BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 10 (Lara) - Immigration: Governor's Office of New Americans
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|Version: December 1, 2014 |Policy Vote: G.O. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 11, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 10 would establish the Office of New Americans
(ONA) within the Governor's office, with specified duties and
responsibilities related to the integration of the state's
immigrant population.
Fiscal
Impact:
General fund costs of approximately $350,000 annually (General
Fund) to perform administrative functions related to the ONA.
These costs may increase to the extent funds are appropriated
in the future for local assistance outreach activities.
Future General Fund pressure, potentially in the millions
SB 10 (Lara) Page 1 of
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annually, to the extent the ONA identifies needs for local
assistance and private or other public funding is insufficient
to support those needs.
Background: Existing law establishes the Naturalization Services Program
(NSP) within the Department of Community Services and
Development (CSD) to assist legal permanent residents in
obtaining citizenship, to the extent funding is appropriated for
that purpose in the Budget Act. From 1998 to 2008, the
Legislature appropriated funds to support the program, which was
distributed through contracts with community-based organizations
that performed the following activities and services: outreach,
intake, referrals, citizenship application assistance,
citizenship testing, interview preparation, and follow up
activities.
In the last several years of the NSP, through the 2007-08 fiscal
year, CSD received a $3 million General Fund appropriation,
which supported contracts with 23 community based organizations
around the state. During the final year, 9,743 clients were
served, and 5,502 received certificates of naturalization. Over
the 10-year life of the program, a total of 118,488 clients were
served, but the program's budget was eliminated in 2008 due to
General Fund shortfalls, and it has not been funded since that
time.
Existing law, enacted by SB 1159 (Lara), Chap 752/2014,
prohibits licensing boards under the Department of Consumer
Affairs from denying licensure to an applicant based on his or
her citizenship or immigration status, and requires a licensing
board and the State Bar, by January 1, 2016, to accept an
individual taxpayer identification number in lieu of a Social
Security Number from an applicant for licensure.
Existing law, AB 60 (Alejo), Chap 524/2013, requires the
Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver's license to an
applicant who cannot verify legal presence in the United States,
if he or she meets all other qualifications for licensure and
provides specified documentation proving identity and California
residency, as specified.
Existing law, AB 4 (Ammiano), Chap 570/2013, commonly referred
to as the TRUST Act, prohibits a law enforcement officer from
detaining an individual on the basis of a United States
SB 10 (Lara) Page 2 of
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold after that individual
becomes eligible for release, unless the individual has been
convicted of specified crimes.
On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a series of
executive actions on immigration reform, including the
following:
The Deferred Action for Parents for Americans and Lawful
Permanent Residents (DAPA), which authorizes undocumented
immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and
have children who are American citizens or lawful permanent
residents to apply for temporary reprieve from deportation and
a three year, renewable work permit. The program will be
administered on a case-by-case basis for individuals that meet
specific guidelines, including a thorough background check.
Expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program for youth who came to the United States as children.
The action expanded eligibility to undocumented immigrants who
entered the country before 2010 (rather than 2007), eliminated
a requirement that applicants be younger than 31 years old,
and extended the duration of renewable work permits from two
years to three years.
Currently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
is not accepting applications for the expanded DACA and the
DAPA. A federal district court in Texas has issued an order
that temporarily blocks DAPA and the expanded DACA from being
implemented. USCIS continues to accept renewal applications or
initial applications from people who qualify under the initial
DACA announcement in 2012.
Proposed Law:
SB 10 would establish the Office of New Americans in the
Governor's office, and specify that the duties of the ONA
include the following:
Coordinating an ongoing multiagency, multisector public and
private effort to provide accurate, accessible information and
services to new Americans.
Overseeing the creation of a statewide plan for the
coordination and implementation of any presidential executive
action on immigration reform or federal comprehensive
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immigration reform (CIR).
Providing outreach, education, and fraud prevention services
to ensure new Americans have accurate information on
eligibility requirements for presidential executive action,
CIR, DACA, and other policies, and where to obtain reputable
application assistance and legal services.
Providing citizenship application assistance, legal services,
and English and civics instruction.
Monitoring the implementation of the following:
o DACA and any other presidential executive action on
immigration reform or CIR.
o DMV's issuance of driver's licenses to undocumented
immigrants, pursuant to AB 60 (Chap 524/2013), as noted
above.
o The TRUST Act (Chap 570/2013), which prohibits law
enforcement from detaining an individual on the basis of
a USICE hold after that person is eligible for release,
as specified above.
o SB 1159 (Chap 752/2014), which allows an applicant
for a license issued by a DCA licensing entity or the
State Bar to use an individual taxpayer identification
number in lieu of a Social Security Number when applying
for licensure.
Creating neighborhood based connections between new Americans
and their communities through civic engagement and other
opportunities.
Marshaling resources to fund these efforts.
Related
Legislation: AB 2060 (De La Torre), Chap 515/2006, formally
codified the Naturalization Services Program (as noted above) to
provide funding to community-based organizations to assist legal
permanent residents in obtaining citizenship. The program is
only implemented to the extent funds are appropriated in a
Budget Act.
Staff
Comments: Over the ten years that the NSP was active, the
Legislature provided inconsistent funding and support for the
program before defunding NSP in 2008. The various Budget Acts
provided state operations staffing support ranging from 1 PY and
$75,000 up to 4 PY and $350,000, and local assistance funding
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that ranged from $1.9 million up to $7 million. While the NSP
program was primarily focused on providing assistance to legal
permanent residents with the process of gaining citizenship, SB
10 provides for an expanded program to not only perform
functions similar to the NSP, but also to monitor recent federal
and state actions to assist undocumented immigrants, oversee the
creation of a statewide plan for implementing presidential and
other federal actions, and provide for a coordinated multiagency
public and private effort for services and funding.
Staff assumes that the ONA would require 3-4 PY of staff and
approximately $350,000 initially to investigate and gather
information on current programs and efforts among public and
private entities, assess California's implementation of
specified state and federal actions, create a statewide plan for
a coordinated effort regarding DAPA, DACA, and CIR, and provide
outreach services. To the extent local assistance funding is
provided in the future, ONA staffing needs may increase.
For illustrative purposes, the State of New York established an
Office of New Americans in 2013 that is tasked with similar
functions as the ONA in this bill. New York currently allocates
$442,000 and 6 PY of staff to administer its program.
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