BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 881|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 881
Author: Hertzberg (D), et al.
Amended: 5/2/16
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/12/16
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 6-1, 4/19/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Vehicles: violations
SOURCE: American Civil Liberties Union of California
Western Center on Law and Poverty
DIGEST: This bill makes a number of changes to existing law
relating to suspended licenses for individuals who have failed
to pay a traffic fine or failed to appear in court.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Authorizes a court to notify the state Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) when an individual fails to pay a traffic fine
(FTP), fails to appear in court (FTA), or fails to comply with
a court order (FTC). Existing law requires the court to
notify the DMV if the individual later pays the fine.
2)Requires the court, when an individual appears before a
traffic referee or superior court judge regarding a traffic
offense, to consider the individual's ability to pay if he or
she so requests.
3)Prohibits the DMV from issuing or renewing a license for an
individual when:
a) A license previously issued to the individual has been
suspended, until the end of the suspension period, unless
the cause for the suspension has been removed.
b) A license previously issued to the individual has been
revoked, until one year after the date of revocation,
unless a different period of revocation has been prescribed
or the cause for revocation has been removed.
c) The DMV has received a notice from the court of an FTP
or FTA.
d) The individual's driving record shows two or more FTPs
and/or FTAs, until all FTPs and FTAs have been reported to
DMV as cleared or adjudicated.
1)Requires DMV to suspend the driver's license of an individual
when DMV receives a notice from the court of an FTP or FTA for
that individual, until the individual's driving record is
cleared.
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This bill:
1)Deletes the existing law provision prohibiting DMV from
issuing or renewing a driver's license for an individual when
DMV has received a notice from the court of an FTA or an FTP.
2)Deletes the existing law provision requiring the DMV, upon
notice from the court of an FTA or FTP, to suspend the
individual's driver's license.
3)Requires the DMV to, by July 1, 2017, restore all driving
privileges that have been suspended due to a notice of an FTA
or FTP.
4)Provides that this bill applies to commercial driver's
licenses as well as Class C (common driver's licenses) and
Class M (motorcycle driver's licenses).
5)Provides that the provisions of this bill shall not apply to
specified offenses related to reckless driving or driving
under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Background
The state Judicial Council annually adopts a uniform traffic
penalty schedule for all non-parking infractions outlined in the
Vehicle Code. Due to additional surcharges, penalties, and
assessments, a base fine of $100, for example, results in a
total fine of $541. For many individuals, a traffic violation
can become prohibitively expensive and can lead to a suspended
driver's license. To address this concern, the 2015-16 Budget
agreement authorized an 18-month traffic amnesty program for
delinquent debt. Under this program, the $300 civil assessment
imposed by collection programs for an FTA or FTP is waived.
Individuals then receive a 50% reduction in the total amount of
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court-ordered debt owed for traffic infractions and certain
traffic misdemeanors as long as specified criteria are met. In
addition, participants in the amnesty program, as well as
individuals currently making payments for the same violations
included in the amnesty program, can have their driver's
licenses reinstated. Moreover, SB 405 (Hertzberg, Chapter 385,
Statutes of 2015) requires courts to allow individuals to
schedule court proceedings even if bail or civil assessment has
been imposed.
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) recommendations. The LAO
issued a report in January 2016 titled "Improving California's
Criminal Fine and Fee System." In it, the LAO identified a
number of problems, such as the fact that the complexity and
piecemeal nature of the system makes it difficult to control the
use of fine and fee revenues and to distribute revenue
accurately. The LAO made two major recommendations. First, the
Legislature should re-evaluate the structure of the system,
giving consideration to system goals, ability to pay,
consequences for failure to pay, and whether fines and fees
should be adjusted. Second, the Legislature should increase
legislative control of criminal fine and fee expenditures by
depositing most revenue in the General Fund; consolidating most
fines and fees; evaluating existing programs supported by the
revenues; and mitigating impacts on local government.
Recent amendments. This bill was amended on May 2, 2016, to
require DMV to restore all driving privileges that have been
suspended due to a notice of an FTA or FTP, rather than only
restoring driving privileges upon request, in order to simplify
implementation for DMV.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 405 (Hertzberg, Chapter 385, Statutes of 2015) required
courts to allow individuals to schedule court proceedings, even
if bail or civil assessment has been imposed, and clarified the
traffic amnesty program.
SB 85 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 26,
Statutes of 2015) authorized an 18-month traffic amnesty
program, beginning October 1, 2015, for delinquent debt.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
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Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Trial court workload: Unknown major costs, likely in the
millions annually, to conduct hearings to determine
willfulness when there is an FTP, FTA, or FTC, and to the
extent the courts are prohibited from requiring payment of
bail, penalties, fees and assessments as a condition of
conducting a hearing on an underlying charge. (Trial Court
Trust Fund)
Fine/penalty assessment impact: Unknown major reductions in
collections of fines, fees, and assessments, likely in the
millions and potentially tens of millions annually, by
removing license suspensions as an incentive to pay
court-ordered debt, and requiring collections programs to
offer payment plans based upon the debtors ability to pay.
Revenue reductions related to the latter provision would be
partially mitigated by some revenue gains for partial payments
on debt that may not have otherwise been paid. (General Fund,
various special funds, local funds)
DMV programming: One-time costs of up to $100,000 in 2016-17
to terminate existing license suspensions and make system
changes to prospectively halt suspension actions. (Motor
Vehicle Account)
DMV license reinstatements: Potentially significant staffing
costs to process license reinstatements for up to 550,000
drivers, likely fully offset by a significant increase in fee
revenues paid by applicants for reinstatement ($55 each). Any
costs and revenue gains would likely be spread over several
fiscal years. (Motor Vehicle Account)
SUPPORT: (Verified5/27/16)
American Civil Liberties Union of California (co-source)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (co-source)
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
California Association of Local Conservation Corps
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
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Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Community Housing Partnership
Courage Campaign
Drug Policy Alliance
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Forward Together
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc.
National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Prison Policy Initiative
Rubicon Programs
Safer Streets L.A.
San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program
W. Haywood Burns Institute
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/27/16)
California Police Chiefs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author states that in California, a
ticket for an infraction such as a broken tail light, expired
registration tags, or fare evasion can ultimately lead to a
suspended driver's license if a defendant does not pay or make a
court appearance. Suspending a license for failure to appear,
or failure to pay a fine, is an overly harsh punishment that
does not fit the offense and undermines the defendant's ability
to hold a job and make amends. Studies show that people who
lose their driver's licenses often end up losing their jobs,
making it difficult to pay any fines or fees. In addition,
unnecessary driver's license suspensions add to the burden and
costs of state agencies, law enforcement, and courts. This bill
will help ensure that courts and counties will not suspend
driver's licenses as a means of collecting court-ordered debt
associated with non-safety traffic offenses. This bill
explicitly excludes reckless and drunk driving offenses from
this change.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The California Police Chiefs
Association, writing in opposition to this bill, states that "We
agree that our laws should encourage compliance, which is why
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the system was set up to give individuals facing court charges
time and notification to ensure they can abide by our laws.
However, removing the penalties for disregarding our rules will
only foster further disregard."
Prepared by:Erin Riches / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
5/28/16 16:45:53
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