BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 3064
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 10, 2006

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                   AB 3064 (Leno) - As Introduced:  March 9, 2006 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Secretary of the California Department of  
          Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish a Reentry  
          Advisory Committee (RAC) to advise the Secretary on matters   
          related to the re-entry programs and services offered by CDCR.   
          The RAC shall include representation from specified  
          stakeholders, and meet at least quarterly, with the goal of  
          reducing recidivism through more effective re-entry planning and  
          programming.   
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Absorbable costs to the CDCR to reimburse RAC members for travel  
          expenses. If the committee has 50 members, meets quarterly and  
          average travel expenses are $200 per person per meeting, the  
          annual costs would be $40,000. 

          RAC staffing would presumably be provided by the CDCR at an  
          absorbable cost in the range of $50,000. 

          (The proposed budget of the CDCR is about $8.4 billion.)

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the author, "The recidivism rate for  
            parolees released from California's prisons is nearly twice  
            the national average. This bill seeks to create a re-entry  
            advisory panel within CDCR so that the relevant stakeholders  
            may discuss how parole is working in the State of California  
            and how best to implement policies and procedures designed to  
            successfully re-integrate parolees into the community." 








                                                                  AB 3064
                                                                  Page  2


           2)Suggested Amendments  . Requiring CDCR to provide the minutes of  
            each meeting to specified legislative committees appears  
            unnecessary. Presumably summaries of pertinent information  
            could be obtained via a simple request. 

            Also, the author may wish to consider reducing the scope of  
            the RAC membership, as the bill lists 21 categories of  
            participants, many of which would likely be represented by  
            more than one person. Such large gatherings may not be the  
            best forum for providing advice to the CDCR. Alternatively,  
            the author may wish to consider not reimbursing such a large  
            group for travel expenses.   

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081