BILL NUMBER: SB 405 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hertzberg
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to add and repeal Section 42008.8 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 405, as amended, Hertzberg. Vehicles: failure to
appear or pay fine: suspension of driving privilege.
Vehicles: infraction and misdemeanor violations: amnesty.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The
Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)
(a) 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.
(2)
(b) 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.
(3)
(c) 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 , 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 half
one-half of them were able to find new jobs; 88 percent
experienced a loss of income.
(4)
(d) The original rationale for suspending driver's
licenses was to compel persons a person
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.
(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.
SEC. 2. Section 42008.8 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
42008.8. (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.
SEC. 3. 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.