BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           1829 (Cook)
          
          Hearing Date:  08/02/2010           Amended: 07/15/2010
          Consultant:  Maureen Ortiz      Policy Vote: VA: 4-0  Pub Saf:  
          7-0
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          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   

          AB 1829 increases the penalty from an infraction to a  
          misdemeanor, and moves it from the Military and Veterans Code to  
          the Penal Code, for representing oneself as a recipient of any  
          military decoration with the intent to defraud.

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          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
                                                                  
          Enforcement                      ----------unknown, potentially  
          offset by fines--------       Local
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          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: 
          

          Under current law, a person who falsely represents himself or  
          herself as having been awarded any military decoration is guilty  
          of an infraction.  This bill increases the penalty to a  
          misdemeanor unless the person is a veteran of the armed forces,  
          in which case the penalty could be an infraction or a  
          misdemeanor.

          Also under current law, a person who falsely represents himself  
          or herself as a veteran with the intent to defraud is guilty of  
          a misdemeanor.

          Violations include false wearing decorations, medals, badges,  
          ribbons, and insignia not authorized by the state militia.  

          The federal Stolen Valor Act which was enacted in 2006 was  










          recently ruled unconstitutional on the basis that it infringed  
          on personal freedoms.  On July 16, 2010, a federal judge in  
          Denver ruled the Stolen Valor Act is "facially unconstitutional"  
          because it violates free speech and dismissed the criminal case  
          against an individual who lied about being an Iraq war veteran.   
           The individual was charged with five misdemeanors related to  
          violating the Act - specifically, making false claims about  
          receiving military decorations.

          Staff notes that a person who commits fraud under the provisions  
          of this bill would likely be subject to existing fraud laws that  
          purport "to deceive another person so as to either to cause a  
          loss of money, goods, or services, or something else of value,  
          or to cause damage to, a legal, financial, or property right" is  
          a crime.