BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1187 (Lara) - Claims against the state: appropriation
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|Version: June 22, 2016 |Policy Vote: |
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|Urgency: Yes |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: June 27, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File. Pursuant to the committee's rules, the Suspense
File rule does not apply to the provisions of this bill as
judgments and settlement are considered valid obligations of the
state. Additionally, judgments and settlements may have time
sensitivity.
Bill
Summary: SB 1187, an urgency measure, would appropriate
$235,400 from the General Fund to the Department of Justice
(DOJ) for the payment of a specified settlement. Any funds
appropriated in excess of the amounts required for payment of
the claim would revert to the General Fund.
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time appropriation of $235,400 in 2016-17 from the General
Fund to DOJ to pay the settlement related to Ballona Wetlands
Land Trust v. Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
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Background: This bill is one of several annual bills carried by the chairs
of the Appropriations Committees to provide appropriation
authority for legal settlements approved by DOJ and the
Department of Finance (DOF). The settlement specified in this
bill was entered into lawfully by the state upon advice of
counsel (DOJ), and it is a binding state obligation.
Proposed Law:
This urgency bill would appropriate General Fund revenues
related to the following:
Settlement agreement for Ballona Wetlands Land Trust v. Santa
Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
(Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. BS154128) $220,000
settlement, plus interest, payable from the General Fund.
This claim is the result of litigation involving a California
Public Records Act dispute. Petitioners, the Ballona Wetlands
Land Trust (Land Trust) sought records from the Santa Monica Bay
Restoration Commission (Commission) with the goal of proving
that the Commission had misused public grant funds in its
management of a restoration project.
The Commission responded by saying that the majority of the
records sought regarding the project were in the possession of a
separate, nongovernmental entity: a private non-profit called
the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation (Foundation). The
Land Trust alleged that these two entities (the Commission and
the Foundation) were virtually identical, with shared staff and
a joint work plan, and that the Foundation should be subject to
Public Records Act requests relating to that partnership. The
Land Trust was told that only a subset of the requested records
would be disclosed, and in response, filed a petition for writ
of mandate in February of 2015.
In March of 2016, the Superior Court found in favor of the Land
Trust, awarding attorney's fees and compelling the Commission to
disclose certain Foundation documents that the Court declared to
be public records, but not all documents requested by the Land
Trust. Attorneys for DOJ collaborated with counsel for the
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Commission to negotiate a settlement of $220,000 for the payment
of a portion of the Land Trust's attorney's fees and costs. The
agreement also provides for the payment of interest on the
settlement amount at a rate of 7 percent per annum, calculated
daily from March 1, 2016, the date the Court issued its Final
Statement of Decision.
This bill provides an appropriation that includes the settlement
amount of $220,000 plus $15,400, or the equivalent of a full
year of interest payment. Staff notes that about half of the
allotted interest amount will revert to the General Fund,
assuming the bill is approved by the Legislature and signed by
the Governor by September.
Related
Legislation: AB 1693 (Gonzalez), which is currently pending on
the Senate Floor, would appropriate $10.55 million from the
General Fund to DOJ for the payment of a judgment and a
settlement in two lawsuits against the state.
SB 302 (Lara), Chapter 5/2015, appropriated approximately $24.2
million from specified funds for the payment of four
settlements.
AB 164 (Gomez), Chapter 394/2015, appropriated approximately
$2.7 million from specified funds to DOJ for the payment of two
settlements.
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