BILL ANALYSIS
AB 190
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 190 (Negrete McLeod)
As Amended March 3, 2005
Majority vote
REVENUE & TAXATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-1
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|Ayes:|Klehs, Walters, |Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, |
| |Canciamilla, Chu, DeVore, | |Calderon, Emmerson, |
| |Jones, Lieber | |Levine, Karnette, Klehs, |
| | | |Leno, Nation, Montanez, |
| | | |Mullin, Nakanishi, Sharon |
| | | |Runner, Saldana, Walters, |
| | | |Yee |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Haynes |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the addition of the California Sexual
Violence Victim Services Fund income tax checkoff to the
personal income tax form upon the removal of another income tax
checkoff from the form. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the California Sexual Violence Victim Services Fund
checkoff to remain on the tax form for up to five years,
provided it receives a minimum amount of contributions
beginning in its second year on the form. The minimum
contribution amount equals $250,000 in the second year in
which the checkoff appears on the form. This $250,000 minimum
required contribution is indexed for inflation in subsequent
years.
2)Reimburses the State Controller and Franchise Tax Board (FTB)
for their costs to administer the checkoff and directs
remaining checkoff contributions to the Epidemiology and
Prevention for Injury Control Branch of the State Department
of Health Services for allocation to the California Coalition
Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA). Specifies that CALCASA is
to use the checkoff money to issue grants to support CALCASA
rape crisis center programs for victims of rape and sexual
assault.
AB 190
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EXISTING LAW allows taxpayers to contribute money to one or more
of 13 voluntary contribution funds by checking a box on their
state income tax return. Requires contributions made through
checkoffs to be made from taxpayers' own resources (not from
their tax liability, as is possible on federal tax returns).
Checkoff amounts may be claimed as charitable contributions on
taxpayers' tax returns during the subsequent year.
FISCAL EFFECT : FTB estimates this bill will result in annual
revenue losses in the range of $15,000 in the second fiscal year
(FY) following the checkoff's appearance on the form. For
example, if the checkoff first appears on the 2005 tax return
due in April 2006, this bill would result in General Fund losses
in the range of $15,000 beginning in FY 2006-07.
COMMENTS : This bill is sponsored by the CALCASA and is intended
to augment the amount of money available for both CALCASA and
its 84 member rape crisis centers. Together, CALCASA and
California's 84 independent rape crisis centers perform crisis
intervention, counseling, advocacy, and support for rape
victims, and offer community education and prevention programs
believed essential for the elimination of sexual assault.
Funding for CALCASA and California's rape crisis centers has
historically come from a combination of state and federal grants
administered by the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP)
and from private support. In FY 2002-03, the most recent year
for which funding data are available, CALCASA and California's
rape crisis centers received approximately $18.5 million in
state and federal grant funding and in private donations.
Recently, as a result of the elimination of OCJP in 2003 and the
transfer of its grant administration responsibilities to several
other state agencies, CALCASA and California's rape crisis
centers have experienced significant delays in contract approval
and funding reimbursements. These funding delays have caused a
significant hardship among California's rape crisis centers and
resulted in significant gaps in service provision. This bill
would provide an alternate source of funding and, in doing so,
would help CALCASA and California's rape crisis centers weather
future funding uncertainties more easily.
Annually since 2000, this committee has adopted an income tax
checkoff policy to address concerns that California's personal
income tax form would grow to three pages simply to accommodate
AB 190
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a proliferation of income tax checkoffs. Components of the
checkoff policy include requirements that all checkoff bills
include sunset dates, $250,000 minimum contribution requirements
that are indexed for inflation, language intended to ensure that
any new checkoff is not added to the tax form until an existing
checkoff is removed (so-called queuing language), and a
requirement that proponents of each new checkoff provide
evidence justifying why they believe their checkoff will meet
the minimum contribution requirements. The policy also
explicitly states that existing checkoffs which fail to receive
their minimum level of contributions will not have their sunset
dates extended.
This bill is consistent with this committee's income tax
checkoff policy. Assemblymember Negrete-McLeod believes that
this checkoff will receive at least $250,000 in funding, because
of widespread statewide support for victims of rape and sexual
assault, and because California's rape crisis centers have an
existing fundraising infrastructure in place that can spread the
word about the existence of the checkoff program.
Analysis Prepared by : Sabrina Landreth / REV. & TAX. / (916)
319-2098
FN: 0009618