BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 485|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 485
Author: Williams (D)
Amended: 9/4/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/1/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach,
Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Personal income taxes: voluntary
contributionsPersonal income taxes: voluntary
contributions: Prevention of Animal Homelessness and
Cruelty Fund.
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the addition of the Prevention of
Animal Homelessness and Cruelty Fund (Fund) check-off to the
personal income tax return.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 allows the Department of Food
and Agriculture to consult with the Department of Public Health
to develop the grant process, allows the Department of Food and
Agriculture to use up to 5% of the funds collected to create
public awareness about the check-off, and prohibits the use of
AB 485
Page 2
money from the check-off fund to be used to supplant state
General Fund money for any purpose.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Allows taxpayers to contribute money to voluntary contribution
funds (check-offs) by checking a box on their state income tax
returns.
2)Requires contributions made through check-offs to be made from
taxpayers' own resources and not from their tax liability, as
is possible on federal tax returns.
3)Allows taxpayers to claim check-off amounts as charitable
contributions on taxpayers' tax returns in the subsequent
year.
This bill:
1)Adds the Prevention of Animal Homelessness and Cruelty Fund
(Fund), and allows a taxpayer to make a voluntary contribution
to the Fund on the state personal income tax return, beginning
once an existing check-off for charitable fund contribution
has been removed, or as soon as space is available.
2)Requires the Fund to meet a minimum contribution threshold of
$250,000, indexed yearly for inflation.
3)Provides that all money transferred to the Fund, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated as follows:
To the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the State
Controller for reimbursement of all costs incurred in
administering the check-off,
The first $250,000, shall be distributed by the
AB 485
Page 3
Department of Food and Agriculture, to a city, county, or
city and county animal control agency or for the sole
purpose of supporting spay and neuter activities by that
entity to prevent and eliminate cat and dog homelessness.
Any amount collected over $250,000, shall be distributed
by the Department of Food and Agriculture, to be used by
programs designed to prevent and eliminate cat and dog
homelessness or programs for the prevention, investigation,
and prosecution of animal cruelty and neglect.
1)Allows the Department of Food and Agriculture to consult with
the Department of Public Health to develop the grant process.
2)Allows the Department of Food and Agriculture to use up to 5%
of the funds collected to create public awareness about the
check-off.
3)Prohibits the use of money from the check-off fund to be used
to supplant state General Fund money for any purpose.
4)Provides that the bill automatically sunsets on January 1 of
the fifth taxable year following the Fund's first appearance
on the personal income tax form, or January 1, 2022, whichever
occurs first.
Background
The Legislature adds individual check-offs yearly. With a few
exceptions, check-offs remain on the return until they are
repealed by a sunset date or fail to generate a minimum
contribution amount. In general, the minimum contribution
amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. For most
check-offs, the minimum contribution amount is $250,000,
beginning in the fund's second year. The following check-offs
do not have a minimum contribution requirement:
1)California Firefighters' Memorial Foundation Fund,
2)California Peace Officer Memorial Foundation Fund, and
3)California Seniors Special Fund.
When a taxpayer contributes to check-offs, FTB deposits the
AB 485
Page 4
total of all contributions into the fund created as part of the
check-offs legislative authorization. For some check-offs, such
as the Protect Our Coast and Ocean Fund, taxpayers'
contributions are allocated to a state agency for use in a state
administered grant program. Other check-off authorizing
statutes direct administrative agencies to allocate donations to
a private organization. For example, the Office of Emergency
Services passes check-offs funds to the American Red Cross.
Other funds require the State Controller to send the funds
directly to private organizations without passing through an
administrative agency, such as the California Fire Foundation.
FTB, the Controller, and an administrative agency may deduct
from the amount of donations each check-off receives for direct
costs of administering a fund.
There are currently 18 check-offs listed on the tax return form.
The tax check-off program collects approximately $5 million in
annual contributions for all check-offs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
1)FTB estimates that this bill would result in an annual General
Fund revenue loss of about $8,000.
2)The State Controller's Office and FTB and would be reimbursed
from the Fund for related administrative costs.
3)The California Department of Food and Agriculture would incur
first-year General Fund costs of $66,000, and ongoing annual
costs of $125,000. The specific timing of these expenses
would depend on when the check-off were to appear on the tax
form.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15)
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
AB 485
Page 5
Humane Society of the United States
State Humane Association of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/4/15)
California Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The supporters of this bill argue that
this bill will provide much needed funding to California's
animal shelters to improve animal welfare. Specifically, the
bill will ensure over 200,000 animals undergo the necessary
spay/neuter procedure for every $1 million dollars collected.
This will decrease the number of homeless pets in California.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The opponent of this bill argues
that this bill could result in a loss to the General Fund and is
of limited value.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
Prepared by:Myriam Bouaziz / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
9/9/15 10:11:59
**** END ****
AB 485
Page 6