BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1019
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1019 (Eduardo Garcia) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill creates the Metal Theft Task Force (MTTF) Program to
provide funding for local law enforcement agencies, as
specified, to combat metal theft and related recycling crimes.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish a Metal
Theft Task Force Program designed to enhance the capacity of
the department to serve as the lead law enforcement agency in
the investigation and prosecution of illegal recycling
operations, and metal theft and related recycling crimes, and
would authorize the department to enter into partnerships, as
defined, with local law enforcement agencies, regional task
forces, and district attorneys for the purpose of achieving
the goals of the program.
2)Establishes the Metal Theft Task Force Fund, to be
administered by the DOJ, and would continuously appropriate
all moneys in that fund to the department for the purposes of
the program, thereby making an appropriation. Specifies that
the program would not be implemented until the DOJ determines
that sufficient moneys have been deposited in the fund to
implement the program.
3)Requires the DOJ to submit a comprehensive report to the
Legislature, no later than December 31, 2018, on the status
and progress of the program, since the year 2016, in
deterring, investigating, and prosecuting illegal recycling
operations, and metal theft and related recycling crimes.
4)Requires a weighmaster, who is a junk dealer or recycler, as
defined, to pay a specified additional license fee of $1,000
or $1,500, to be deposited into the Metal Theft Task Force
Fund and to be expended by the Department of Justice for the
purpose of administering the Metal Theft Task Force Program.
The additional revenue is limited to $2 million per year.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Significant ongoing MTTF Fund (special fund) costs to the DOJ of
up to $2 million per year. The administrative costs alone will
be $350,000 to $400,000, the remainder would be used to provide
grants to local law enforcement agencies to reduce metal
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theft-related crimes.
The bill specifies the program is contingent upon sufficient
funding from the MTTF Fund, which pursuant to this bill would be
primarily funded by an additional fee of $1,000 or $1,500 on the
weighmaster, but limits the aggregate revenue to no more than $2
million per year. The bill also authorizes the deposit of
federal, industry and private funds into the MTTF Fund.
COMMENTS:
1)According to the author, "This bill will establish The Metal
Theft Taskforce within the California Department of Justice
(DOJ). The Taskforce will distribute grants to regional and
local law enforcement agencies for use in combating metal
theft crimes. Grant will also be available for prosecution
efforts. Funding for these grants would come from license
fees.
"The legislation also directs DOJ to award grants based on a
number of criteria to determine where the most pressing needs
for additional funding are."
2)Metal Theft in California: Metal theft has been well
documented throughout California. In 2007, the New York Times
reported:
"This is the No. 1 crime affecting farmers and ranchers right
now," said Bill Yoshimoto, an assistant district attorney in
the agriculturally rich Tulare County in the Central Valley.
"Virtually every farmer in the Central Valley has been hit,"
Mr. Yoshimoto said. But some have been hit far beyond the
value of the metal. For the farmer to replace the pump is
anywhere between $3,000 to $10,000, and then there is
downtime, and loss to crops.
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3)Prior Attempts at Establishing a Metal Theft Taskforce:
a) SB 485 (Calderon), Chapter 518, Statutes of 2013,
required junk dealers to provide additional information to
CDFA when applying for or renewing a weighmaster's license
in order to reduce the number of non-compliant dealers, and
hopefully deter fraudulent transactions and decrease the
sale of stolen metal property. This bill also created new
license fees for a weighmaster who is a recycler or junk
dealer in order to operate at specified locations.
b) Also in 2013, the Legislature passed AB 909 (Gray) which
was substantially similar to this bill, with the major
differences being that AB 909 had the Department of Justice
establish and oversee the MTTF Program and did not provide
a funding source for the MTTF. The Governor vetoed AB 909
with the following rationale in his veto message: "[AB 909]
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."
c) Additionally, in 2014, AB 2313 (Nestande), which was
similar to this bill when it passed by this committee, it
was later amended to be identical to this bill, but failed
passage on the Senate floor.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1019
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