BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1052 (Caballero)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 08/17/2009
Proposed to be amended
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: NR&W 9-1
AB 1052 (Caballero)
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BILL SUMMARY: This bill extends the sunset of the Bay-Delta
Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp until 2013, but provides that it
is not necessary to purchase a stamp in 2010 and 2011. The bill
also makes a variety of changes to the Department of Fish and
Game's procedures for spending funds derived from stamp fees.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Fish and Game Absorbable within existing
resourcesSpecial *
implementation
Fee revenues ($800) ($1,600) ($800) Special
*
* Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Current law requires any person fishing in waters of the San
Francisco Bay Delta and the waters of the main stem of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to hold a valid fishing
license with a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp
(Bay-Delta Stamp). Currently, the Bay-Delta Stamp costs anglers
$6.30 per year. In 2007-08, Bay-Delta Stamp revenues were about
$1.6 million. Proceeds from the sale of the Bay-Delta Stamp are
deposited in the Sport Fish Enhancement Stamp Account (Account)
of the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and are to be used for
projects and activities that will provide a benefit to the
primary Bay-Delta sport fisheries, including salmon, surf perch,
steelhead trout, striped bass, sturgeon, and black bass. Current
law establishes an Advisory Committee, consisting of nine
members of the public selected by the Director of Fish and Game
from a list of candidates selected by anglers. The Advisory
Committee is charged with recommending projects to the
Department, to be funded with Bay-Delta Stamp proceeds. The
Bay-Delta Stamp is set to sunset on January 1, 2010.
AB 1052 (Caballero)
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In 2008, the Bureau of State Audits found that the Department
had been slow in spending funds from the Bay-Delta Stamp. As a
result, the Account had built up a fund balance of about $7
million. (The Bay-Delta Stamp generates about $1.6 million per
year in revenues. The Department has about $2.5 million in
spending authority in the current year. At the end of 2009-10,
the Department estimates the fund balance will be about $5
million.) In addition, the audit found that the Department's
accounting of funds in the Account was inadequate and
inaccurate. The audit made a series of recommendations to
improve accountability for use of the funds in the Account.
This bill extends the sunset of the Bay-Delta Stamp to January
2013. However, due to the large fund balance, the bill also
provides that the purchase of a Bay-Delta Stamp shall not be
required from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2012.
The bill also sets out revised procedures for the Department and
the Advisory Committee to oversee the use of funds in the
Account. Specifically, the bill requires the Department, in
consultation with the Advisory Committee, to develop a spending
plan for funds in the Account. The bill directs the Department,
in consultation with the Advisory Committee, to determine
priority areas for funding and requires the Department to share
specific information on grant applications and grant funding
with the Advisory Committee. The bill requires the Department to
make information available to the Advisory Committee and the
public on the uses of funds from the Account. The bill also sets
out procedures for the Department to better track the use of
funds in the Account. Many of these changes reflect
recommendations made by the Bureau of State Audits.
The Department indicates that the costs to comply with the new
procedures in the bill can be accomplished within existing
resources. Because the current balance in the Account is derived
from fishing license fees, those funds can not be used for
non-fish and game purposes. Even if the current Bay-Delta Stamp
program were to sunset, the Department would still be obligated
to use the remaining fund balance for sport fishing related
expenditures. Therefore there is no additional cost to continue
funding sport fishing related projects from the existing fund
balance.
As proposed to be amended, the bill would revert to the July
14th version of the bill. These amendments would eliminate the
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fee holiday and extend the sunset of the fee until January 2012.