BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 190
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 190 (Wieckowski) - As Amended: March 15, 2011
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill, pending an affirmative decision by the board of
supervisors, authorizes each county to assess an additional
penalty assessment of $3 on all vehicle code violations, other
than parking fines, to provide additional support to the spinal
cord injury research program at the University of California.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential increased revenue in the range of $40 million if all
counties opt to assess the additional $3. Extrapolating from
about 7.2 million court abstracts with convictions for
typically multiple Vehicle Code violations, which average
about two per abstract, in 2009, a $3 penalty assessment on
each traffic fine would result in increased revenue of about
$43 million, assuming no diminishing returns as a result of
changes in judicial behavior, collections, or ability to pay.
2)Proliferation of assessments and charges has driven fines
steadily upward . For example, a $500 criminal fine with
current maximum assessments is now $2,079, shocking defendants
who think $500 means $500.
3)Increasing assessments may result in diminishing returns .
Judges have the discretion to reduce the base fine, which then
reduces revenue to state and local governments, as well as to
assessments. As current penalty assessments quadruple the base
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fine, increasing fines and assessments may have the unintended
consequence of reduced fine collections. Indigent defendants
facing ever-increasing fees may simply choose to spend time in
jail in lieu of paying the fine, causing taxpayers to pay the
jail costs while state and local government receive fewer
penalty funds. Moreover, county jail population caps may
provide additional incentives to opt for jail time over fines,
as the time served for nonviolent offenders may be minimal.
As noted by the California Research Bureau (CRB) in its 2006
review of penalty assessments, "High penalty assessments may
result in higher rates of default by the guilty parties. Some
offenders may spend time in jail, or plea for community
service, rather than pay the fine and penalty assessment. The
end result may be that a substantial amount of fines, fees and
revenue is not collected."
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . Proponents contend the value of funding spinal
injury research (the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research
Act) at UC merits an additional $3 penalty assessment.
According to the author, "Motor vehicle accidents are the
leading cause of 40% of these injuries and by investing in
advanced research, we can move closer to a cure for the more
than 600,000 Californians living with paralysis. It makes
sense to levy this small fine on violators. These research
funds could lead to pioneering breakthroughs in biotechnology
that not only help patients but our state-wide biotech economy
too. Proven research funded through the Act has resulted in
remedies that in the foreseeable future will allow hundreds of
thousands of Californians in wheelchairs to walk again?.
"Unfortunately, the current fiscal condition of the state has
all but eliminated the original GF support of the program. To
continue receiving matching funds and provide extensive
research, a new - and justified - funding source is
necessary."
2)Existing Penalty Assessments . Existing law provides for a
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series of intertwined and complex penalty assessments. As
noted by the CRB, "California now has dedicated funding
streams for over 269 separate court fines, fees, forfeitures,
surcharges and penalty assessments that may be levied on
offenders and violators." The major assessments include:
a) A state penalty assessment of $10 for every $10 on every
fine, penalty or forfeiture imposed and collected by the
courts for all criminal offenses, including vehicle
offenses except parking fines. Of the funds collected, 70%
goes to the state and 30% to the county. The state portion
is distributed as follows:
i) Fish and Game Preservation Fund: .33%
ii) Restitution Fund: 32.02%
iii) Peace Officers Training
Fund: 23.99%
iv) Driver Training
Penalty Assessment Fund: 25.70%
v) Corrections Training Fund: 7.88%
vi) Local Public Prosecutors and Public Defenders Fund:
.78%, not to exceed $850,000
vii) Victim-Witness Assistance Fund: 8.64%
viii) Traumatic Brain Injury Fund: .66%.
b) A county penalty assessment of $7 for every $10 on every
fine, penalty, or forfeiture imposed and collected by the
courts for criminal offenses, including vehicle offenses,
except parking fines. Proceeds are distributed to funds
established by county boards of supervisors: Courthouse
Construction, Criminal Justice Facilities Construction,
Automated Fingerprint Identification, Emergency Medical
Services, DNA.
c) A state surcharge of 20% on every base fine collected by
the court, deposited in the GF.
d) A State Court Facilities Construction penalty assessment
of up to $5 for every $10 upon every fine, penalty or
forfeiture collected by the courts for criminal offenses.
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e) A court security fee of $40 on every conviction for a
criminal offense for court security.
f) A $4 penalty assessment on every $10 in fines and
forfeitures resulting from criminal and traffic offenses
and dedicates these revenues to state and local governments
for DNA identification and databank implementation.
g) The EMS Fund provides supplemental financing for local
emergency services via a $2 penalty assessment for each $10
of traffic fines.
h) An additional 20% assessment of $2 for every $10 on
every fine, penalty, forfeiture or criminal offenses and
all offenses dealing with the Vehicle Code except parking
offenses for emergency medical services, in addition to the
EMS Fund.
i) An additional $30 for every felony or misdemeanor
criminal conviction and $35 for every criminal infraction,
including traffic offenses, but not including parking
offenses, for the Immediate and Critical Needs Account
(ICNA) within the existing State Court Facilities
Construction Fund (SCFCF).
j) The CRB found that 86% of penalty assessments are paid
by Vehicle Code violators . Criminal defendants who
committed more serious offenses are less likely to have the
ability to pay any fines assessed in addition to other
punishments such as county jail or state prison sentences.
aa) Emergency air ambulance transportation assessment of $4.
3)Judicial Council Evaluating Penalty Assessments . Pursuant to a
2010 budget trailer bill, the Judicial Council has convened a
task force to identify and evaluate the fees, fines,
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forfeitures, penalties, and assessments currently in place.
Task force recommendations are likely to be released this
summer.
4)Support : According to UC, "The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury
Research Act has been of enormous importance in term of
advancing research on spinal cord injury and bringing new
funding to the state from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) and other entities. Over its 10-year history, the Roman
Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Program had provided a total
of $14.6 million (approximately $1.5 million per year) in
state-funded grants for spinal cord injury research. These
funds have been leverages into nearly $64 million in new funds
for spinal cord injury research being brought into the state
through federal and other grant sources."
5)Opposition : According to the National Association of Driving
Safety Educators, "In recent years, the Legislature has
imposed a blizzard of new and increased fees on traffic
violators. These fees, which taken together can impose a
total cost to violators of several time the amount of the base
fine, have been imposed for a variety of purposes. Each
surcharge, viewed individually, can be for a very sound
purpose; the surcharge which was increased last year for court
funding, for example, is helping to keep courts open. Taken
together, the surcharges are increasingly impossible for
drivers to pay. Unfortunately, they are regressive and have
the most impact on those least able to afford them."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081