BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1745|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1745
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 6/10/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/15/10
AYES: Corbett, Hancock, Leno
NOES: Harman, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-29, 5/3/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vital records: fees: disposition of human
remains
SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a county registrar to
charge an additional fee not to exceed $8 for a permit for
the disposition of human remains. This fee would be
collected to fund the disposition of the remains of
indigent residents of that county.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that when no provision
about disposition was made by the decedent, or where the
estate is insufficient to provide for interment and the
duty of interment does not devolve upon any other person
residing in the state, or if such person can not after
reasonable diligence be found within the state, the person
who has custody of the remains may require the coroner of
the county where the decedent resided at the time of death
CONTINUED
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to take possession of the remains and the coroner shall
inter the remains in the manner provided for the interment
of indigent dead. (Section 7104(a) of the Health and
Safety Code [HSC])
Existing law requires a county which exercises or assumes
jurisdiction over the death of an individual to be
responsible for the disposition of the remains of that
decedent; if the decedent is an indigent, the costs
associated with disposition of the remains shall be borne
by the county exercising jurisdiction. (HSC Section
7104(b))
Existing law prohibits any person from disposing of human
remains unless the person has obtained a death certificate,
filed it with the local registrar, and obtained from the
local registrar a permit for disposition. (HSC Section
103050)
Existing law requires an applicant for the permit for
disposition of human remains to pay a fee of $2 to the
local registrar of births and deaths, when the permit is
issued during the registrar's regularly scheduled office
hours, except for permit applications pursuant to Section
103065. (HSC Section 103675)
Existing law authorizes an annual fee adjustment for
permits issued pursuant to HSC Section 103675, among
others. (HSC Section 100430)
Existing law requires, as of January 1, 2005, an applicant
for the permit for disposition of human remains to pay an
additional fee of $4 to the local registrar of births and
deaths, who in turn shall pay these funds to the State
Registrar to be used to implement and maintain the
electronic death registration system required by state law.
(HSC Section 103692)
Existing law requires an applicant for the permit for
disposition of human remains to pay an additional fee of $3
to the local registrar of births and deaths, with $1 of
this fee to be paid into the Peace Officers' Training Fund
for the training of peace officer members of county
coroners' offices, and the remaining $2 to be paid into the
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county treasury to be expended for the burial of indigent
residents. (HSC Section 103680)
Existing law requires a local registrar, upon presentation
of a properly executed death certificate, to issue the
permit for disposition and forward the death certificate
and a duplicate of the permit to the local registrar of the
district in which death occurred or the body was found;
this "cross-file permit" for disposition requires a fee of
$10 to be paid to the issuing registrar, with $3 of the fee
to be transferred by the issuing registrar to the local
registrar of the county where the death occurred, $3 of the
fee to be retained by the county registrar issuing the
permit, and the remaining $4 of the fee to be transferred
to the State Registrar for administration of this section.
(HSC Section 103065, amount as adjusted by Section 100430)
This bill authorizes the local registrar of a county to
charge an applicant for a permit for the disposition of
human remains an additional fee of up to $8 to fund the
disposition of the remains of indigent residents of that
county.
This bill exempts this additional fee from annual
adjustments pursuant to HSC Section 100430.
Background
According to the bill's sponsor, the City and County of San
Francisco, approximately 7,500 individuals die each year in
the City and County of San Francisco. A permit for
disposition of human remains must be obtained, by either a
funeral director or person responsible for the disposition
of the remains. This permit authorizes the transport of
the remains to their end destination, which must be
indicated on the disposition permit. To obtain the
disposition permit, an $11 fee must be submitted to the
local registrar. SB 2244 (Davis), Chapter 990, Statutes of
1990, authorized a local county to collect $2 of the permit
fee to be paid into the county treasurer for the burial of
indigent residents. (HSC Section 10610.05)
SB 1360 (Senate Health and Human Services Committee),
Chapter 415, Statutes of 1995, repealed and reorganized
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numerous statutes, including HSC Section 10610.05 which was
reenacted as HSC Section 103680. The new statute
maintained the $2 permit fee for the burial of indigent
residents. The $2 fee for the burial of indigent residents
has never been increased to provide either for inflation or
for an increase in indigent resident burials.
The sponsor states that the current fee of $2 collected for
the burial of indigent residents is insufficient to cover
the costs of final disposition of approximately 250 to 300
indigent residents each year. This translates into a
shortfall to the County of San Francisco of approximately
$55,000 per year. Other counties have experienced this
financial burden, including Riverside County which spent
over $100,000 in 2009 to care for the remains of indigent
residents.
This bill authorizes local counties to increase the
disposition permit fee collected solely for the purpose of
indigent resident burials from $2 to $8. The total cost of
a disposition permit fee, which includes fees collected for
various other purposes authorized by the HSC, will increase
from $11 to $19.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/17/10)
City and County of San Francisco (source)
California Correctional Supervisors Organizations
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
County of Sacramento
State Association of Public Administrators, Public
Guardians, and Public Conservators
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes: "AB 1745
addresses the financial burden experienced by [many]
counties due to their obligation to absorb the costs of
disposing the remains of indigent residents. Currently, an
Application and Permit for Disposition of Human Remains is
$11 collected by the county Departments of Public Health
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Offices of Vital Records. Only $2 of the fee collected on
each permit is designated to facilitate the disposition of
indigent decedents who were residents of the county.
[A]pproximately 7,500 individuals die each year in the city
and county of San Francisco for which permits are obtained.
The current fee does not cover the cost of final
disposition of approximately 250 to 300 indigent residents
in San Francisco per year. This translates into a
shortfall of approximately $55,000 per year."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hall, Huber, V. Manuel Perez, John A.
Perez, Vacancy
RJG:mw 6/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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