BILL NUMBER: AB 1238 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Linder
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Sections 30004 and 30112 to the Revenue and
Taxation Code, relating to taxation. An act to amend
Section 103526 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vi
tal records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1238, as amended, Linder. Cigarette and tobacco
products taxes: premium cigars. Certified copies of
marriage, birth, and death certificates: electronic application.
Under existing law, a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage,
or military service record may only be supplied by the State
Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to an authorized
person, as defined, who submits a written, faxed, or digitized image
request accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of
perjury that the applicant is an authorized person.
This bill would, if the request for a certified copy of a birth,
death, or marriage record is made electronically, authorize the
official to accept electronic acknowledgment, sworn under penalty of
perjury, that the requester is an authorized person. The bill would
require the request to provide a method for the official to establish
the identity of the requester electronically and would require the
system or product used to process the electronic request and to
establish the requester's identity to comply with specified
provisions and protect the personal information of the requester and
guard against identity theft.
The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law imposes a tax on every
distributor of cigarettes and tobacco products at specified rates,
including additional taxes imposed under the Tobacco Tax and Health
Protection Act of 1988 (Proposition 99) and the California Families
and Children Act of 1998 (Proposition 10). That law imposes taxes on
other tobacco products, including cigars, measured by wholesale cost,
at a rate determined annually by the State Board of Equalization, as
provided.
The Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988, and the
California Families and Children Act of 1998, each requires that
amendments to its provisions be consistent with the act's purposes,
and be approved, respectively, by either a 4/5 or 2/3 vote of both
houses of the Legislature.
This bill would define a "premium cigar" for purposes of these
taxes as any roll of tobacco spiral wrapped in leaf tobacco that does
not contain a plastic or wooden filter or tip, and that weighs over
6 pounds per thousand cigars. The bill would also provide that the
rate of tax imposed on the distribution of a premium cigar would not
exceed $ ____.
Vote: 4/5 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 103526 of the Health
and Safety Code is amended to read:
103526. (a) (1) If the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder receives a written, faxed, or digitized image of a
request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record
pursuant to Section 103525 that is accompanied by a notarized
statement sworn under penalty of perjury,
perjury or a faxed copy or digitized image of a notarized
statement sworn under penalty of perjury,
perjury that the requester is an authorized person, as defined
in this section, that official may furnish a certified copy to the
applicant pursuant to Section 103525. A
(2) A faxed or
digitized image of the notary acknowledgment accompanying a faxed
request received pursuant to this subdivision for a certified copy of
a birth, death, or marriage record shall be legible and, if the
notary's seal is not photographically reproducible, show the name of
the notary, the county of the notary's principal place of business,
the notary's telephone number, the notary's registration number, and
the notary's commission expiration date typed or printed in a manner
that is photographically reproducible below, or immediately adjacent
to, the notary's signature in the acknowledgment. If a request for a
certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made in
person, the official shall take a statement sworn under penalty of
perjury that the requester is signing his or her own legal name and
is an authorized person, and that official may then furnish a
certified copy to the applicant.
(3) If a request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or
marriage record is made electronically, the official may accept an
electronic acknowledgment, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the
requester is an authorized person pursuant to this section. The
request shall also provide a method for the official to establish the
identity of the requester electronically, pursuant to this section.
A system or product used to process the electronic request and
establish the requester's identity shall comply with the provisions
of the California Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and all other
applicable state and federal laws and regulations to protect the
personal information of the requester and guard against identity
theft. If a requester's identity cannot be established electronically
pursuant to this paragraph, the requester may accompany his or her
request with a notarized statement of identity pursuant to paragraph
(1).
(2)
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, "digitized image"
means an image of an original paper request for a certified copy of
a birth, death, or marriage record.
(5) Willfully obtaining or assisting another person in obtaining a
vital record when he or she is not authorized to receive that record
is a crime pursuant to Section 530.5 of the Penal Code.
(b) (1) If the person requesting a certified copy of a birth,
death, or nonconfidential marriage record is not an authorized person
or is an authorized person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the
requirements of subdivision (a), the certified copy provided to the
applicant shall be an informational certified copy and shall display
a legend that states "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO
ESTABLISH IDENTITY." The legend shall be placed on the certificate in
a manner that will not conceal information.
(2) If the person requesting a certified copy of a confidential
marriage record is not an authorized person or is an authorized
person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the requirements of
subdivision (a), the official shall not release a certified copy of
the confidential marriage record unless otherwise authorized by law.
(c) For purposes of this section, an "authorized person" means:
(1) For purposes of requests for certified copies of confidential
marriage records, only a party to the confidential marriage.
(2) For purposes of requests for certified copies of birth, death,
or nonconfidential marriage records, a person who is any of the
following:
(A) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the
registrant.
(B) A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court
order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth
record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or
7603 of the Family Code.
(C) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of
another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting
official business.
(D) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic
partner of the registrant.
(E) An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant's
estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by
a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant's
estate.
(F) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who orders
certified copies of a death certificate on behalf of any
an individual specified in paragraphs (1) to
(5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100.
(d) A person who asks the agent or employee of a funeral
establishment to request a death certificate on his or her behalf
warrants the truthfulness of his or her relationship to the
decedent, decedent and is personally liable for
all damages occasioned by, or resulting from, a breach of that
warranty.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law:
(1) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of a
state or local government agency, as provided by law, who orders a
copy of a record to which subdivision (a) applies in conducting
official business shall not be required to provide the notarized
statement required by subdivision (a).
(2) An agent or employee of a funeral establishment who acts
within the course and scope of his or her employment and who orders
death certificates on behalf of individuals specified in paragraphs
(1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100 shall not
be required to provide the notarized statement required by
subdivision (a).
(f) Informational certified copies of birth and death certificates
issued pursuant to subdivision (b) shall only be printed from the
single statewide database prepared by the State Registrar and shall
be electronically redacted to remove any signatures for purposes of
compliance with this section. Local registrars and county recorders
shall not issue informational certified copies of birth and death
certificates from a source other than the statewide database prepared
by the State Registrar. This subdivision shall become operative on
July 1, 2007, but only after the statewide database becomes
operational and the full calendar year of the birth and death indices
and images is entered into the statewide database and is available
for the respective year of the birth or death certificate for which
an informational copy is requested. The State Registrar shall provide
written notification to local registrars and county recorders as
soon as a year becomes available for issuance from the statewide
database.
SECTION 1. Section 30004 is added to the
Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:
30004. "Premium cigar" means any roll of tobacco spiral wrapped
in leaf tobacco that does not contain a plastic or wooden filter or
tip, and that weighs over six pounds per thousand cigars.
SEC. 2. Section 30112 is added to the Revenue
and Taxation Code, to read:
30112. Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, the rate
of tax imposed on the distribution of a premium cigar shall not
exceed ____($____).