BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Carole Migden, Chair

                                           667 (Jones)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/15/05          Amended: 6/27/05
          Consultant:  John Miller        Policy Vote: Judiciary 4 - 2
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          BILL SUMMARY: AB 667 requires the Legislative Analyst's Office  
          to contract with an appropriate and qualified entity to conduct  
          an evaluation of the child support program and to convene an  
          advisory committee to oversee the review.  

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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions               2005-06     2006-07    2007-08    Fund
           Study contract               $170      $30      $0       General

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          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          suspense file.

          This bill requires the Legislative Analyst to contract for an  
          evaluation of the child support program, directing the Analyst  
          to specifically consider collections, cost-effectiveness,  
          additional enforcement tools, current funding levels, allocation  
          formulas and to recommend any management practices, collection  
          procedures or allocation changes which would improve the  
          operation. The bill specifies how the evaluation is to be made  
          and requires creation of an advisory body of experts and  
          stakeholders to guide the Analyst.

          In 2004 - 05 the Department of Child Support Services will  
          collect an estimated $2.4 billion from responsible parties.  Of  
          this amount, $700 million is collected on behalf of current or  
          former welfare recipients.  These collections result in $300  
          million recovered for the General Fund to offset benefit costs.   
          The federal government offers performance based financial  
          incentives for improved collections relative to other states.  
          Last year California received $47 million in incentives and  
          could qualify for additional funding if the state's performance  










          is further improved. The intent of this measure is to increase  
          collections to benefit dependent children and to reduce costs to  
          the state.