BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session SB 877 (Pan) - Reporting and tracking of violent deaths ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: February 18, 2016 |Policy Vote: HEALTH 7 - 2 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 877 would require the Department of Public Health to establish and maintain an electronic system for tracking and reporting on violent deaths. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing costs of $460,000 per year for staff to oversee contracts with counties and law enforcement organizations, analyze data, and prepare reports (General Fund or federal funds). Ongoing costs of $300,000 for payments to counties and law enforcement agencies to reimburse counties and law enforcement agencies who would provide information to the Department of Public Health for entry into the tracking system (General Fund or federal funds). Previously, the Department of Public Health provided reimbursement to local government agencies to reimburse them for the time needed to provide information to the Department. SB 877 (Pan) Page 1 of ? Background: Under current law, marriages, births, and deaths must be registered with local governments. Current law requires the Department of Public Health to operate a system to track death registrations. From 2005 to 2010, the state participated in a federal program to collect data regarding violent deaths from law enforcement agencies, coroners, crime laboratories, and other entities. Initially, California received federal funding to participate in the program and used a federally-developed system for tracking violent deaths. However, the Department of Public Health was unable to get access to information from law enforcement agencies across the state. Due to this inability to operate a state-wide system, the Department was unable to reapply for federal funding. The Department then received foundation funding to operate a California-only system, however that system was limited in that it did not have detailed information from law enforcement agencies. Upon expiration of the foundation grant, the Department stopped actively collecting information from local agencies. Proposed Law: SB 877 would require the Department of Public Health to establish and maintain an electronic system for tracking and reporting on violent deaths. Specific provisions of the bill would: Require the Department to establish and maintain the California Electronic Violent Death Reporting System; Require the Department to collect data on violent deaths from specified sources, including local law enforcement reports; Authorize the Department to apply for federal grant funds to implement the bill and authorize the Department to accept private or foundation funds. Related Legislation: AB 540 (2013) was substantially similar to this bill. That bill was held on this committee's Suspense File. Staff SB 877 (Pan) Page 2 of ? Comments: The Department of Public Health indicates that it intends to apply for the next round of federal participation in the national program. The new federal grant guidelines have been relaxed in relation to past guidelines and therefore the state may have a better chance of receiving federal funding than in the prior grant funding round. It is not known at this time whether any future federal funding would be sufficient for the Department to provide funding to counties and local law enforcement agencies to encourage participation. If the Department is not able to secure federal funding, there are no other sources of funding identified to pay for the costs of the bill other than the General Fund. -- END --