BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 63|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 63
Author: Yee (D)
Amended: 3/1/10
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMM. : 9-0, 3/22/10
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Wyland, Aanestad, Calderon, Correa,
Florez, Oropeza, Walters, Yee
SUBJECT : Secondhand goods
SOURCE : Collateral Loan and Secondhand Dealers
Association of
California
DIGEST : This resolution urges the Department of Justice
to ensure compliance with a requirement to develop a
standard format to be used statewide for purposes of
electronically reporting secondhand dealer transactions.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. States legislative intent to curtail the dissemination
of, and facilitate the recovery of stolen property by
means of a uniform, statewide, state-administered
program of regulation of persons whose principal
business is dealing in personal property and to aid the
Board of Equalization to detect possible sales tax
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evasion.
2. States legislative intent to require the uniform
statewide reporting of transactions in, and acquisitions
of, secondhand and pawned property by pawnbrokers and
secondhand dealers.
3. Defines "secondhand dealer" as a business engaged in
buying, selling, taking in trade, taking in pawn, taking
in consignment, accepting for auction or auctioning
secondhand tangible personal property.
4. Defines "coin dealer" as a business which principally is
buying, selling, and trading coins, monetized bullion,
or commercial grade ingots of gold, silver or other
precious metals.
5. Requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, to report
daily to the local chief of police or sheriff, on forms
approved or provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ),
all tangible personal property purchased, taken in
trade, taken in pawn, or accepted for sale on
consignment or for auction.
6. Requires DOJ in consultation with local law enforcement,
to develop clear and comprehensive descriptive
categories of property subject to reporting
requirements, to be used for reporting by secondhand
dealers and coin dealers.
7. Requires DOJ and local law enforcement, in consultation
with secondhand dealer and coin dealer representatives,
to develop a standard statewide format for secondhand
dealers and coin dealers to make reports electronically
to law enforcement.
This resolution:
1. Makes various findings, including:
A. The legislative intent expressed in Existing Law
#1 above.
B. The requirement for second hand dealers and coin
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dealers to make daily reports to law enforcement on
forms provided or approved by DOJ as described in
Existing Law #5 above.
C. Prior to 2000, the law generally required the
forms to be submitted by mail.
D. In 2000, legislation was enacted to require DOJ to
develop reporting categories and develop a standard
format to be used to transmit reports electronically.
E. Implementation of the standard format for the
purposes of electronic transmission has yet to occur.
2. Urges DOJ to ensure compliance at the earliest possible
time with the requirement to develop a standard format
to be used statewide for purposes of electronically
reporting secondhand dealer transactions.
Background
In 2000, in an effort to save limited investigative
resources of law enforcement agencies, SB 1520 (Schiff),
Chapter 994, Statutes of 2000, was enacted to establish a
system to be used by pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers and
coin dealers to electronically report pawn, loan and
consignment transactions, and to replace the cumbersome
triplicate paper forms used for reporting transactions to
law enforcement.
When the police know that certain property has been stolen,
a description, including any serial number, can be entered
into a statewide, computerized system. However, at that
time, the "uniform" statewide reporting system for pawned
property consisted of a standardized, triplicate form
filled out by hand. The forms were then mailed to the
police chief of an incorporated city, or to the sheriff of
an unincorporated area of a county, not a state agency.
Pawnshops and secondhand dealers generate tens of thousands
of forms per day.
Before pawned property can be included in the automated
system, police personnel must go through each form and
manually key property into the automated system. As a
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practical matter, only property with serial numbers can be
entered into an automated system. In large part, pawn
forms are collected, boxed and stored in relatively useless
conditions.
While seeking to establish a more efficient, electronic
method for reporting transactions to law enforcement, SB
1520 did not contain any funding mechanism for developing
such a system.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 3/23/10)
Collateral Loan and Secondhand Dealers Association of
California (source)
California Peace Officers' Association
Criminal Justice Administrators' Association of San Luis
Obispo County
Santa Maria Police Department.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The resolution's sponsor, the
Collateral Loan and Secondhand Dealers Association of
California, which represents more than 600 pawnbrokers in
California, states that the hard copy papers system for
reporting transactions to law enforcement is inefficient
and expensive. The provisions for DOJ to develop the
electronic reporting format were established in 2000, and
now, a decade later, it still has not been done.
The Santa Maria Police Department, echoes the sponsor's
arguments and further states that the electronic system
would create a useful, uniform statewide system which will
save law enforcement and licensees significant resources.
JJA:mw 3/23/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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