BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1111|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1111
Author: Fletcher (R) and Mitchell (D), et al.
Amended: 5/3/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 7/5/11
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/23/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Collection of fines and fees from homeless
youth
SOURCE : Childrens Advocacy Institute
DIGEST : This bill (1) provides that where the court, in
the course of routine efforts to collect fines, obtains
information that a person under the age of 25 who has not
paid a citation for truancy, loitering, curfew violations
or illegal lodging is homeless, the court shall not garnish
the person's wages or levy against his/her bank accounts,
and (2) allows garnishment and bank account levies to go
forward when the person reaches the age of 25 or is no
longer homeless.
ANALYSIS : Existing law states that it is state policy to
facilitate development and operation of housing for
CONTINUED
AB 1111
Page
2
homeless youth and that development of such housing shall
not be considered unlawful age discrimination. (Government
Code Section 11139.3, subds. (a)-(b))
Existing law defines a "homeless youth" as either of the
following:
1. A person who is at least 18 years of age, but not older
than 24 years of age, and meets one of the following
conditions:
Is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Is no longer eligible for foster care on the
basis of age.
Has run away from home.
2. A person who is less than 18 years of age who is
emancipated and who is homeless or at risk of becoming
homeless. (Government Code Section 11139.3, subd.
(e)(2))
Existing law defines a "homeless person" as any person who
lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,
or who has a primary nighttime residence in a shelter, a
temporary living institution, or a public or private place
not designated for regular sleeping accommodations for
humans. (Health and Safety Code Section 50582)
This bill provides that a court shall not garnish the wages
or levy against bank accounts of a homeless person who is
under 25 years of age under the following circumstances:
1. The young person has an unpaid fee, fine, forfeiture or
penalty for a citation for truancy, loitering, violation
of curfew or illegal lodging.
2. The court obtained information indicating that the
person was homelessness during the court's routine
process of collecting fees, fines and penalties.
This bill provides that the prohibition on wage garnishment
or bank account levies shall expire when the homeless
person reaches the age of 25 or is no longer homeless.
CONTINUED
AB 1111
Page
3
This bill provides that a person is "homeless" or has "no
permanent address" if he or she has no fixed, regular,
adequate nighttime residence, or if he/she has a primary
nighttime residence that is one of the following:
1. A supervised public or private shelter designed to
provide temporary accommodations.
2. An institution that provides temporary residence for
persons intended to be institutionalized.
3. A public or private place that is not designed or
ordinarily used for a regular sleeping accommodation for
human beings, including, but not limited to, a park or
other public space, an abandoned building, an automobile
or other vehicle, or a bus or train station.
This bill provides that it shall not be construed to
prevent the Judicial Council from altering any
recommendations or defining best practices for collection
programs, as specified.
This bill contains legislative findings concerning the
incidence of homeless youth, the garnishment of their wages
and savings, and the effect of these debt collection
practices on the ability of homeless youth to improve their
life circumstances, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/11)
Children's Advocacy Institute (source)
Advancement Project
California Coalition for Youth
California Public Defenders Association
California State PTA
Housing California
Western Center on Law and Poverty
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"The California Research Bureau report, "Voices from the
CONTINUED
AB 1111
Page
4
Street: A Survey of Homeless Youth by Their Peers (March
2008)," reveals that the vast majority of homeless youth
are not voluntarily homeless. They are forced out by
parents, flee from physical or sexual abuse, escape
parental drug and alcohol abuse, or are former foster
youth emancipated directly to the streets. Research
indicates that approximately 200,000 youth under the age
of 18, and thousands of 18-24 year olds, are likely
homeless at least part of each year.
"Homeless youth are among the most vulnerable members of
our community. They are frequently ticketed for
loitering, truancy, and curfew violations. When they
cannot pay fines and miss court appearances, they receive
additional fines and may be jailed. Eventually, courts
institute wage garnishment for citations related to
homelessness, just as for parking citations and other
violations.
"Wage garnishment is an appropriate way for the state to
recover monetary penalties. However, where a homeless
youth finds employment and can get off of the streets,
wage garnishment is highly counterproductive. A
garnishment notice to an employer embarrasses the newly
employed youth and puts his or her job at risk.
Garnishment is an unnecessary barrier to financial
independence, damages the young person's credit and is a
substantial disincentive for employment.
"AB 1111, jointly authored by Assembly Members Fletcher
and Mitchell, provides that wage garnishment for offenses
associated with homelessness - truancy, loitering,
illegal lodging, and curfew violations - shall be delayed
until a homeless person reaches the age of 25. AB 1111
allows citations to be levied and penalties to accrue.
The moment the individual turns 25 or is no longer
homeless, wage garnishment may continue.
"Wage garnishment against homeless youth is also not cost
effective for the state. The likelihood of successful
collection is very low, and the fines are too small to
justify the expense of collection. This has been
confirmed by the Judicial Council, who along with
relevant debt collection agencies, do not oppose this
CONTINUED
AB 1111
Page
5
bill."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/23/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Hagman,
Halderman, Knight, Mansoor
RJG:mw 8/15/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED