Amended in Senate April 6, 2015

Senate Bill No. 405

Introduced by Senator Hertzberg

February 25, 2015

An act begin insert to add and repeal Section 42008.8 of the Vehicle Code, end insert relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 405, as amended, Hertzberg. begin delete Vehicles: failure to appear or pay fine: suspension of driving privilege. end delete begin insert Vehicles: infraction and misdemeanor violations: amnesty. end insert

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Existing law requires a county to establish a one-time amnesty program for fines and bail due on or before January 1, 2009, for certain infraction or misdemeanor violations of the Vehicle Code and the Penal Code. Existing law allows a person owing a fine or bail that was eligible for amnesty under this program to pay 50% of the total fine or bail, as defined, which is required to be accepted by the court in full satisfaction of the delinquent fine or bail. Under existing law, the amnesty program was operative from January 1, 2012, until June 30, 2012.

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This bill would, until January 1, 2018, require a county that establishes an amnesty program to allow a person owing a fine or bail that was due on or before January 1, 2013, to pay a specified percentage of the delinquent amount in full satisfaction of the fine or bail and to comply with guidelines promulgated by the Judicial Council. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to restore the driving privilege of a participant in the amnesty program whose driver’s license was suspended for failure to appear in court or failure to pay a fine or bail, as specified. The bill would direct the Judicial Council to adopt guidelines for the amnesty program by March 1, 2016. The bill would also require counties to file a report with the Judicial Council, for submission to the Legislature, regarding the number of cases resolved, the amount of money collected, and the operating costs of the amnesty program. The bill would state findings and declarations by the Legislature relative to these matters. By imposing these duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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Existing law authorizes the magistrate or clerk of a court to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles if any person has violated a written promise to appear or an order to appear, or willfully fails to pay a fine for a violation of specified provisions of the Vehicle Code. Existing law requires the department to suspend the driver’s license of a person upon receipt of the above-described notice from the court that the person has violated a written promise to appear or willfully failed to pay a fine, if there are prior violations, as specified.

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This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to significantly reduce the number of persons who have their driver’s license suspended and to establish a process for persons with a current suspension to get their driving privileges restored without first having to pay all court-ordered debt.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(1)

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begin insert (a) end insert  Driving in California is often described as a privilege, but
for millions of Californians it is an economic necessity. Each day
millions of Californians take to the road to go to work, drop off
their children at school and activities, go shopping, and visit family.
Without the ability to drive, millions of families cannot afford to
pay the cost of housing, pay utilities, put food on the table, afford
clothing for their children, or be able to save for retirement. In
short, driving is a fundamental need of virtually every person in
the state.

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(2)

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begin insert (b) end insert  Unfortunately, millions of Californians have lost the ability
to drive legally. Their driver’s licenses have been suspended, not
because they are a danger to public safety, but because they could
not pay fines associated with minor traffic tickets and other related
fees and assessments. In the past five years, the Department of
Motor Vehicles has suspended more than 2.7 million driver’s
licenses for drivers’ failure to appear in court or failure to make
payments ordered by a court. The Legislative Analyst’s Office
reports that there is currently more than $10 billion in
court-ordered, uncollected debt in California and $8 billion of this
amount is for unpaid traffic violations.

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(3)

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begin insert (c) end insert  For many families, a driver’s license suspension is the
beginning of a descent into abject poverty for which there is no
escape. Legal services advocates report that once a person gets his
or her driver’s license suspended in California, it is virtually
impossible for the driver’s license to be restored until all the unpaid
fees, fines begin insert , end insert and assessments are completely paid. Many people
with a suspended driver’s license are low income and can only
pay the debt off a little at a time. Others are unemployed or on
public assistance and cannot afford to make any payments. The
State of New Jersey did a study of persons with suspended driver’s
licenses and found that 42 percent lost their jobs after their driver’s
licenses were suspended and less than begin delete half end delete begin insert one-half end insert of them were
able to find new jobs; 88 percent experienced a loss of income.

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(4)

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begin insert (d) end insert  The original rationale for suspending driver’s licenses was
to compel begin delete persons end delete begin insert a person end insert who had committed a serious public
safety violation to correct his or her behavior. This rationale over
time has been extended to hundreds of nonpublic safety violations.
As a report by the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators (AAMVA), “Best Practices Guide to Reducing
Suspended Drivers” notes, all 50 states now suspend driver’s
licenses for nonhighway safety reasons. The AAMVA report
recommends that states repeal laws that lead to driver’s license
suspensions for nonpublic safety reasons and replace those
suspensions with payment plans and wage garnishments to collect
court-ordered debt.

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(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
significantly reduce the number of persons who have their driver’s
licenses suspended and to establish a process for persons with
current suspensions to get their driving privileges restored without
first having to pay all court-ordered debt.

end delete

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 42008.8 is added to the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 42008.8. end insert   

(a) A county that establishes a one-time amnesty
program for fines and bail shall conduct the program in
accordance with guidelines provided by the Judicial Council. The
guidelines shall be adopted by March 1, 2016. Until the guidelines
are adopted by the Judicial Council, each program shall initially
be conducted in accordance with the Judicial Council’s guidelines
adopted pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 42008.7.

(b) Unless agreed otherwise by the court and the county in
writing, the government entities that are responsible for the
collection of delinquent court-ordered debt shall be responsible
for implementation of the amnesty program as to that debt,
maintaining the same division of responsibility in place with
respect to the collection of court-ordered debt under subdivision
(b) of Section 1463.010 of the Penal Code.

(c) Commencing January 1, 2016, until January 1, 2018, each
amnesty program shall accept, in full satisfaction of any eligible
fine or bail, of which the due date for payment was on or before
January 1, 2013, the following amounts:

(1) Eighty percent of the fine or bail if the person has income
that exceeds 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

(2) Fifty percent of the fine or bail if the person has income that
is greater than 150 percent of, but no more than 200 percent of,
the federal poverty level.

(3) Twenty percent of the fine or bail if the person has income
that is no more than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

(d) Nothing in this section shall limit the court’s ability to issue
an earning withholdings order as described in Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 706.101) of Division 2 of Title 9 of Part
2 of the Code of Civil Procedure or to order the person to perform
community services in lieu of paying the amounts specified in
subdivision (c).

(e) The department shall restore the driving privilege of a
participant in the amnesty program whose driver’s license was
suspended pursuant to Section 13365.

(f) The department shall provide a notice to each person whose
driver’s license has been suspended pursuant to Section 13365
regarding his or her potential eligibility for the amnesty program.
The notice shall be provided in the languages specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 1632 of the Civil Code.

(g) No criminal action shall be brought against a person for a
delinquent fine or bail paid under the amnesty program.

(h) Each court or county implementing an amnesty program
shall file, not later than one year after establishing the program,
a written report with the Judicial Council, on a form approved by
the Judicial Council. The report shall include information about
the number of cases resolved, the amount of money collected, and
the operating costs of the amnesty program. The Judicial Council
shall submit a report to the Legislature summarizing the
information provided by each court or county. The report shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

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