BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1770
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1770 (Galgiani)
As Amended May 3, 2010
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 7-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Feuer, Brownley, Evans, | | |
| |Jones, Huffman, Monning, | | |
| |Nava | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Tran, Hagman, Knight | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Authorizes, as a pilot program, the Stanislaus County
Board of Supervisors to increase specified fees to fund domestic
violence prevention programs and direct services. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Authorizes the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, upon
making specified findings and declarations, to increase the
fees for certified copies of marriage and birth certificates,
and death records by up to $2, with further increases
permitted annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as
specified. Directs that the fees 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.
2)Requires that the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, if
it elects to increase fees as specified in this bill, must
submit to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees a
report by July 1, 2014 regarding the funds received, the
activities funded and the outcomes of those activities.
3)Sunsets the program on January 1, 2016.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, and the
Berkeley City Council, upon making specified findings and
declarations, to increase the fees for marriage licenses and
AB 1770
Page 2
confidential marriage licenses, as well as certified copies of
marriage, birth, and death certificates, by up to $2, with
further increases permitted on an annual basis, based on the
CPI. Directs that the fees 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.
2)Authorizes a $4 fee (subject to CPI increases) for certified
copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, and death
records to provide funding for governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention,
and prosecution efforts in the Contra Costa County.
3)Authorizes the Solano County Board of Supervisors, upon making
findings and declarations of the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to
increase fees for marriage licenses, confidential marriage
licenses, and certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2, until January 1,
2011.
4)Authorizes the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, upon making
findings and declarations of the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to
increase fees for marriage licenses, confidential marriage
licenses, and certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2, until January 1,
2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Domestic violence is a serious criminal justice and
public health problem most often perpetrated against women.
(Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence:
Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey, U.S.
Department of Justice (2001).) Prevalence of domestic violence
at the national level ranges from 960,000 to three million women
each year who are physically abused by their husbands or
boyfriends. While the numbers are staggering, they only include
those cases of reported domestic violence. In fact, according
to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey of women's health, nearly 31%
of American women report being physically or sexually abused by
a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. (Health
AB 1770
Page 3
Concerns Across a Woman's Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women's
Health, The Commonwealth Fund (May 1999).)
Over the last decade, the Legislature has authorized, on a pilot
basis, four counties to increase fees for marriage licenses and
for marriage, birth and death certificates to fund governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution programs. These programs have
been highly successful and have led to the creation of a family
justice center in Alameda County, a youth intervention program
in the City of Berkeley and significantly greater coordination
of services in Contra Costa County. As a result of their
successes, the Legislature, after reviewing program reports
required as a condition of the pilots, made the programs in
Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and the City of Berkeley
permanent. This Assembly Judiciary Committee recently passed AB
1883 (Evans), which expands these successful programs statewide
by giving all counties, on a pilot basis, the ability to raise
fees for certified copies of marriage and birth certificates and
death records by up to $4 in order to fund governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention and
intervention, as well as services to victims and their families.
This bill, sponsored by the Stanislaus County Board of
Supervisors, seeks to allow Stanislaus County to operate a
similar program by giving the Board of Supervisors, on a pilot
basis, the ability to raise fees for certified copies of
marriage and birth certificates and death records by up to $2 in
order to fund governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence prevention, intervention. The fee would
increase annually based on the CPI.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0004122