BILL NUMBER: SB 134 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2015
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 and Santiago)
JANUARY 22, 2015
An act to 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: Interest
on Lawyers' Trust Accounts: escheated funds: Public Interest Attorney
Loan Repayment Program.
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 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 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.
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 funds in Interest on Lawyers' Trust
Accounts (IOLTA) that escheat to the state to be deposited into the
Abandoned IOLTA Property Account, which would be established within
the Unclaimed Property Fund. The bill would establish the IOLTA
Claims Reserve Subaccount within the account and would require
that 25% of IOLTA escheated funds be deposited into the subaccount to
be used by the Controller to determine and transfer
for deposit into the subaccount an amount that is sufficient to pay
refunds, claims, and costs associated with escheated IOLTA funds, to
be available upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Controller, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the
purposes of paying refunds, claims, and costs associated with
escheated IOLTA funds. The bill would require the balance of
the escheated IOLTA funds to be transferred annually into the Public
Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account to be established by this
bill within the State Treasury for the purposes of providing, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, additional funding to the Student
Aid Commission for the administration of, and provision of loan
assistance pursuant to, 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) The Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account
is hereby established within the State Treasury.
(b) Funds from an IOLTA account that escheat to the state and are
deposited into the Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1564.5 of the Code of Civil
Procedure 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.
SEC. 2. Section 1564.5 is added to the Code of Civil Procedure, to
read:
1564.5. (a) Notwithstanding any law, including, but not limited
to, Section 1564, all money received under this chapter from funds
held in an Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account (IOLTA) that escheat to
the state shall be administered as set forth in this section. The
money shall be deposited into the Abandoned IOLTA Property Account,
which is hereby established within the Unclaimed Property Fund.
(b) From all money deposited into
Twenty-five percent of the money in the Abandoned IOLTA
Property Account, the Controller Account
shall determine and transfer for deposit
be deposited into the IOLTA Claims Reserve Subaccount,
which is hereby established within the Abandoned IOLTA Property
Account, an amount that is sufficient to pay all refunds,
claims, and costs pursuant to this chapter related to the escheated
IOLTA funds. Account. Funds in the subaccount
shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available to the
Controller for these payments. the payment of
all refunds, claims, and costs pursuant to this chapter related to
escheated IOLTA funds.
(c) The balance of the funds deposited into
in the Abandoned IOLTA Property Account in excess
of the Account, excluding funds in the
subaccount, shall be transferred on an annual basis to the Public
Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Account established pursuant to
Section 6032.5 of the Business and Professions Code. Before making
this transfer, the Controller shall record the name and last known
address of each person appearing from the holders' report to be
entitled to the escheated property. The record shall be available for
public inspection at all reasonable business hours.