BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 926
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
926 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended April 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill implements an earned-compliance-credit program which
provides eligible parolees with the opportunity to reduce the
length of parole and direct the savings to job training and
housing support for parolees. Specifically, this bill:
AB 926
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1)Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish rules and regulations for
implementing an earned compliance credit program, as
specified, that provides eligible parolees with the
opportunity to reduce their period of parole supervision upon
compliance with their parole conditions.
2)Requires CDCR to annually provide specific information to the
Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the
Legislative Analyst's Office to allow DOF to calculate the
annual savings accrued to the state from implementation of the
program.
3)Establishes and continuously appropriates the Save Communities
Grant Program Fund (Fund). The State Controller (SCO) is
required to transfer annually from the GF to the Fund an
amount equal to the state savings
4)Requires CDCR to establish the Safe Communities Grant Program
(Program) in consultation with several state agencies and
after at least two public hearings. CDCR is to allocate, by
January 1, 2018, monies deposited in the Fund to counties to
provide employment and housing support for parolees.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)CDCR one-time costs in excess of $1 million (GF) to modify the
existing parolee tracking system to provide the appropriate
earned credits on a monthly basis.
2)CDCR annual costs in excess of $500,000 (GF) for staff to
AB 926
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administer the grant program. AB 926 states CDCR shall
allocated moneys deposited in the Program to counties.
3)CDCR one-time costs of $200,000 (GF), $100,000 to establish
the required programs and $100,000 to adopt regulations to
provide for the required credit.
4)Redirection of GF savings in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars to the Fund (special fund), and cost to CDCR by the
same amount in the form of grants to counties for employment
and housing support, and specific administrative costs to DOF
and SCO. (AB 926 species that costs to DOF and SCO shall be
deducted from the Fund.)
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "There is a growing
momentum among states seeking to safely reduce corrections
costs and reduce recidivism. California has the opportunity
to take this policy one step further by reinvesting resources
to ensure greater reductions in recidivism and improve
outcomes for individuals, families and communities.
This bill creates an earned compliance credit program that
provides eligible parolees with the opportunity to reduce
their period of parole supervision upon compliance with their
parole conditions. Savings from the reduced parole
supervision shall be reinvested into job training and housing
support for state parolees to reduce recidivism."
2)Background. Under current law, most parolees can be
discharged from parole early if they successfully complete a
certain period of parole and there is not good cause to retain
them. When a parolee serves a period of time on continuous
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parole (i.e. without violations, revocations, or absconding),
the parole board must conduct a discharge review. Depending
on the underlying commitment offense and the
statutorily-imposed length of parole, different time periods
apply in determining the presumptive discharge date. For
example, if a parolee has a three-year parole term, he or she
is eligible for discharge after one year, assuming the parolee
has had successful continuing parole. Likewise, a parolee
with a five-year parole term can be discharged after three
years if the parolee has been on parole continuously. Unless
the board acts to retain the parolee after the presumptive
discharge date, the parolee is discharged from parole. The
earned compliance credits proposed by this bill will
presumably advance the possible discharge dates.
3)Argument in Support: The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights,
the sponsor of this bill, writes, "There is a growing momentum
among states to safely reduce correction costs and reduce
recidivism. Gone are the days of increasing penalties and
building supermax prisons - states are now engaging in reforms
that downsize the prison apparatus and incentivize and reward
positive behavior and participation. According to a report by
the Association of State Correctional Administrators, 6 out of
7 state respondents who implemented an earned compliance
credit program stated that public opinion on the reduction of
community supervision has not been a problem in managing the
program. Further, 6 out of 7 states that have an earned
compliance credit program for parolees or probationers have
seen reductions in costs for supervision. Similar to these
efforts, AB 926 will help save the state be reducing the costs
associated with parole supervision and the costs associated
with returns to prison."
However, staff points out there will be no savings to the state
since the bill requires all GF savings be deposited in the new
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Fund for allocation to counties for specific support services.
4)Argument in Opposition: The California District Attorneys
Association states, "Requiring the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation and Board of Parole Hearings to
establish a credit program may sound better than proposing to
cut supervision periods in half, but, in reality, that's
exactly what AB 926 does.
5)Related Legislation: AB 512 (Stone), pending in this
committee, increases the number of weeks of additional program
credit reductions that may be awarded to a prisoner.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081