BILL ANALYSIS
SB 968
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Dave Jones, Chair
SB 968 (Torlakson) - As Amended: June 21, 2006
SENATE VOTE : Not Relevant
SUBJECT: CONTRA COSTA COUNTY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FUNDING: SUNSET
DELETION
KEY ISSUE : Should the repeal date for the FEE INCREASE for
specified contra costa county certified documentS be deleted AND
SHOULD THAT FEE BE INCREASED in order to fund various domestic
VIOLENCE prevention projects indefinitely?
SYNOPSIS
This bill, sponsored by Contra Costa County, seeks to delete the
repeal date for part of the funding of that county's Zero
Tolerance for Domestic Violence Program. That program is
funded, in part, by a $2 fee increase for marriage licenses and
for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, and death records. The bill allows the fee
increase for marriage licenses to expire, but increases the fee
for copies of the certified documents from $2 to $4. According
to a report to the Legislature required by the legislation
originally establishing the fee increase, the Contra Costa
program has, among other things, helped community partners align
polices and practices; increased systemwide accountability; sent
more perpetrators to batterers treatment programs; and increased
the number of restraining orders issued and filed in the
statewide law enforcement database. As a result of these
successes, Contra Costa County seeks to continue the program
indefinitely. There is no reported opposition to the bill.
SUMMARY : Deletes the January 1, 2007 sunset for the fee
increase for certified copies of specified documents and
increases that fee in order to fund domestic violence prevention
efforts in Contra Costa County. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings with regard to the prevalence of
domestic violence, the harm done thereby, and Contra Costa
County's successful domestic violence program.
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2)Deletes the January 1, 2007 sunset for the fee increase, and
increases that fee from $2 to $4 (subject to Consumer Price
Index increases), for certified copies of marriage
certificates, birth certificates, and death records to provide
funding for governmental oversight and for coordination of
domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution
efforts in the county.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, upon
making specified findings and declarations, to increase the
fees for marriage licenses and confidential marriage licenses
and for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records and death records by up to
$2, with further increases permitted on an annual basis, based
on the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan
area for the preceding year. (Government Code Section
26840.9; Health & Safety Code Section 103626.)
2)Directs that these fees are to be deposited into a special
fund to be used for governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence and family violence prevention, intervention
and prosecution efforts. (Welfare & Institutions Code Section
18308.)
3)Provides that the authorization for these fee increases will
sunset on January 1, 2007. (Government Code Section 26840.9;
Health & Safety Code Section 103626; Welfare & Institutions
Code Section 18308.)
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print, this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Under existing law, the Contra Costa County Board of
Supervisors is permitted to increase fees by $2 on marriage
licenses and on certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records for the
purpose of funding that county's oversight and coordination of
domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution
efforts. This fee increase sunsets on January 1, 2007. Contra
Costa County, the sponsor of this bill, now seeks to delete the
repeal date of its Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Program,
which is funded by the fee increase. This bill allows the fee
increase for marriage certificates to expire, but increases the
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fee for certified documents from $2 to $4.
The bill's author states that the increased fees, targeted to
domestic violence oversight and coordination, have helped Contra
Costa County create a:
[S]uccessful domestic violence program, established a
coordinated data system, set up a training program
involving law enforcement, courts, health, and social
services agencies, established restraining order
clinic and other victim support services and increased
accountability measures against perpetrators of
domestic violence. . . . The reauthorization of fees
is essential for Contra Costa County to continue its
efforts.
The fee increase was established in 2001 by SB 425 (Torlakson,
Chap. 90, Stats. 2001). That bill permitted the Contra Costa
County Board of Supervisors to increase fees on marriage
licenses and on certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records for the
purpose of funding that county's governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and
prosecution efforts. The fee increase is scheduled to sunset on
January 1, 2007. Since then the Legislature has approved
similar programs in Alameda and Solano Counties. (AB 2010
(Hancock, Chap. 830, Stats. 2004).)
Report to the Legislature finds success in Contra Costa's
program . SB 425 required the Contra Costa County Board of
Supervisors to report to the Senate and Assembly Judiciary
Committees, no later than July 1, 2006, on the annual amounts of
funds received and expended under the program and the outcomes
achieved. That report, entitled Zero Tolerance for Domestic
Violence: A Systemic Approach to Stopping Domestic Violence,
was submitted on June 6, 2006.
According to the report, Contra Costa's "response to domestic
violence has undergone significant and wide-reaching changes"
since SB 425 was enacted. As a result of the increased funding,
Contra Costa County has been able to, among other things,
increase funding for a coordinated system and for individual
agencies; increase systemwide accountability; increase batterer
accountability; and increase protections for victims and
children. Prior to the fee increase, individual agencies did
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not work together smoothly, but the funding increase has
permitted the county to "operate an efficient and coordinated
system."
The report states that to date over $712,000 has been raised by
the increased fees, representing approximately $177,000 per
year. According to the report, this small, but significant
infusion of money helped the board of supervisors to invest $9.8
million, to date, in coordinated early intervention services.
County agencies and community-based organizations have, in turn,
invested an estimated $12 million to the program. Moreover,
these investments have helped garner over $1 million in federal
funding in the last two years. This increased funding has led
to the following developments:
Helped community partners align polices and practices;
Increased capacity for individual agencies;
Expanded data collection of partner agencies;
Increased systemwide accountability;
Increased batterer accountability by increasing
convictions of misdemeanor domestic violence cases, sending
more perpetrators to batterers treatment programs, and
increasing early intervention in domestic violence cases;
Increased protection for victims and children by
increasing the identification of children living in violent
homes and the number of restraining orders issued and filed
in the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System
(CLETS) database;
Increased access to services for victims by improving
collaboration among partner agencies; and
Increased consumer satisfaction with the services
offered.
While much progress has been made, the report finds that more
needs to be done to combat domestic violence by broadening
continuum strategies, closing system gaps and incorporating more
best practices throughout the county. The report concludes that
the program:
[H]as the potential to permanently increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of domestic violence
prevention and interventions and create safer
communities. Zero Tolerance has demonstrated multiple
successes in oversight and coordination and has
identified challenges and new directions which have
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broad implications for similar public-private domestic
violence coordination models.
Domestic violence continues to be a significant problem in
California . Domestic violence continues to be a significant
problem throughout the nation and in California. Just last
year, the Attorney General's Task Force on Domestic Violence
reported that:
The health consequences of physical and psychological
domestic violence can be significant and long lasting,
for both victims and their children. . . . A study by
the California Department of Health Services of
women's health issues found that nearly six percent of
women, or about 620,000 women per year experienced
violence or physical abuse by their intimate partners.
Women living in households where children are present
experienced domestic violence at much higher rates
than women living in households without children:
domestic violence occurred in more than 436,000
households per year in which children were present,
potentially exposing approximately 916,000 children to
violence in the homes every year.
(Report to the California Attorney General from the Task Force
on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence, Keeping
the Promise: Victim Safety and Batterer Accountability (June
2005) (footnotes omitted).)
That report discovered numerous significant and troubling
problems in the implementation of statutory directives aimed at
preventing domestic violence, including failing to enter
restraining orders into CLETS and failing to ensure that
batterers attend mandated treatment programs. Given that the
Contra Costa program has made significant improvements in these
areas, it has the potential for serving as a model for best
practices for the state as a whole. Maintaining its funding
will allow this innovative local program to continue and even
improve.
Prior Legislation : SB 425 (Torlakson, Chap. 90, Stats. 2001)
established the program in Contra Costa County, with a sunset
date of January 1, 2007. AB 2010 (Hancock, Chap. 830, Stats.
2004) authorized a similar program in Alameda and Solano
counties, with a sunset of January 1, 2010.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of Contra Costa (sponsor)
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County
Contra Costa Council
Contra Costa County Department of Child Support Services
Contra Costa County Employment & Human Services Department
Contra Costa County Office of the District Attorney
Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Contra Costa County Probation Department
Judge Thomas Maddock
STAND!
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)
319-2334