BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 519 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair SB 519 (Hancock) - As Amended July 16, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill makes reforms to rules governing the processing of claims by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (board). Specifically, this bill: SB 519 Page 2 1)Requires the board to approve or deny an application within 90 days of acceptance. 2)Provides that a felon on probation or parole is eligible for compensation for mental health counseling despite this status. 3)Prohibits the denial of a claim for a victim who is a minor based on the grounds of failing to cooperate with law enforcement. 4)Prohibits the board from establishing policy or regulations limiting the amount recoverable for funeral expenses to less than $7,500. 5)Requires all correspondence by the board to an applicant to be written in specified languages. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Moderate administrative costs to the board to make a determination within the required 90 days of receipt of the claim, since this will increase the number of appeals. If a claim is incomplete, the board will deny the claim and the claimant will appeal the decision. The language requirement for all correspondence is consistent with current board practice. SB 519 Page 3 2)Increased ongoing claim costs in the $200,000 (GF) range, $100,000 to provide mental health counseling for felons and $100,000 to reimburse qualifying minors. The $7,500 minimum reimbursement for funeral expense is the current reimbursement rate COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author, "Making sure that victims are compensated by their victimizers is not only good economic policy, but morally sound. Providing justice and compensation to Californians who are the victims of crime are among the paramount missions of our government." SB 519 provides some reforms to the process the board uses to compensate crime victims. 2)Background: The California Victim Compensation Program (CalVCP), administered by the board, provides compensation for victims of violent crime. It reimburses eligible victims for many crime-related expenses, such as medical treatment, mental health services, funeral expenses, home security, and relocation services. Under current law, the board has up to 180 days to process claims. While the average time to process a claim is currently less than 60 days, some claims can take longer than 90 days due to incomplete applications, such as lack of documentation. SB 519 requires that the claim be processed within 90 days of submittal. In a 2008 audit, the Bureau of State Audits noted various instances in which the board did not demonstrate that it approved or denied the applications as promptly as it could have after receiving the information necessary to make the determination. SB 519 Page 4 The committee may wish to clarify the 90-day clock begins with a complete application. Staff is concerned that the board may deny incomplete claims 90 days after receipt of the claim, only to approve the claim during the more resource intensive appeal process when all the proper documentation will be submitted. Current law prohibits compensation for a felon until that person has been discharged from probation or is released from a correctional institution and has been discharged from parole. SB 519 provides and exemption if the compensation is solely used to fund mental health counseling. Claims by minors are often denied due to perceived lack of cooperation with law enforcement in the apprehension of the criminal responsible for the crime. SB 519 prohibits the denial of a claim due to lack of cooperation with law enforcement if the victim eligible for compensation is a minor. Current law limits the qualifying funeral expense benefit at $7,500. In the past, the board reduced this benefit to $5,000. SB 519 prohibits the board from adopting regulations to reduce this benefit below $7,500. 3)Argument in Support: According to Californians for Safety and Justice, "Through our outreach, time and again we have encountered victims and survivors of crime in need of support opportunities to heal from trauma. The overwhelming impact of serious crime is often exacerbated by the justice system process and crime victims often face challenges finding the right supports for recovery. We often hear survivors talk about how support services to heal from trauma are an ongoing SB 519 Page 5 unmet need. Our 2013 survey of crime victims in California, the first of its kind, found that four of the five services available to crime victims, including assistance accessing victims' compensation and navigating the criminal justice process, were unknown to the majority of victims. SB 519 will begin to address these barriers and help more crime victims get the support they need." 4)Related Legislation: a) AB 1140 (Bonta), pending in Senate Appropriations, revises various rules governing the CalVCP. b) SB 556 (De León), on the Assembly Floor, defines "application processing time" for the approval or denial of a victim's compensation claim. 5)Prior Legislation: a) AB 1911 (Patterson), of the 2013-2014 Legislative session, which was not set for a policy hearing, would have shortened the time period in which the board must approve or deny an application to within 30 calendar days of the date of acceptance, and also would have shortened the time period in which the board must make disbursements of funds for emergency awards. b) AB 2809 (Leno), Chapter 587, Statutes of 2008, allowed a minor who suffers emotional injury as a direct result of witnessing a violent crime to be eligible for reimbursement for the costs of outpatient mental health counseling if the minor was in close proximity to the victim when he or she witnessed the crime. c) AB 2869 (Leno), Chapter 582, Statutes of 2006, specified that the provisions authorizing reimbursement for funeral and burial expenses apply without respect to any felon status of the victim. SB 519 Page 6 Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916) 319-2081