances out of 49, and longer than 90 days to pay bills
for 23 of 77 paid bills the Bureau examined.
d) The program's numerous problems with the transition to a
new application and bill processing system led to a
reported increase in complaints regarding delays in
processing applications and bills.
e) Some payments in the Compensation and Restitution System
(CaRES) appeared to be erroneous. Although board staff
provided explanations for the payments when the Bureau
brought the matter to their attention, the fact that they
were unaware of these items indicates an absence of
controls that would prevent erroneous payments.
f) The Board lacks the necessary system documentation for
CaRES.
g) There are no benchmarks, performance measures, or formal
written procedures for workload management.
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h) Despite the Board's efforts to increase awareness of the
program, several victim witness assistance centers do not
think the public is generally aware of program services.
Further, the Board has not established a comprehensive
outreach plan. (Bureau of State Audits, Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board Report 2008-113
(December 2008) Summary, pp. 1-2.)
In a response letter to the audit, the Board stated the
following:
"The audit finds, and we agree, the board can make
improvements in processing time for applications and
payments, developing specific verification procedures, and
maintaining documentation.
?
"The board concurs with the recommendation to develop written
procedures and time frames for the appeals process. A new
procedure manual, as discussed below, will include this
subject.
"The board's ability to process applications and pay bills in
a timely manner is dependent upon the timely submittal of
key information from verifying entities. To improve
[receipt of] such information, the board plans to develop a
new procedure manual, which will provide specific direction
to staff for processing applications and bills in CaRES.
The manual will include specific time frames for follow up
with non-responsive verifying entities. ? [T]he board has
been communication to service providers the importance of
prompt submittal of requested information to the board so
that we can process their payment requests in a timely
manner. Similarly, we are reaching out to law enforcement
during our numerous law enforcement outreach seminars."
(Id. at 70-71.)
4)Argument in Support : According to the California School
Employees Association , "This is an important bill that makes
sure that ? victims of human trafficking also have access to
financial compensation for the crimes they have endured.
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These are terrible crimes that cause much suffering and
although this compensation won't erase the suffering, it will
help them begin the healing process."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California School Employees Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744