BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1563|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1563
Author: Rodriguez (D)
Amended: 5/24/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/10/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Victim's compensation: claims: appeal
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill 1) directs the Victims Compensation and
Government Claims Board (board) to consider a request for
reconsideration of the denial of a claim within six months of
receipt of the appeal unless the request contains insufficient
information for the board to make a decision; and 2) requires
the board to notify a claimant within six months that the
request or appeal includes insufficient information.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the board to operate the California Victim's
Compensation Program. (Gov. Code, § 13950 et. seq.)
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2) Provides than an application for compensation shall be filed
with the board in the manner determined by the board. (Gov.
Code, § 13952, subd. (a).)
3) States that, except as provided by specified sections of the
Government Code, a person shall be eligible for compensation
when all of the following requirements are met:
a) The person form whom compensation is being sought any
of the following:
i) A victim;
ii) A derivative victim; or,
iii) A person who is entitled to reimbursement for
funeral, burial or crime scene clean-up expenses
pursuant to specified sections of the Government Code.
b) Either of the following conditions is met:
i) The crime occurred within California, whether or
not the victim is a resident of California. This only
applies when the board determines that there are
federal funds available to the state for the
compensation of crime victims; or
ii) Whether or not the crime occurred within the
State of California, the victim was any of the
following: A California resident; a member of the
military stationed in California; or a family member
living with a member of the military stationed in
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California.
c) If compensation is being sought for derivative victim,
the derivative victim is a resident of California, or the
resident of any state, who is any of the following:
i) At the time of the crimes was the parent,
grandparent, sibling, spouse, child or grandchild of
the victim;
ii) At the time of the crime was living in the
household of the victim;
iii) At the time of the crime was a person who had
previously lived in the house of the victim for a
person of not less than two years in a relationship
substantially similar to a previously listed
relationship;
iv) Another family member of the victim including,
but not limited to, the victim's fiancé or fiancée, and
who witnessed the crime; or
v) The primary caretaker of a minor victim, but was
not the primary caretaker at the time of the crime.
(Gov. Code, § 13955.)
4) Authorizes the board to reimburse for pecuniary loss for
specified types of losses, including medical expenses,
mental-health counseling, loss of income or loss of support,
and installing or increasing residential security. (Gov.
Code, § 13957.)
5) Requires the board to approve or deny applications, based on
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recommendations by the board staff, within an average of 90
calendar days and no later than 180 calendar days of
acceptance by the board. (Gov. Code, § 13958, subd. (a).)
6) Requires the board to grant a hearing to an applicant who
contests a staff recommendation to deny compensation in whole
or in part. (Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (a).)
7) States that at such a hearing to contest a staff
recommendation to deny compensation, the person seeking
compensation shall have the burden of establishing, by a
preponderance of the evidence, the elements for eligibility.
(Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (c).)
8) Establishes protocols for reconsideration hearings, and
specifies that they are informal and not subject technical
rules of evidence. (Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (e).)
9) Requires the board's post-hearing decision to be in writing.
A copy of the decision must be personally delivered to the
applicant or his or her representative, or sent by mail.
(Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (h).)
10)Allows the board to order a reconsideration of all or part
of a decision on written request of the applicant. The board
may not grant more than one request for reconsideration with
respect to any one decision on an application for
compensation. (Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (i).)
11)Prohibits the board from considering any request for
reconsideration if the request is filed with the board more
than 30 calendar days after the personal delivery or 60
calendar days after the mailing of the original decision.
(Gov. Code, § 13959, subd. (i).)
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12)Permits judicial review of a final decision of the board by
filing a petition for writ of mandate. (Gov. Code, § 13960.)
This bill:
1) Requires the board to evaluate an application for
reconsideration of compensation within six months of the date
the board receives the application, unless it determines that
there was insufficient information to make a decision.
2) Provides that if the board determines that there was
insufficient information to make a decision, it shall notify
the applicant in writing within six months of the date the
application was received.
Background
According to the author:
Victims of crime often suffer long-term after a criminal
offense has taken place, and without adequate treatment
or services, are likely to become re-victimized. In the
past, the Victim's Compensation Program has demonstrated
a lack of management of appeals cases, leaving many
victims waiting for answers and footing the bill for
services that could have been compensated earlier and
more efficiently. AB 1563 seeks to address this problem
by making sure the Board makes a decision on an appeal
within six months of receiving an application and
informing an applicant if anything is missing from their
application. This measure will ensure that victim
applicants are not waiting indefinitely for a response,
and have a fair opportunity to submit information that
would complete their applications. This will allow
victims to successfully move on with their lives with
the treatment and services they need.
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The victims' compensation program was created in 1965, the first
such program in the country. The program provides compensation
for victims of violent crime. It reimburses eligible victims
for many crime-related expenses, such as medical treatment,
mental health services, funeral expenses, home security, and
relocation services. Funding for the board comes from
restitution fines and penalty assessments paid by criminal
offenders, as well as federal matching funds. (See the board's
Website:
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months of the date the appeal was received.
The board has informed the Legislature that several years ago
there was a backlog of about 2,000 appeals. The board enacted
changes to address the backlog. Two analysts were assigned to
triage the appeals to resolve any that could be handled
expeditiously and without a hearing. Additionally, for one
month several years ago all hearing attorneys were assigned to
handle appeals. These actions dropped the backlog from 2,000 to
less than 500 cases. In the recent past, the backlog has run
between 240-280 cases. As of January 2016, there is a backlog
of 260 appeals: 221 of these are less than six months old, 34
are less than nine months old, and five are up to a year old.
The only cases that are not handled within the first six months
are complex ones, such as those which may involve fraud, or
those which are waiting for documents from a third party, such
as a provider or police department.
Given the information provided by the board, it should generally
be able to comply with the deadlines imposed by this bill. In
fact, it appears the board is already doing so.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/21/16)
California Catholic Conference
Crime Victims United of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/21/16)
None received
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, 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,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Irwin, Levine, Melendez, Nazarian
Prepared by:Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. /
6/22/16 17:41:37
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