BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1493
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1493 (Cooper) - As Amended March 26, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy | Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes the California High Technology Crimes Task
Force (HTCTF) to, among other tasks, examine existing statutes
for adequacy in addressing identity theft, Internet crimes,
credit card fraud, and to develop recommendations to prevent and
AB 1493
Page 2
prosecute those crimes, and report the findings to the Governor
and the Legislature by December 31, 2017. Specifically, this
bill requires the HTCTF, with specified membership, to conduct a
study to accomplish the following:
1)Analyze existing statutes for adequacy in addressing identity
theft, Internet crimes, and credit card fraud. If the
analysis determines that those statutes are inadequate, the
task force is required to recommend revisions or new
provisions that specifically address identity theft, Internet
crimes, and credit card fraud;
2)Collect and organize data on the nature and extent of identity
theft, Internet crimes, and credit card fraud;
3)Examine collaborative models between governmental and
nongovernmental organizations for prevention and prosecution
of identity theft, Internet crimes, and credit card fraud;
4)Measure and evaluate the progress of the state in prosecuting
identity theft, Internet crimes, and credit card fraud, and
protecting and providing assistance to the victims of those
crimes;
5)Evaluate approaches to increase public awareness of preventing
identity theft, Internet crimes, and credit card fraud;
6)Consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations in
developing recommendations to strengthen state and local
efforts to prevent and prosecute identity theft, Internet
crimes, and credit card fraud, and to assist victims of those
crimes; and,
7)Identify available federal, state, and local funding and grant
AB 1493
Page 3
opportunities to prevent and prosecute identity theft,
Internet crimes, and credit card fraud, and to assist victims
of those crimes.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Significant one-time costs, in the range of $500,000 - $1
million (GF), over two years, to the new HTCTF to contract for
the comprehensive study.
2)Moderate ongoing costs to the HTCTF, in the range of
$300,000-$500,000 (GF), for the administrative support needs
of the new state agency and to manage the contract for the
study. The assumption is made that representatives of the 11
agencies specified will cover their own travel costs, and
other expenses associated with the membership in the HTCTF.
Also, the assumption is the HTCTF will continue in some
capacity after the study is concluded.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 1493
establishes the High Technology Crimes Task Force to tackle
the issue of high technology crime, identity theft, and credit
card fraud which continues to pose major threats to
California, its citizens, its industries, and its enterprises.
Convening a task force will help establish collaborative
model between governmental and nongovernmental organizations
to prevent and prosecute identity theft, internet crimes, and
credit card fraud."
2)Background. Current law establishes the High Technology Theft
Apprehension and Prosecution Program (HTTAPP), a program of
financial and technical assistance for law enforcement and
AB 1493
Page 4
district attorneys' offices, and for the distribution of funds
to develop regional high technology crime units in California
law enforcement agencies. Funds distributed under these
provisions are required to be expended for the exclusive
purpose of deterring, investigating, and prosecuting high
technology related crimes.
3)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 49 (Simitian), Chapter 618, Statutes of 2003, created
the HTCTF comprised of each regional task force
participating in the HTTAPP, and added a representative of
the Office of Privacy Protection and a designee of the
Department of Finance (DOF) to the High Crime Advisory
Committee.
b) AB 821 (Simitian), Chapter 556, Statutes of 2001,
authorized the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to
allocate up to five percent of the funds available in the
HTTAPP Trust Fund in order to fund education and training
programs for prosecutors and law enforcement engaged in the
investigation and prosecution of high technology crime.
c) SB 1357 (Johnston), Chapter 654, Statutes of 2000,
required the appointment of a designee of the Department of
Information and Technology to the HTCAC, and deleted the
January 1, 2003 sunset date on the HTTAP making the program
permanent.
d) SB 157 (Johnston), Chapter 427, Statutes of 1999,
extended the HTTAPP until January 1, 2003.
AB 1493
Page 5
e) SB 438 (Johnston), Chapter 906, Statutes of 1997,
created the High Technology Theft Apprehension and
Prosecution Program (HTTAP) and provided cellular phone
cloning forfeiture after a conviction based on equipment
misuse
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081