BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 75
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 75 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee)
As Amended June 12, 2013
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect
Immediately
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
SUMMARY : Provides for statutory changes necessary to enact the
Judicial Branch provisions of the Budget Act of 2013.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides relief to courts as they prepare to operationalize a
1% cap on the amount of reserves that can be carried-over from
one fiscal year to the next and mitigates cash flow concerns,
by:
a) Specifying that court reporting fees collected for
proceedings lasting less than an hour be distributed to the
court in which it was collected.
b) Clarifying that each trial court's funding allocation be
offset by the amount of reserves in excess of the amount
allowable (1%).
c) Allowing the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
to transfer funds to the Trial Court Trust Funds, from
other court funds (State Court Facilities Construction
Fund, Immediate and Critical Needs Account, Judicial Branch
Workers' Compensation Fund), if the cash balance is
insufficient to support trial court operations. The total
amount of the outstanding loan cannot exceed $150 million
and must be repaid within two years.
d) Exempting certain funds from being included in the
calculation of the 1% balance trial courts are allowed to
carry-over from one fiscal year to the next.
2)Allows courts, or, in some instances, counties on behalf of
courts, to utilize the state's Tax Intercept Program, operated
by the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) with participation by the
State Controller's Office (SCO), to intercept tax refunds,
lottery winnings, and unclaimed property from individuals who
are delinquent in paying fines, fees, assessments, surcharges,
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or restitution ordered by the court. Current law allows FTB
and SCO to require the court to obtain and provide the social
security number of a debtor prior to running the intercept.
This bill provides that courts will no longer be required to
provide social security numbers to FTB. Instead, FTB and SCO
will be required to use their existing legal authority to
obtain social security numbers from the Department of Motor
Vehicles. This change will reduce court costs by eliminating
the need to dedicate resources to obtaining social security
numbers from debtors.
3)Increases the fee charged for mailing a plaintiff's claim to
each defendant in a small claims action, from $10 to $15, to
cover costs associated with postal rate increases. This
change is projected to generate $200,000 in additional
revenue.
4)Eliminates the sunset for public presentation of trial court
budgets. This change will permanently require each trial
court, prior to adopting a budget plan for the fiscal year, to
provide the public with notice of, and an opportunity for
input on, the trial court's proposed budget.
5)Increases the fee for Exemplification of a Record from $20 to
$50. Exemplification involves a triple certification
attesting to the authenticity of a copy of a record by the
clerk and the presiding judicial officer of the court for use
as evidence by a court or other entity outside of California.
This fee increase is projected to generate $165,000 in
additional revenue.
6)Makes various amendments to the Community Corrections
Performance Incentive Act, by:
a) Requiring the AOC to collect additional data on the
felony probation population relating to the number of Penal
Code Section 1170(h) convictions;
b) Revising the probation failure rate calculation to
include revocations resulting in county jail incarceration;
c) Adding a third tier of performance incentive payments
for counties that demonstrate improved felony probation
outcomes, but that still have combined probation failure
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rates above the 2006 through 2008 baseline statewide
average;
d) Extending the $200,000 minimum payment to counties
performing better than the statewide average.
e) Requiring payments to counties that did not improve upon
outcomes contingent on those counties providing plans on
how they will improve.
f) Eliminating references to providing information to
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
g) Adding mandatory supervision and post release community
supervision to the definitions of community corrections and
local supervision.
h) Specifying that moneys deposited into a county's
Community Corrections Performance Incentive Fund, for
implementing a community corrections program, be made
available to the chief probation officer within 30 days of
the moneys being deposited.
i) Adding reporting requirements regarding mandatory
supervision and post release community supervision
populations.
j) Allowing the Department of Finance, in developing a
revised formula, for allocation of Community Performance
Incentive Act Funding, to take into account mandatory
supervision and post release community supervision failure
to prison rates.
aa) Appropriating $1 million from the State Community
Corrections Performance Incentive Fund to the judicial
branch for the costs of implementing and administering this
program.
7)Specifies that audits of the AOC, the Habeas Corpus Resource
Center, the Supreme Court, and the appellate courts shall
commence on or before July 1, 2013.
8)Specifies that each judicial branch entity shall pay the State
Auditor for costs of audits.
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9)Reduces the number of trial court audits to five occurring on
a biennial basis while continue the biennial audit of the AOC.
10)Modifies statute to make the court's contracting audit
program a more selective, risk-based audit program.
11)Authorizes court staff to waive costs associated with
court-appointed counsel services in dependency cases if
repayment would interfere with an ongoing family reunification
process, thereby eliminating the need for a court hearing.
12)Requires the Judicial Council to perform an evaluation of the
Long Beach Courthouse Project by comparing it to other similar
state run court construction projects. The Long Beach
courthouse project is being completed through a
public-private-partnership arrangement. It is a four story,
one-block building, that includes 31 courts, parking, offices
for lease and retail space. The state takes possession of the
building on August 31, 2013, and begins 35 years of payments
starting in September of $34.8 million, rising to $54.2
million in fiscal year 2014-15 and then increasing annually
with a specified inflator. These payments pay for all costs
(capital and operating) related to the building for 35 years.
13)Contains an appropriation allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
Analysis Prepared by : Marvin Deon / Budget / (916) 319-2099
FN: 0001161