BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 405 (Hertzberg) - Vehicles: infraction and misdemeanor
violations: amnesty
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|Version: April 6, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 405 would authorize counties to establish a
one-time amnesty program for fines and bail to be operational
for two years in accordance with guidelines provided by the
Judicial Council, as specified. This bill:
Provides that each amnesty program would be required to accept
partial payment of past due fines and bail, as specified.
Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to restore the
driving privilege of a participant in the amnesty program
whose driver's license was suspended, as specified.
Requires the DMV to provide a notice to each person whose
driver's license has been suspended, as specified, regarding
his or her potential eligibility for the amnesty program.
Requires each court or county implementing an amnesty program
to file a written report about the program with the Judicial
Council, and subsequently requires the Judicial Council to
submit a report to the Legislature summarizing the
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information.
Fiscal
Impact:
DMV noticing and workload : One-time costs in excess of $1
million (Special Fund*) to notice approximately 2.5 million
individuals. Costs include postage, translation, and staff
workload. Additional increased workload over two years to
notice additional individuals whose licenses are suspended
during the program, and to field telephone calls and inquiries
regarding eligibility for the amnesty program are estimated in
the low to mid millions of dollars (Special Fund*). It is
estimated noticing would be required for all potentially
eligible individuals, regardless of county participation.
License reinstatement fees : Potentially significant increase
in fee revenue (Special Fund*) to the extent a portion of
those individuals noticed will successfully establish a
payment plan with the courts and reinstate their drivers'
licenses, which will require a fee paid to DMV. Impact would
be dependent on the number of participating counties and
amnesty program participants.
Judicial Council guidelines : Minor one-time costs of less
than $10,000 (General Fund**).
Trial court workload : Major costs potentially in excess of $5
million (General Fund**) for each year of the two-year
operation of the amnesty program. This estimate assumes
statewide participation in the amnesty program. To the extent
a number of counties elect not to participate would reduce the
impact to the representative courts in those counties.
Counties : Potentially major non-reimbursable operational
costs in the millions of dollars over two years to operate the
amnesty program, offset in part by near-term fine revenues
that otherwise may not have been collected.
Fine revenue impact : Unknown, potential near-term increases in
the millions of dollars, offset by long-term major reductions
in collections in the millions of dollars statewide
(General/Special/Local). The magnitude of fine revenues
generated by the amnesty program would be dependent on various
factors including but not limited to the number of
participating counties, the number of program participants and
their respective repayment amounts, the terms of the repayment
programs established (as the bill's provisions do not specify
payment due dates), and the number of participants ordered to
SB 405 (Hertzberg) Page 2 of
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community service in lieu of payment.
*Motor Vehicle Account
**Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Existing law provides that in addition to any other penalty in
an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony, the court may impose a
civil penalty of up to $300 against any defendant who fails to
appear in court for any proceeding or fails to pay any portion
of the fine ordered by the court. Existing law provides that if
any person has failed to pay a fine within the time authorized
by the court, the magistrate or clerk of the court may give
notice to the DMV for any violation. If the fine is later fully
paid then the court shall inform the DMV. The DMV data indicates
an average of over 540,000 suspensions per year placed on
driver's licenses, with over 4.8 million suspended over the last
nine years since 2006.
Prior Six-month Amnesty Program in 2012
Under existing law, each county was required to establish a
one-time infraction amnesty program for fines and bail to
provide relief to individuals who were financially unable to pay
traffic bail or fines with due dates prior to January 1, 2009,
thereby allowing courts and counties to resolve older delinquent
cases and focus limited resources on collecting on more recent
cases. Fifty percent of the fine or bail was to be paid under
the amnesty program, with payments accepted beginning January 1,
2012, and ending June 30, 2012. The Judicial Council adopted
guidelines for the amnesty program no later than November 1,
2011, and each program was conducted in accordance with these
guidelines. (Vehicle Code § 42008.7.)
Proposed 18-month Amnesty Program in 2015-16 Governor's Budget
and May Revision
The 2015-16 Governor's Budget proposed an 18-month traffic
amnesty program to be implemented statewide that would provide
individuals a 50 percent reduction in the debt owed for
qualifying traffic infractions and misdemeanors if individuals
pay the reduced amount in full. Amnesty revenues would go to
state and local funds in accordance with state law, with the
exception of revenues deposited into the State Penalty Fund
(SPF). Such revenue would only be deposited into the Peace
Officers' Training Fund (82.2 percent) and Corrections Training
Fund (17.8 percent). The proposal assumed the program would
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collect about $150 million, with $12 million going to the SPF.
The Legislative Analyst's Office estimated in its analysis of
the Governor's Budget that the proposed amnesty program would
potentially generate $37 million, but would be unlikely to raise
the amount of revenue required to address the shortfalls in the
POTF and CTF, and could potentially negatively affect future
collections.
The recently released May Revision updates the Administration's
proposed amnesty program by allowing individuals whose driver
licenses have been suspended due to Failure To Appear or Failure
To Pay related to traffic offenses to reinstate their licenses
as part of the program- so they can legally get to work and make
their agreed upon payments to the court. These individuals would
agree to either make one payment or sign up for a payment plan,
supported by a wage garnishment agreement in the event that the
individual fails to make a payment. In addition, the $300
courtimposed assessment fee pursuant to the Penal Code will be
waived for the purposes of the amnesty program and replaced by a
$50 amnesty administrative fee for the courts to recover their
costs of running the program.
Proposed Law:
This bill would authorize counties to establish a one-time
amnesty program for fines and bail, as follows:
Provides that the program shall be conducted in
accordance with guidelines provided by the Judicial Council
to be adopted by March 1, 2016. Prior to the adoption of
those guidelines, requires each program to be initially
conducted in accordance with the Judicial Council
guidelines created in accordance with VC § 42008.7.
Provides that unless agreed otherwise by the court and
the county, the government entities that are responsible
for the collection of delinquent court-ordered debt are to
be responsible for the implementation of the amnesty
program as to that debt.
Provides that 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:
o 80 percent of the fine or bail if the person
has income that exceeds 200 percent of the federal
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poverty level (FPL).
o 50 percent of the fine or bail if the person
has income that is greater than 150 percent of, but
not more than 200 percent of the FPL.
o 20 percent of the fine or bail if the person
has income that is not more than 150 percent of the
FPL.
Provides that nothing shall limit the court's ability to
issue an earnings withholding order or to order the person
to perform community services in lieu of paying the amounts
specified.
Requires the DMV to restore the driving privilege of a
participant in the amnesty program whose driver's license
was suspended due to failure to pay fines.
Requires the DMV to provide a notice to each person's
whose license has been suspended regarding his or her
potential eligibility for the amnesty program.
Provides that no criminal action shall be brought
against a person for a delinquent fine or bail paid under
the amnesty program.
Requires each court or county implementing an amnesty
program to file, not later than one year after establishing
the program a written report with the Judicial Council with
information about the number of cases resolved, the amount
of money collected and the operating costs of the amnesty
program.
Sunsets the bill's provisions on January 1, 2018.
Related
Legislation: SB 366 (Wright) 2014 would have made numerous
changes in the Vehicle Code and Penal Code regarding factors the
court must take into consideration when considering a person's
ability to pay a fine or civil assessment. This bill was held on
the Suspense File of this Committee.
AB 2724 (Bradford) 2014 would have required a court to issue and
file a certificate with the DMV and request that a hold on a
defendant's driver's license be lifted if an agreement has been
signed to pay a fine in installments, or an agreement has been
signed to perform community service in lieu of paying the fine.
This bill was held on the Suspense File of this Committee.
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Staff
Comments: The Judicial Council and the DMV would likely incur
substantial costs to implement the bill's provisions - See
"Fiscal Impact" section of this analysis.
Staff notes numerous differences between the proposed amnesty
program in this measure and the amnesty program proposed in the
May Revision that would significantly impact the level of costs
and revenues associated with each. The amnesty program proposed
in this measure: 1) does not mandate statewide participation; 2)
establishes a two year program vs. an 18-month program in the
May Revision; 3) requires noticing of all persons with suspended
driver's licenses vs. outreach via website information; 4)
requires the Judicial Council to determine the level of payment
due based on a person's income vs. a standard 50 percent of
amount owed; 5) does not support payment plans by a mandatory
wage garnishment agreement in the event that the individual
fails to make a payment; and 6) does not waive the $300
court-imposed fee and in its place authorize imposition of
administrative fees for both DMV and the courts/counties. This
bill also does not specify a start and end date within which
payment plan payments will be accepted.
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