BILL ANALYSIS
SB 314
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2009
Counsel: Nicole J. Hanson
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Juan Arambula, Chair
SB 314 (Calderon) - As Amended: June 1, 2009
SUMMARY : Directs the State Controller to deduct unpaid
restitution fines from a person's income tax refund; and
authorizes the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board
(VCGCB) to authorize reimbursement of more than $2,000 for a
victim's relocation expenses, where the additional money is
appropriate due to the unusual, dire, or exceptional
circumstances of a particular claim.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requests the Controller to offset delinquent accounts against
personal income tax refunds which have been certified by the
Franchise Tax Board, in the following priority:
a) The non-payment of child or family support accounts
enforced by a local child support agency.
b) The non-payment of child or family support accounts
enforced by a person other than a local child support
agency.
c) The non-payment of spousal support accounts enforced by
a local child support agency.
d) The non-payment of spousal support accounts enforced by
a person other than a local child support agency.
e) The benefit overpayment accounts administered by the
Employment Development Department if no signed
reimbursement agreement exists, or if two consecutive
payments on a reimbursement agreement are delinquent at any
time.
f) The other offset accounts in the priority determined by
the Controller. (Government Code Section 124193.)
SB 314
Page 2
2)Authorizes a cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed
$2,000 to a victim for expenses incurred in relocating, if the
expenses are determined by law enforcement to be necessary for
the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health
treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional
well-being of the victim. [Government Code Section
13957(8)(A).]
3)Directs cash payments or reimbursements to only be awarded to
one claimant per crime giving rise to the relocation. VCGCB
may authorize more than one relocation per crime if necessary
for the personal safety or emotional well-being of the
claimant. However, the total cash payment or reimbursement
for all relocations due to the same crime shall not exceed
$2,000. For purposes of this paragraph a claimant is the
crime victim, or, if the victim is deceased, a person who
resided with the deceased at the time of the crime.
[Government Code Section 13957(8)(B).]
4)Allows VCGCB, under compelling circumstances, to award a
second cash payment or reimbursement to a victim for another
crime if both of the following conditions are met:
a) The crime occurs more than three years from the date of
the crime giving rise to the initial relocation cash
payment or reimbursement.
b) The crime does not involve the same offender.
[Government Code Section 13957(8)(C).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Because victims
of violent crimes are often left with physical, emotional, and
financial scars, it is essential that the Victim Compensation
Program (VCP) be in a position to assist victims. By
assigning debts to the VCP a higher priority within the tax
collecting schedule, SB 314 makes sure that the Franchise Tax
Board (FTB) collects these debts in a more timely manner."
2)Background : According to information provided by the author,
"The Victims' Restitution Fund receives most of its revenue
SB 314
Page 3
from fines and penalties collected from criminal offenders.
Continuous raiding by the Governor and/or Legislature has left
the Victims Restitution Fund (housed under the VCGCB)
threatened with insolvency. Under current law, State agencies
may order that the FTB divert tax return money to agencies
that are owed outstanding debt. Different types of debt are
assigned different priority levels in order to determine their
order of payment.
"SB 314 puts payments to the Restitution Fund from the FTB at a
higher priority than payments to other entities. The purpose
of this is to restore funds as soon as possible back into the
Victims Restitution Fund. Secondly, SB 314 gives VCGCB the
authority to award more money than what is currently allowed
for victims needing assistance with relocation assistance. The
ability to award additional funds shall be done at the Board's
discretion where the Board deems it to be appropriate due to
extenuating circumstances."
3)Condition of the Victims of Crime Fund :
(Please see charts on next page)
SB 314
Page 4
2007- 2008 Financial Summary (in millions)
---------------------------------------------------
|BEGINING FUND BALANCE | 136.2 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Revenue | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Restitution Fines and Fees | 63.1 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Penalty Assessments | 54.0 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Restitution Orders | 7.0 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Civil or Criminal Violations | 1.9 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Liens on Civil Suits | 1.2 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Federal VOCA Grant | 32.1 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Miscellaneous Revenue | 1.2 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Subtotal FY 2007-08 Revenue | 160.5 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Total Reserves and FY | |
|2007-08 Revenue |296.7 |
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
|EXPENDITURES | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Adjusted Claims Payments | 82.1 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
SB 314
Page 5
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Program Costs | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Salaries and Benefits | 21.7 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Joint Powers Contracts | 11.1 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Criminal Restitution Compact | 2.9 |
|Contracts | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Interagency and Other | 1.8 |
|Contracts | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Facilities Operations & Pro | 3.8 |
|Rata | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Data Center and Processing | 4.0 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Operating Expenses | 1.5 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Total Program Costs |46.8 |
| | |
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
|SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Department of Justice | 6.7 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Office of Emergency Services | 10.2 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Ten Percent Rebate Program | 5.7 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|State Controllers Office | 0.03 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|County Special Elections | 2.6 |
|Costs | |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
| | |
SB 314
Page 6
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Total Special Appropriations | 25.2 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------|
|Total Expenditures |154.1 |
| | |
---------------------------------------------------
ENDING FUND BALANCE 142.6
The fund balance will be reduced by more than one-half
pursuant to the recent budget agreement:
2008-2009 Transfer to General Fund -80
4)Transfer of $80 Million to the General Fund from Victims Fund :
As is noted at the end of the tables above, $80 million has
been or will be transferred from the Victims of Crime Fund to
the General Fund because of the ongoing fiscal budget crisis.
Further, increased awareness of the fund by victims, better
victim assistance in local agencies with "joint powers"
agreements with the fund and other pressures on the fund
arguably demonstrates a need for more aggressive and complete
collection of restitution fines and orders.
This bill will direct the Controller to deduct delinquent
restitution fine amounts from a person's income tax refunds.
Child, spousal and family support orders will have greater
priority for deductions from a person's income tax refund.
Arguably, this bill will allow more efficient and thorough
collection of restitution fines without harming the dependents
of persons with delinquent restitution fines.
5)Increased Relocation Expenses : Under existing laws and rules,
a victim may receive a maximum of $70,000 in compensation from
the compensation program. However, there are limits for
specific expenses, including a maximum of $2,000 for
relocation expenses. A victim can be compensated for moving
twice in response to a single crime. Further, a victim who
has received compensation for relocation after one crime can
receive compensation for relocation where necessary after a
new crime, if the second crime was committed by a different
perpetrator.
Arguably, circumstances will arise where a victim has reasonably
incurred more than $2,000 in relocation expenses. This bill
SB 314
Page 7
would allow a victim to receive more than $2,000 in
reimbursement in "unusual, dire or exceptional circumstances."
This bill does not entitle a crime victim to the additional
reimbursement. The VCGCB would determine if such
circumstances have been established.
6)Argument in Support : According to the Los Angeles District
Attorney's Office , "SB 314 allows the VCGCB to increase the
cash payment or reimbursement for relocation if the VCGCB
finds this amount is appropriate due the unusual, dire, or
exceptional circumstances of a particular claim.
"By allowing for flexibility in increasing victim expenses for
relocation above the $2,000 limit, SB 314 recognizes that the
price of victim safety cannot be 'pigeon-holed.' The
amendments in SB 314 also allow for the Controller to offset
fines owed to the Victims' Restitution Fund from a convicted
defendant's income tax refund. This revenue collection scheme
is another avenue within government control to make sure
court-ordered fines are paid and the Restitution Fund
continues to be solvent to support victims' programs.
"This year, the Restitution Fund was 'raided' by millions to
help balance the State Budget. SB 314 would prohibit this
practice. The claims' programs subcontracted by the VCGCB
have not received an increase in the budget for over five
years. Funds collected for the Victims' Restitutions should
be earmarked to support victims and programs that assist
victims."
7)Argument in Opposition : According to the Taxpayers for
Improving Public Safety , "As a matter of law, a restitution
order is not a community property debt. For individuals who
have a restitution order, who are married and file a joint
income tax return, there is no safeguard in this legislation
to protect the community property interest of the innocent
spouse in an income tax refund. Further, as the existing
statute provides a priority for the payment of child and
spousal support, an individual that is subject to a
restitution order and the individual's spouse have a financial
incentive to live together unmarried subject to a child
support and spousal support court order to assure that any
earrings and refunds are paid first for familial
responsibilities pursuant to a court order rather than
restitution.
SB 314
Page 8
"There can be no doubt but that victims of crimes should be
entitled to restitution for any loss they suffer, as should
the taxpayers who may be able to recover some of the costs
incurred by the criminal activity. However, restitution
should not be at the expense of an innocent spouse or the
children of a person subject to a restitution order. This
proposal almost mandates that an individual not work, or work
in a manner that does not require reporting of income, in
order to support a wife and family, or survive upon social
service payments. Surely, the author should not want an
increased demand for social support services in order to
recover such a small amount for restitution."
8)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 2928 (Spitzer), Chapter 752, Statutes of 2008, allows
CDCR to refer restitution awards to the FTB for collection.
b) AB 105 (Cohn), Chapter 539, Statutes of 2006, provides
that the VCGCB may authorize more than one reimbursement
for relocation of one victim per crime if necessary for the
personal safety or emotional well being of the victim. The
total cash payment or reimbursement for all relocations due
to the same crime shall not exceed the current $2,000.
c) AB 2413 (Spitzer), Chapter 571, Statutes of 2006,
creates a pilot program to allow victims of crime to be
reimbursed for child care expenses incurred as a result of
the crime.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
Crime Victims United of California
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Opposition
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
SB 314
Page 9
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744