BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1770|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1770
Author: Galgiani (D)
Amended: 6/9/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 3-1, 6/16/10
AYES: Kehoe, DeSaulnier, Price
NOES: Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-1, 6/29/10
AYES: Corbett, Hancock, Leno
NOES: Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-26, 5/6/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vital records: fees: Stanislaus County
SOURCE : Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Stanislaus County Board
of Supervisors, until January 1, 2016, to increase fees for
certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up
to $2 for the purposes of collecting funds for governmental
oversight and coordination of a variety of domestic
violence and family violence prevention, intervention, and
prosecution efforts.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the Alameda and Solano
County Boards of Supervisors, and the Berkeley City
Council, upon making specified findings and declarations,
to increase the fees for marriage licenses and 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
Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan
area for the preceding year.
Existing law directs that these 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.
Existing law provides that the Alameda and Solano County
Boards of Supervisors and the Berkeley City Council must
have submitted to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary
Committees, by July 1, 2009, reports regarding such fee
increases. The reports were required to provide the
amounts of fees received and expended as well as the
outcomes achieved as a result of the expenditures.
Existing law provides a fee of $4 for certified copies of
marriage certificates, birth certificates, and death
records. Part of that existing fee is used to fund
governmental oversight and coordination of domestic
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts
in Contra Costa County.
This would 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.
This bill allows the Stanislaus County supervisors to
authorize annual increases of those fees by the increase in
the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan
area, rounded to the nearest half dollar.
This bill requires Stanislaus County to direct the local
registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to deposit
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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 four percent of the
funds for administrative costs.
This bill provides that 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.
This bill requires the Stanislaus County Board of
Supervisors to report to the Legislature the annual amounts
of funds received and expended from fee in-creases and the
outcomes achieved. A preliminary report must be submitted
no later than July 1, 2014.
This bill sunsets on January 1, 2016.
Background
In 2001, pursuant to SB 425 (Torlakson), Chapter 90,
Statutes of 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
within the county. The county was required to make
findings and declarations about the need for oversight and
coordination, and per these findings, was authorized to
increase fees by a maximum of $2 for marriage licenses and
on certified copies of vital records to fund the program.
Contra Costa County was required to provide a report to the
Legislature by July 1, 2006, on the outcomes achieved and
the amount of funds received and spent. SB 425 contained a
sunset of January 1, 2007, which was later repealed by SB
968 (Torlakson), Chapter 635, Statutes of 2006, making
Contra Costa's program effective indefinitely.
AB 2010 (Hancock), Chapter 830, Statutes of 2004,
subsequently authorized the Counties of Alameda and Solano
to raise the fees for marriage licenses and for certified
copies of vital records. The money raised is placed in a
special fund in each county to provide for oversight and
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coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention,
and prosecution efforts in each respective county. These
efforts include coordination among the court system, the
district attorney's office, the public defender's office,
law enforcement, the probation department, mental health,
substance abuse, child welfare services, adult protective
services, and other agencies and community-based
organizations in the counties. AB 2010 authorized a fee
increase of up to $2 for each county, with further
increases permitted on an annual basis, using the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) for the San Francisco metropolitan area.
The following year, AB 1712 (Hancock), Chapter 545,
Statutes of 2005 authorized the City of Berkeley to also
increase the fees for certified copies of vital records by
up to $2. The City of Berkeley, located in Alameda County,
operates its own public health department and offers a full
range of public health services. Accordingly, Berkeley
runs its own domestic violence programs and maintains birth
certificates, fetal death, and death records for its
residents. AB 1712 allowed the City of Berkeley to provide
oversight and coordination of its domestic violence
programs under the same terms and conditions that apply to
the rest of Alameda County.
Last year, legislation made the Alameda County and Berkeley
programs permanent (AB 73, Hayashi, Chapter 215, Statutes
of 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, Chapter
365, Statutes of 2009).
This bill similarly authorizes Stanislaus County to
increase fees for specified vital records for the purposes
of funding oversight and coordination of domestic violence
programs.
Related Legislation
AB 1883 (Evans) allows for the establishment of similar
domestic violence prevention funding pilot programs in all
counties.
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AB 2348 (Yamada) establishes a similar domestic violence
prevention funding pilot program in Yolo County.
SB 1222 (Wolk) extends the existing pilot program in Solano
County until January 1, 2012.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/10)
Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/1/10)
Child Abuse Prevention Center (unless amended)
County Recorders Association of California
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
Stanislaus County experiences a 25% greater rate of
domestic violence calls than the state average and a
50% higher rate for child welfare referrals. In spite
of the efforts of law enforcement and the judicial
system, violent crimes in Stanislaus County continue
to escalate. More than 2,000 elders reported being
abused and more than 3,000 domestic violence calls
were received by law enforcement in 2009. In
addition, more than 150 cases of sexual assault were
reported and over 10,000 cases are referred through
child welfare annually. What is more sobering is that
experts estimate that only 25% of incidents are
actually reported.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The County Recorders
Association of California state in their opposition that
"AB 1770 authorizes a fee that is not associated with the
county recorder's function. From the perspective of a
county recorder customer the fee has nothing to do with the
provision of a certified copy of a vital record, including
marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records and death records. The fee will not directly
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benefit the individual purchasing the certified record."
The Child Abuse Prevention Center opposes this bill because
fees on birth certificates (and copies) have long been a
source of funding for child abuse prevention and
intervention.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore,
Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hagman,
Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Block, Gilmore, Mendoza, Norby
AGB:nl 7/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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