BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 898
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     AB 898 (Alejo) - As Amended:  May 10, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Public 
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:
           
          1)Increases the minimum restitution fine for felony offenses 
            from $200 to $400.  

          2)Increases the minimum restitution fine for misdemeanor 
            offenses from $100 to $200. 

          3)Conforms the existing formula the court may use to set the 
            amount of a felony restitution fine to $400 (current law is 
            $200) times the number of years of imprisonment the defendant 
            is ordered to serve, times the number of felony counts of 
            conviction.
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Unknown increase to the Restitution Fund, likely in the low 
          millions of dollars. 

          According to the 2011-12 Governor's Budget, restitution fines 
          have contributed about $57 million per year to the Restitution 
          Fund. The Victims of Crime and Government Claims Board (Board), 
          which administers the fund and the $145 million victims 
          compensation program the fund supports, is unable to estimate 
          what the increased minimum fine might bring in. 

          Because current law does not allow an offender's ability to pay 
          to result in a restitution fine lower than the minimum, it is 
          unlikely this bill would result in a diminution of current fine 
          proceeds, though it is unlikely to solve the ongoing Restitution 








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          Fund problem. For example, if 25% of $57 million in restitution 
          fines was the result of minimum fines, doubling the minimum fine 
          would result in an additional $14 million. 

           COMMENTS  
           
          1)Rationale.  The author's intent is to increase funding for the 
            $145 million victims compensation program operated by the 
            Board. 

            The Restitution Fund, which reimburses crime victims, has 
            flirted with insolvency for several years. Current projections 
            are for a reserve of $23 million at the close of 2011-12, $13 
            million at the close of the 2012-13, and no reserve at the end 
            of 2013-14. 

            The author and the sponsor, the California Coalition Against 
            Sexual Assault, contend increasing the minimum restitution 
            fines will help the Restitution Fund stay balanced and note 
            that the minimums have not been increased since 1992 
            (felonies) and 1994 (misdemeanors).

           2)The victims compensation program  provides compensation to 
            injured crime victims. Family members or other persons may 
            also be eligible for compensation. The program is the payer of 
            last resort and covers a range of services, including medical 
            and mental health services, when the costs are not covered by 
            other sources, such as insurance. Depending on circumstances, 
            payment can be made either directly to an individual or to a 
            service provider.   

           3)The current Byzantine scheme of fines, fees, assessments, and 
            direct restitution is daunting to courts and victims alike.  As 
            noted in the Assembly Public Safety Committee analysis, 
            "However laudable these charges may be, the patchwork nature 
            of the ever-growing financial penalties in criminal actions 
            has created a system that begins to match the complexity of 
            the federal income tax.  . . .  It is doubtful that criminal 
            trial lawyers and trial court judges have the ability to keep 
            track of the myriad of charges that now attach to criminal 
            convictions."  �People v. Castellanos (2009)]

           4)Judicial Council Evaluating Penalty Assessments  . The Judicial 
            Council convened a task force to identify and evaluate fees, 
            fines, forfeitures, penalties, and assessments. The task force 








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            is expected to present recommendations to Judicial Council and 
            the Legislature by June 30, 2011.  

           5)Opposition  .  According to the California Public Defenders 
            Association, "In addition to restitution fines, public 
            defender clients are already required to pay a host of other 
            fines and fees, many of which have penalty assessments 
            attached.  . . . 

          "The increase in the minimum and maximum restitution fines is 
            being proposed regardless of the type of crime committed, 
            whether any victim was involved, and is just an attempt to 
            make up for lost revenue benefitting the criminal justice 
            system."

           6)Prior Legislation  :  SB 586 (Yee), 2009, increased the minimum 
            victim restitution fine in felony cases from $200 to $300. SB 
            586 was never heard by this committee.  



           


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081