BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1049
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Dave Jones, Chair
AB 1049 (Torrico) - As Amended: April 22, 2009
SUBJECT : Personal income taxes: voluntary contributions:
Safely Surrendered Baby Fund.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the addition of the Safely Surrendered Baby
Fund (Fund) checkoff, as a voluntary contribution fund (VCF) to
the personal income tax (PIT) form upon the removal of another
VCF from the form. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the State Department of Social Services (DSS) to
submit an annual report to the Legislature regarding the
impact of the Safely Surrendered Baby Law. Requires this
report to include:
a) The number of infants both safely surrendered and
abandoned and include the health condition of the infants;
and,
b) A compilation of information disclosed on the voluntary
questionnaire provided to those individuals who safely
surrender an infant.
2)Establishes the Fund in the State Treasury and requires all
moneys transferred to the Fund, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, be allocated as follows:
a) To the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the State
Controller for reimbursement of costs incurred in
administering the checkoff; and,
b) To DSS for the distribution of grants for programs to
increase public awareness and outreach regarding the Safely
Surrendered Baby Law, including public service
announcements in English and Spanish, safe surrender
hotlines, a DSS Internet Web site with a comprehensive list
of safe-surrender sites, education, and training for
communities and schools.
3)Provides for automatic repeal of the Fund on either January 1
of the fifth taxable year following the taxable year the VCF
first appears on the PIT return or on January 1 of an earlier
year, if FTB estimates that the annual contribution amount
AB 1049
Page 2
will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for
subsequent years.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows taxpayers to designate on their PIT returns a
contribution to any of 15 VCFs.
2)Provides a specific sunset date for each VCF, except the
California Seniors Special Fund.
3)Provides that each VCF must meet a minimum annual contribution
amount to remain in effect, except for the California Seniors
Special Fund, the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund, and
the California Peace Officer Memorial Foundation Fund.
4)Allows parents or other persons with lawful custody to
surrender an infant 72 hours old or younger to safe-surrender
sites without facing prosecution for child abandonment.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . The author states that this bill is
needed to provide an ongoing fund for the protection of the
innocent lives of babies. The author cites the State
Auditor's report released in 2008, which determined over 400
babies have been abandoned in California. The purpose of this
bill, notes the author, is to fund outreach and expand
awareness of the Safely Surrendered Baby Law, and ensure the
law is effectively enforced.
2)BACKGROUND . California's Safely Surrendered Baby Law provides
a lifesaving option to distressed mothers who are unwilling or
unable to care for their newborn. In response to a growing
number of reports of the deaths of abandoned babies California
enacted the safe-surrender law in 2000, which allows a parent
or another person with custody of an infant 72 hours old or
younger to surrender the baby confidentially and legally to
staff at a hospital or another designated safe-surrender site.
Additionally, the Safely Surrendered Baby Law requires
counties to attempt to collect medical information on
surrendered infants and to notify DSS of each surrendered
AB 1049
Page 3
baby. The Department of Health Care Services facilitates
Medi-Cal eligibility for surrendered infants and the children
are placed in foster or pre-adoptive homes. According to DSS,
as of June 30, 2008, 251 newborns have been safely surrendered
in California and another 149 infants have been found alive
following illegal abandonment. California is one of 46 states
which maintain safe surrender programs. The 2005 DSS report,
"Safely Surrendered Baby Law" found that, somewhat
unexpectedly, California mothers of surrendered babies vary in
age from 15 to 46. The DSS report also indicated that very
few of the surrendered infants had been injured or abused.
3)THE SAFELY SURRENDERED BABY LAW . In April of 2008, the
California State Auditor issued a report on the Safely
Surrendered Baby Law. The report highlighted the following
issues:
a) Since 2006, state agencies have had virtually no legal
obligations under the safe-surrender law - DSS's only
involvement is compiling information that counties must
submit when their designated sites accept surrendered
babies;
b) No state agency currently publicizes the Safely
Surrendered Baby Law nor has consistent funding been
provided for raising the public's awareness of the law.
DSS conducted a media campaign from October 2002 to
December 2003, but has not developed any further goals for
conducting additional activities;
c) Safe-surrender sites are violating state law by
disclosing confidential information on parents who
surrendered babies. Of the 218 babies surrendered since
2001, county files contained confidential information in 24
cases, including 16 of the 176 cases occurring after the
Legislature amended the law to protect personal identifying
information;
d) Counties have incorrectly classified babies as safely
surrendered or abandoned. Children improperly classified
as safely surrendered may not be allowed access to
information on their parents even though they may have the
legal right to the information; and,
e) The vast majority of surrendered babies may not have
access to critical medical information later in life
because safe-surrender sites have difficulty obtaining
vital medical history information.
AB 1049
Page 4
4)SUPPORT . The American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, District IX, (ACOG) supports this bill not only
because it saves infants, but because it also saves birth
parents from a lifetime of guilt. ACOG strongly endorses
creation of the Fund as the revenues will support additional
public awareness of this option and possibly save additional
lives.
5)RELATED LEGISLATION .
a) AB 1088 (Fletcher) would create an unnamed VCF to
provide an additional funding source for veterans' homes.
AB 1088 is currently in the Committee on Veterans Affairs.
b) SB 516 (DeSaulnier) would create the California Fund for
Youth to support a newly created California Youth
Legislature. This bill is before the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
c) SB 1368 (Brulte), Chapter 824, Statutes of 2000
established the Safely Surrendered Baby Law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
District IX/CA
The California Catholic Conference
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Miller/ HEALTH / (916) 319-2097