BILL NUMBER: SB 134	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 24, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 2, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 13, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hertzberg
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
   (Coauthors: Senators Allen, Jackson, Leno, Pavley, and Wieckowski)

   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Cristina Garcia, Santiago, and
Steinorth)

                        JANUARY 22, 2015

   An act to  amend Section 6032 of   add
Section 6032.5 to  the Business and Professions Code,   and
to add Section 1564.5 to the Code of Civil Procedure,   relating
to attorneys.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 134, as amended, Hertzberg. State Bar of California: 
voluntary fee collection:   Interest on Lawyer Trust
Accounts: escheated funds: public interest attorney  loan
repayment program.
    (1)    Existing law, the State Bar Act,
provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State
Bar of California, a public corporation.  Existing law
authorizes the State Bar to collect annual membership dues and
voluntary fees, as specified.   Existing law requires an
attorney or law firm that receives or disburses trust funds to
establish an interest-bearing demand trust account and to deposit in
the account all client deposits that are nominal in amount or are on
deposit for a   short period of time.  
Existing 
    (2)     Existing  law creates the
Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program, which is
administered by the Student Aid Commission, to provide loan repayment
assistance for licensed attorneys who practice or agree to practice
in public interest areas of the law in California. 
   (3) Existing law provides for the escheat of property to the
state. Existing law requires all property that escheats to the state
to be deposited into the Abandoned Property Account in the Unclaimed
Property Fund, which is continuously appropriated for specified
purposes. Existing law establishes procedures for submitting a claim
for property that has escheated.  
   This bill would require unclaimed property in Interest on Lawyers'
Trust Accounts (IOLTA) to, instead, be deposited into the Public
Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account established by this bill in
the State Treasury for the purposes of providing, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, additional funding for the Public Interest
Attorney Loan Repayment Program.  
   This bill would expressly authorize the State Bar to collect
voluntary fees on behalf of, and for the purpose of funding, the
Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION   1.    Section 6032.5 is added to
the   Business and Professions Code   , to read:
 
   6032.5.  (a) Notwithstanding any law, including, but not limited
to, Section 1564 of the Code of Civil Procedure, any escheated
property held in an IOLTA account shall be deposited into the Public
Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account which is hereby established
within the State Treasury.
   (b) Escheated property in the Public Interest Attorney Loan
Repayment Account shall be used, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, by the Student Aid Commission for the purpose of
providing increased funding for, both the administration of and the
provision of loan assistance pursuant to, the Public Interest
Attorney Loan Repayment Program pursuant to Article 12 (commencing
with Section 69740) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3
of the Education Code.
   (c) For the purposes of this section, "escheated property" has the
same meaning as set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 1561 of the
Code of Civil Procedure. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 1564.5 is added to the  
Code of Civil Procedure   , to read:  
   1564.5.  Notwithstanding Section 1564, escheated property held in
an Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account (IOLTA) shall be deposited into
the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account, as set forth in
Section 6032.5 of the Business and Professions Code.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 6032 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
   6032.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State
Bar is expressly authorized to collect, in conjunction with the State
Bar's collection of its annual membership dues, voluntary fees on
behalf of, and for the purpose of funding, the California Supreme
Court Historical Society, which advances the science of jurisprudence
by preserving and disseminating to the general public the history of
the Supreme Court and the judicial branch.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the State Bar is expressly
authorized to collect, in conjunction with the State Bar's collection
of its annual membership dues, voluntary fees on behalf of, and for
the purpose of funding, both the administration and provision of loan
assistance for, the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program
(Article 12 (commencing with Section 69740) of Chapter 2 of Part 42
of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code), which provides loan
assistance to licensed attorneys who practice or agree to practice in
public interest areas of the law in this state.