BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1869 (Melendez) - Theft: firearms
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|Version: February 10, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 6 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: June 27, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1869 would call for a special election to amend
Proposition 47 and make the theft of a firearm grand theft in
all cases, punishable by a state prison term, as specified.
Additionally, this bill provides that every person who buys or
receives a stolen firearm is guilty of an alternate
felony/misdemeanor offense punishable by imprisonment in the
county jail for up to one year, or by imprisonment in the county
jail or state prison for 16 months, two years, or three years,
as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Ballot costs : One-time costs in the range of $414,000 to
$552,000 (General Fund) to the Secretary of State (SOS) for
printing and mailing costs to place the measure on the ballot
in the next statewide election.
State prisons : To the extent the voters approve the
amendments to the Proposition, significant increase in state
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incarceration costs potentially in the millions of dollars
(General Fund) annually for (1) felony convictions for theft
of a firearm, (2) felony convictions for receipt of a stolen
firearm for persons with a current or prior serious or violent
felony conviction, and (3) potential future violations of the
lifetime firearms ban imposed for these felony convictions
that otherwise may have been charged as misdemeanors. Staff
notes commitments to state prison for both (1) theft of a
firearm and (2) receipt of stolen property as a principal
offense decreased by about 70 percent after passage of
Proposition 47. To the extent some defendants continue to be
committed to prison for other felony convictions, while not
resulting in new commitments, this bill could result in longer
prison sentences for these cases.
County jails : To the extent the voters approve the amendments
to the Proposition, potentially major increase in
non-reimbursable local costs (Local Funds) for felony jail
sentences for receipt of stolen property violations that
previously would have been subject to misdemeanor penalties,
offset in minor part due to fewer jail terms for petty theft
of a firearm that would be subject to a state prison term.
Reduction in Proposition 47 savings : Potential reduction in
future funds allocated to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund (SNSF) to the extent raising the criminal penalties for
the specified firearm offenses results in a reduction in
future calculated savings under Proposition 47 by the
Department of Finance.
Department of Justice (DOJ) : Potentially significant increase
in DOJ administration and enforcement costs in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (Special Fund*) due to increases to the
Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) list resulting from the
expanded application of the lifetime firearms prohibition.
*Dealers Record of Sale Special Account (DROS) - Staff notes the
DROS is structurally imbalanced, with less than a $1 million
reserve balance projected by year-end FY 2016-17. Current
revenues to the DROS Account may be insufficient to cover the
costs of this bill in conjunction with the numerous other
legislative measures requiring funding from the DROS Account,
should they be enacted. As a result, an appropriation from an
alternate fund source, potentially the General Fund, may be
required to support the costs of this measure.
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Background: Proposition 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Act, was approved by the voters in November 2014.
Proposition 47 reduced the penalties for certain drug and
property crimes and directed that the resulting state savings be
directed to mental health and substance abuse treatment, truancy
and dropout prevention, and victims' services. The initiative
reduced the penalties for theft, shoplifting, receiving stolen
property, writing bad checks, and check forgery valued at $950
or less from felonies to misdemeanors. The measure limited the
reduced penalties to offenders who do not have prior convictions
for serious or violent felonies and who are not required to
registered sex offenders.
Grand Theft of a Firearm
Proposition 47 added Penal Code § 490.2, which by virtue of
specifically defining petty theft, narrowed the pre-existing
provisions that constituted grand theft, as follows:
"Notwithstanding Section 487 or any other provision of law
defining grand theft, obtaining any property by theft where the
value of the money, labor, real or personal property taken does
not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) shall be considered
petty theft and shall be punished as a misdemeanor ?.." (PC §
490.2 (a).) In other words, Proposition 47 put in a blanket $950
threshold for conduct to be classified as grand theft.
Previously, there were a number of carve-outs which constituted
grand theft based on the conduct involved, the manner in which
the crime was committed, or the type of property stolen,
irrespective of its value. Because the new statute specifically
includes the phrase, "Notwithstanding Section 487," it
supersedes all of Penal Code § 487, including subdivision
(d)(2), which specifies that grand theft occurs when the
property taken is a firearm.
Receipt/Purchase of a Stolen Firearm
Under existing law, knowingly purchasing or receiving any stolen
property is an alternate felony-misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by
imprisonment in county jail or state prison for 16 months, two
or three years. Prior to the passage of Proposition 47, in cases
where the value of the property did not exceed $950, the
district attorney or grand jury could specify in the accusatory
pleading that the offense shall be a misdemeanor. Proposition 47
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amended this section of law to specify that in all cases in
which the value of the property (including a firearm) does not
exceed $950, the offense shall be a misdemeanor, punishable only
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, if such
person has no prior convictions for a serious or violent felony
or an offense requiring registration as a sex offender.
Proposed Law:
This bill would call for a special election to amend
Proposition 47 and make the theft of a firearm grand theft in
all cases and punishable by a state prison term. Specifically,
this bill:
Declares that the theft of a firearm is grand theft in all
cases, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16
months, or two or three years.
States that every person who buys or receives a stolen firearm
is guilty of an alternate felony/misdemeanor offense
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of
not more than one year, or by imprisonment in the county jail
for 16 months, two or three years (or state prison in the
defendant has a current or prior serious or violent felony
conviction or a conviction for an offense requiring sex
offender registration).
Calls for a special election to be held on November 8, 2016,
for voter approval of these provisions.
Requires consolidation of the special election with the
statewide general election to be held on that date. Requires
the consolidated election be held and conducted in all
respects as if there were only one election, and only one form
of ballot shall be used.
Related
Legislation: AB 1176 (Cooper) 2016 is substantially similar to
this measure but additionally includes a provision specifying a
misdemeanor firearms violation results in a 10-year prohibition
from possession of a firearm. AB 1176 is pending on the Assembly
Floor.
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AB 2854 (Cooper) 2016 is virtually identical to this measure. AB
2854 failed passage in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety.
Prior Legislation: AB 150 (Melendez) 2015 was virtually
identical to this measure. AB 150 was held on the Suspense File
of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
SB 452 (Galgiani) 2015 would have clarified that theft of a
firearm is grand theft and is punishable as a felony, as
specified. SB 452 was not set for hearing in this Committee.
Staff
Comments:
Special Election
The SOS has indicated that printing and mailing costs associated
with placing a measure on the statewide ballot are approximately
$69,000 per page, depending on the length of the ballot. This
fiscal estimate of $414,000 to $552,000 (General Fund) reflects
the costs for the addition of six to eight pages in the Voter
Information Guide. Actual costs would depend upon the length of
the title and summary, analysis by the Legislative Analyst's
Office, proponent and opponent arguments, and text of the
proposal.
Theft of a firearm - grand theft in all cases
By specifying the theft of a firearm is grand theft in all
cases, this bill could result in additional or longer
commitments to state prison. Data from the CDCR indicates a
reduction of over 70 percent (29 commitments in 2014, 8
commitments in 2015) in the number of commitments to state
prison for theft of a firearm as a principal offense. To the
extent this bill results in a comparable increase in commitments
to prison over the decrease experienced post-Proposition 47,
annual costs could increase by over $600,000 annually based on
the contract bed rate of $29,000 per inmate. To the extent the
defendants formerly committed for theft of a firearm as a
principal offense continue to be committed to prison under other
felony offenses would not result in new commitments but could
potentially result in longer prison sentences for these cases.
Purchase or receipt of a stolen firearm
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This bill increases the penalty for purchase or receipt of a
stolen firearm to an alternative felony/misdemeanor offense in
all cases, irrespective of the value of the stolen firearm,
punishable by up to one year in county jail or by 16 months, two
or three years in county jail or state prison dependent on the
defendant's criminal history. As a result, this bill could
result in cost increases to both state prisons and county jails
for felony convictions for violations that previously would have
been subject to a misdemeanor charge should the firearm be
valued under $950.
Data from the DOJ reflects a 47 percent decrease in felony
arrests for receipt of stolen property from 2014 (33,310
arrests) to 2015 (17,689 arrests), and over a 100 percent
increase in misdemeanor arrests over the same period. Likewise
felony convictions decreased by nearly 65 percent. Data from the
CDCR indicates a decrease of nearly 69 percent for commitments
to state prison for receipt of stolen property as a principal
offense (396 commitments in 2014, and 123 commitments in 2015).
Although the number of commitments specific to receipt of a
stolen firearm is unknown, it is likely some portion of these
offenses would be impacted. Assuming 20 percent of the reduction
in cases was attributable to stolen firearms, costs for state
incarceration could increase by about $1.6 million per year. To
the extent the percentage of cases is higher or lower, the
impact to state prison costs could vary greatly.
Lifetime firearms ban
To the extent the two provisions above - theft of a firearm and
purchase/receipt of a stolen firearm - result in additional
felony convictions that otherwise would have been charged as
misdemeanors, this bill could have the effect of imposing the
lifetime firearms ban on a larger group of individuals. A
violation of the lifetime prohibition from firearms possession
is a felony.
Local jails and state prisons will potentially incur cost
increases under the firearm prohibition provisions of this
measure to the extent new commitments to county jail and state
prison result from a greater number of felony violations of the
lifetime firearms ban in the future. Additionally, the DOJ will
incur administrative and enforcement costs to add and monitor
new cases to be added to the APPS list resulting from persons
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convicted of felony offenses that would subsequently be subject
to a lifetime ban on firearms possession/ownership.
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