BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1701 (Gonzalez) - State claims
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|Version: June 27, 2016 |Policy Vote: |
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|Urgency: Yes |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 11, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File. Pursuant to the Committee's rules, the Suspense
File rule does not apply to this bill as claims are considered
valid obligations of the state. Additionally, claims may have
time sensitivity.
Bill
Summary: AB 1701, an urgency measure, would appropriate
approximately $450,000 from specified funds to the California
Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (board) for the
payment of 210 state claims.
Fiscal
Impact:
Stale-dated warrants : General Fund appropriations in the
amount of $408,878.43 to pay 184 claims, and appropriations
from specific budget items in the amount of $39,579.79 to pay
26 claims (General Fund/special funds). All of these claims
are for reissuance of stale-dated warrants (expired checks).
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The individual claim amounts range from $21.84 to $60,701.61.
Background: The State Board of Control was established in 1945. It was
revised and renamed the Victim Compensation and Government
Claims Board by Chapter 1016/2000 (AB 2491, Jackson).
Government Code 13928 requires the board to ensure that all
claims that have been approved by the board, and for which no
legally available appropriation exists, are submitted for
legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year.
In general, the board will approve claims in November and
February. Those claims are reported to the chairs of the
Appropriations Committees who introduce bills appropriating
General Funds and special funds to pay the claims. These bills
may appropriate funds in amounts to the penny for tens to
hundreds of claims. Government Code 906 provides for the
payment of interest on claims approved by the board for which an
appropriation has been made beginning 30 days after the
effective date of the law by which the appropriation is enacted.
The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants is the most prevalent
claim approved by the board. For stale-dated warrants, the
Controller must confirm that (1) the check was not cashed and
has not been issued and (2) more than three years have elapsed
since the check was issued and the monies have reverted to the
General Fund or to the relevant special fund. For these
warrants an appropriation is needed to reissue the payment.
This category also may include state treasury bonds that have
not been redeemed within ten years of their maturity date (there
are no such claims in this bill), but the majority of warrants
are payroll or tax refund checks.
In addition to stale-dated warrants, existing law authorizes a
person convicted and imprisoned for a felony to submit a claim
to the board for pecuniary injury sustained as a result of
erroneous conviction and imprisonment. Recent changes to these
provisions, SB 618 (Leno), Chapter 800/2013, specify that a
person who has secured a declaration of factual innocence from
the court after having his or her conviction set aside is
eligible payment in a claim against the state. Upon
application by the petitioner, the board shall, without a
hearing, recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover
the claim. Likewise, if the court finds the petitioner has
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proven his or her innocence by a preponderance of the evidence,
or the court grants a writ of habeas corpus concerning a person
who is unlawfully imprisoned, or when the court vacates a
judgment for a person on the basis of new evidence concerning a
person who is no longer unlawfully imprisoned, and the court
finds the evidence points unerringly to innocence, the board
shall, upon application by the claimant, without a hearing,
recommend to the Legislature an appropriation to cover the
petitioner's claim.
Otherwise, a claimant is required to introduce evidence in
support of his or her claim at a hearing before the board, and
the Attorney General may introduce evidence in opposition. The
claimant must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence: (a) the
crime was not committed at all, or, if committed, was not
committed by the claimant; (b) the claimant did not contribute
to the arrest or conviction for the crime; and (c) the claimant
sustained pecuniary injury though the erroneous conviction and
imprisonment.
If a claimant meets the burden of proof, the board shall
recommend to the Legislature an appropriation of $140 per day of
incarceration served in a state prison subsequent to the
claimant's conviction. That amount was recently raised from
$100 to $140, upon enactment of SB 635 (Nielsen), Chapter
422/2015, so claims approved by the board prior to January 1,
2016 provide payment of $100 per day of incarceration.
Proposed Law:
This bill, an urgency measure, would appropriate $448,458.22 in
various state funds, including $408,878.43 directly from the
General Fund, to the board for the payment of 210 state claims
for reissuance of stale-dated warrants. This bill would not
appropriate funds related to erroneous convictions.
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