BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 286|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 286
Author: Salas (D), et al
Amended: 6/23/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 7-3, 7/7/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe, Pavley,
Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff, Ashburn, Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-1, 08/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham, Oropeza, Runner, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-29, 6/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vehicle registration fee surcharges: vehicle
theft programs
SOURCE : California State Sheriffs Association
Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
San Diego County District Attorneys Office
San Diego County Sheriffs Department
DIGEST : This bill extends from 2010 to 2018 the sunset
date on the authority of counties to impose vehicle
registration surcharges to fund vehicle theft prevention,
CONTINUED
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investigation, and prosecution programs.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a basic vehicle
registration fee for the new or renewal registration of
most vehicles of $34, plus a $22 surcharge for additional
personnel for the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Existing law also authorizes local agencies to impose
separate vehicle registration fee surcharges in their
respective jurisdictions for a variety of special programs,
including until January 1, 2010, $1 for a program to deter,
investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft.
A county board of supervisors may by resolution impose this
$1 surcharge on every new or renewal vehicle registration,
plus an extra $2 on commercial vehicles, within the county
to fund a program to deter, investigate, and prosecute
vehicle theft. Smaller counties, those with a population
of less than 250,000, may also use these funds to prosecute
specified driving under the influence and vehicular
manslaughter crimes.
The Department of Motor Vehicles collects the surcharge and
remits those fees, after deducting its own administrative
costs, to the State Controller. Funds received are
continuously appropriated and are disbursed by the
Controller to each participating county based on the number
of registered vehicles within the county.
Each quarter a participating county must submit to CHP a
report on the expenditures and activity, and by August 31st
every year, each county must submit a report to the State
Controller that describes for the fiscal year that just
ended:
1.Total revenues received from the surcharge by the county.
2.Total expenditures by the county on eligible programs.
3.A summary of vehicle theft abatement activities and other
programs funded by the surcharge.
4.The total number of stolen vehicles recovered and their
value.
5.The total number of vehicles stolen and a comparison to
the preceding fiscal year; and
6.Any unexpended surcharge revenues received.
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The Controller may suspend collection of the fee if the
local agency is not reporting as required in law or is not
expending funds as authorized. The Controller annually
reports to the Legislature on this program.
This bill:
1.Extends the sunset date on the $1 vehicle registration
surcharge for vehicle theft prevention from January 1,
2010 to January 1, 2018.
2.Expands the information that a county must include in its
fiscal year end report so that it provides a detailed
accounting of the funds received and expended in the
preceding fiscal year, including expenditures made for
salaries and expenses, for purchases of equipment and
supplies, and any other expenditures made with a comment
explaining those.
Comments
SB 2139 (Davis), Chapter 1670, Statutes of 1990, authorized
counties to impose a $1 surcharge on vehicle registrations
to fund vehicle theft programs. Since then, the cost of
these programs has far outpaced the increased number of
registered vehicles on the road.
Forty-seven counties impose the surcharge, including Los
Angeles County, where in 1993, the Board of Supervisors
imposed a $1 fee to create a vehicle theft program called
the Taskforce for Regional Auto-theft Prevention (TRAP).
TRAP is a multi-agency task force that investigates,
prosecutes and deters vehicle theft and fraud on a
coordinated and cooperative basis. The author and
sponsors report that TRAP has been highly successful in
combating vehicle theft and fraud by focusing on organized
vehicle theft rings, "chop shops," international auto theft
rings that steal vehicles and ship them to other countries,
individuals who obtain vehicles by fraud, and other forms
of vehicle theft.
Los Angeles County reports that since 1993, TRAP has made
over 7,500 arrests, recovered over 20,000 vehicles worth
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nearly $355 million, and prosecuted over 4,000 cases of
automobile theft. In recent years TRAP has had to reduce
the number of personnel assigned to the program which has
negatively impacted TRAP's ability to effectively combat
auto theft in Los Angeles County.
San Diego County's Regional Auto Theft Taskforce (RATT) is
a similar multi-jurisdictional task force that works to
combat car theft and is funded with the $1 surcharge there.
Last year RATT recovered 319 stolen vehicles worth over
$3.3 million and successfully prosecuted over 100 cases.
Prior Legislation
Since the initial authorization of the vehicle theft
prevention surcharge in 1990, the Legislature has extended
the sunset date on the surcharge several times, most
recently through AB 1663 (Dutra), Chapter 514, Statutes of
2004, which moved the sunset date from 2005 to 2010.
In 2007, the Los Angeles County Sheriff sponsored AB 878
(Davis), which Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed. AB 878
would have allowed a county to increase the surcharge it
imposes on vehicle registrations within its jurisdiction
from $1 to $2 to fund vehicle theft prevention,
investigation, and prosecution programs. AB 878 would have
also extended the sunset on this program until 2013.
According to his veto message, Governor Schwarzenegger
vetoed AB 878, because it did not contain a provision
requiring voter approval of the surcharge increase.
In response to the governor's veto of AB 878, the author
last year introduced AB 860 (Salas) simply to extend the
sunset date, but not to increase the surcharge, and thus
ensure that funding does not cease altogether for local
vehicle theft deterrence programs. This bill is identical
to AB 860, which passed the Senate 26-13. The governor
vetoed AB 860, along with many others, due to the historic
delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget. He issued a
generic veto message for all those bills.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
DMV & SCO Admin. all costs
covered by fees collected Local
Vehicle fee continuation revenue gain
of $30,000 annually Local
From 1/1/10 through 1/1/18
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
California State Sheriff's Association (co-source)
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (co-source)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (co-source)
San Diego County District Attorney's Office (co-source)
San Diego County Sheriff's Department (co-source)
Alameda County Sheriff
Amador County Sheriff
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees
Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Butte County Sheriff
California District Attorneys Association
California District Attorneys Association
California New Car Dealers Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Automobile Association (AAA)
Chief of Police, City of Alhambra
Chief of Police, City of Arcadia
Chief of Police, City of Azusa
Chief of Police, City of Baldwin Park
Chief of Police, City of Burbank
Chief of Police, City of Covina
Chief of Police, City of Culver City
Chief of Police, City of Downey
Chief of Police, City of El Monte
Chief of Police, City of Gardena
Chief of Police, City of Glendale
Chief of Police, City of Inglewood
Chief of Police, City of Irwindale
Chief of Police, City of La Verne
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Chief of Police, City of Long Beach
Chief of Police, City of Manhattan Beach
Chief of Police, City of Monrovia
Chief of Police, City of Montebello
Chief of Police, City of Monterey Park
Chief of Police, City of Pomona
Chief of Police, City of Redondo Beach
Chief of Police, City of San Fernando
Chief of Police, City of San Gabriel
Chief of Police, City of San Marino
Chief of Police, City of Santa Monica
Chief of Police, City of Sierra Madre
Chief of Police, City of Signal Hill
Chief of Police, City of South Pasadena
Chief of Police, City of Torrance
Chief of Police, City of Vernon
Chief of Police, City of West Covina
Chief of Police, City of Whittier
Chief of Policy, City of Hawthorne
City of Chula Vista
City of Sacramento
Contra Costa County Sheriff
Count of Contra Costa
Del Norte County Sheriff
El Dorado County Sheriff
Fresno County Sheriff
League of California Cities
Lo Jack Corporation
Los Angeles County
Mariposa County Sheriff
National Insurance Crime Bureau
Sacramento County Sheriff
Santa Barbara County Sheriff
Santa Cruz County Sheriff
Shasta County Sheriff
State Association of County Auditors
Tuolumne County Sheriff
Ventura County Sheriff
Yolo County Sheriff
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/19/09)
California Taxpayers Association
Howard Jarvis Tax Payers Association
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Stop the Hidden Taxes Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office states in support:
In 1993, the County of Los Angeles chose to impose a
$1 fee to create a vehicle theft program called the
Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention (TRAP).
TRAP is a multiagency task force that investigates,
prosecutes and deters vehicle theft and fraud on a
coordinated and cooperative basis. TRAP has been
highly successful in combating vehicle theft and fraud
by focusing on organized vehicle theft rings, "chop
shops," and international auto theft rings that steal
vehicles and ship them to other countries, individuals
who obtain vehicles by fraud and other forms of
vehicle theft.
Since 1993, TRAP has made nearly 7,500 arrests served
over 3,000 warrants, recovered over 19,000 vehicles
worth nearly $340 million, and inspected over 3,200
businesses. TRAP has made a significant impact in
combating the problem of auto theft in Los Angeles
County.
AB 286 extends, until January 1, 2018, the sunset date
on provisions that authorize the imposition by
counties of a vehicle registration fee to fund
programs that enhance the capacity of local police and
prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute
vehicle theft crimes.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Cal-Tax opposes this bill
"because it is a tax. Counties do not register vehicles
and therefore will not be using these revenues for this
specific purpose. Rather, as the bill states, revenues
would be used to address vehicle theft. Without a
two-thirds public vote, this tax violates the local voting
requirements of the State Constitution imposed by Article
XIIIA and XIIIC."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva,
Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block, Yamada
JA:nl 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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