BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Dave Cox, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1770 HEARING: 6/16/10
AUTHOR: Galgiani FISCAL: No
VERSION: 6/9/10 CONSULTANT:
Weinberger
STANISLAUS COUNTY'S FEES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAMS
Background and Existing Law
Counties can charge fees when they issue marriage licenses
or provide certified copies of vital records, such as birth
certificates and death records. Counties must add charges
on to their marriage license fees to fund domestic violence
shelters. The additional amount has increased over time
and is now $23 (SB 5, Presley, 1993).
In 2001, the Legislature authorized a pilot program in
Contra Costa County, allowing the County to provide
governmental oversight and coordination of domestic
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts
(SB 425, Torlakson, 2001). After making findings and
declarations about the need for governmental oversight and
coordination, the board of supervisors may fund the program
by increasing fees by a maximum of $4 on certified copies
of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records, and death records. The County must deposit the
fees into a special county fund, with no more than 4% being
retained for administrative costs, and may increase the
fees each year by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). After a
County report to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary
Committees cited improved outcomes from the additional
funding for domestic violence prevention oversight and
coordination activities, legislators made Contra Costa's
program permanent (SB 968, Torlakson, 2006).
Legislators authorized similar pilot programs in Alameda
and Solano counties, allowing the counties to increase fees
for marriage licenses and certified copies of marriage
certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and
death records by up to $2 (AB 2010, Hancock, 2004).
Because the City of Berkeley runs its own domestic violence
programs and maintains birth certificates, fetal death, and
death records for city residents, it received a separate
authorization to increase vital records fees (AB 1712,
AB 1770 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 2
Hancock, 2005). Last year, legislation made the Alameda
County and Berkeley programs permanent (AB 73, Hayashi,
2009). Legislators also extended the sunset date for
Solano County's pilot program and authorized a similar
pilot program in Sonoma County (SB 635, Wiggins, 2009).
Stanislaus County currently charges $17 for birth
certificates, $14 for marriage certificates, and $12 for
death records. Stanislaus County officials want the same
authority to raise fees on these vital records that
legislators granted to Alameda, Solano, and Sonoma
counties.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1770 authorizes the Stanislaus 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 certified
copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2.
AB 1770 allows Stanislaus County supervisors to authorize
annually increase those fees by the increase in the
Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan
area, rounded to the nearest half dollar.
The bill requires the County to direct the local registrar,
county recorder, and county clerk to deposit those fees
into a special fund for governmental oversight and
coordination of a variety of domestic violence and family
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts.
The County may retain up to 4% of the funds for
administrative costs.
Applicants for a certified copy of a birth certificate,
fetal death record, or death record in Stanislaus County
must pay an additional fee to the local registrar, county
recorder, or county clerk, as established by the Board of
Supervisors.
AB 1770 requires the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors
to report to the Legislature the annual amounts of funds
received and expended from fee increases and the outcomes
achieved. A preliminary report must be submitted no later
than July 1, 2014.
AB 1770 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 3
The fee authority in AB 1770 automatically terminates on
January 1, 2016.
Comments
1. Expanding a successful program . Domestic violence has
widespread and costly effects in Stanislaus County. The
rate of domestic violence calls in the County is 25% higher
than the state average. Law enforcement agencies received
more than 3,000 domestic violence calls in 2009. The
response to domestic violence involves a complex web of
groups, including law enforcement agencies, the courts,
social services agencies, and non-profit community
organizations. Stanislaus County will soon open a Family
Justice Center, similar to those in other counties, to
provide multi-disciplinary support to domestic violence
victims. By giving Stanislaus County the same fee
authority that other counties have used successfully, AB
1770 generates more money for the Stanislaus Family Justice
Center's oversight and coordination of domestic violence
prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts.
2. Fee or tax ? Despite the Legislature's past
authorization of additional fees on vital records for the
purpose of funding domestic violence programs, the question
persists whether these charges constitute "taxes," which
require voter approval, rather than "fees." County
officials say that charges imposed on vital records fall
within the category of "regulatory fees" that have been
validated by the courts. To qualify as a regulatory fee, a
charge cannot exceed the reasonable cost of providing the
services for which the fee is charged and must not be
levied for unrelated revenue purposes. It remains unclear
whether there is a sufficient relationship between charges
imposed on certified copies of vital records and the
coordination of domestic violence programs. Do these
charges meet the standards for regulatory fees? If the
merits of domestic violence programs are sufficiently
clear, counties should simply seek voter approval of taxes,
rather than imposing ambiguous charges that may attract
legal challenges.
3. Territorial issues . While not disputing the need to
reduce domestic violence, some opponents of AB 1770 argue
that the fees proposed by the bill are misplaced. Child
AB 1770 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 4
abuse prevention advocates want to preserve fees on birth
certificates as a dedicated source for child abuse
prevention. Currently, $4 from every fee paid for a birth
certificate goes to trust funds for child abuse prevention.
Some advocates oppose adding birth certificate fees for
other purposes, reasoning that any new fees may keep them
from raising revenues for child abuse prevention in the
future. County recorders argue that fees for vital records
should relate exclusively to the cost of recording or
obtaining certified copies of vital records and should not
force a county recorder into the unwanted role of being a
revenue generator. Even though there are precedents, the
Committee may wish to consider whether vital records fees
are the most appropriate revenue source for coordinating
domestic violence prevention.
4. Not identical . While the programs in Contra Costa,
Alameda, Solano, and Sonoma counties and the City of
Berkeley are all similar, they are not identical. The
pilot program that AB 1770 authorizes in Stanislaus County
is also unique. The following chart shows each
jurisdiction's fees for domestic violence prevention
programs:
Marriage Marriage
Birth
Death
County/City License Certificate Record Record
Contra Costa n/a $4 $4 $4
Alameda $2 $2 $2 $2
Berkeley n/a n/a $2 $2
Solano $2 $2 $2 $2
Sonoma $2 $2 n/a $2
Stanislaus (AB 1770) n/a $2 $2$2
5. Related legislation . At its June 16 hearing, the
Committee will hear AB 1338 (Evans, 2010), which allows all
counties to adopt pilot programs to provide governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution efforts and to fund
community-based nonprofits. AB 2348 (Yamada, 2010), which
authorizes a similar domestic violence prevention program
in Yolo County, is in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. SB
1222 (Wolk, 2010), which extends the Solano County
program's sunset date until 2014, is awaiting referral to a
committee in the Assembly. In 2008, legislators passed AB
AB 1770 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 5
2231 (Hayashi, 2008) which would have extended the sunset
dates for the Alameda County and Solano County programs
until 2015. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill,
arguing that the additional vital records fees are actually
taxes. AB 1275 (DeSaulnier, 2007), which authorized any
county to impose additional vital records fees to fund
domestic violence, child abuse, and family violence
programs, died in the Senate Local Government Committee.
SB 605 (Alquist, 2007), which authorized additional vital
records fees to fund domestic violence programs in Santa
Clara County, died in the Senate Local Government
Committee.
6. Special legislation . The California Constitution
prohibits special legislation when a general law can apply
(Article IV, 16). AB 1770 contains findings and
declarations explaining the need for legislation that
applies only to Stanislaus County.
7. Double referral . The Senate Rules Committee has
ordered a double-referral of AB 1770 to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Judiciary Committee: 7-3
Assembly Floor: 46-26
Support and Opposition (6/10/10)
Support : Stanislaus County.
Opposition : County Recorders Association of California,
Child Abuse Prevention Center.