BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 1657
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: wieckowski
VERSION: 3/22/12
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 26, 2012
SUBJECT:
Traffic violations: penalty assessment for spinal cord injury
research
DESCRIPTION:
This bill imposes a $1 assessment upon every conviction for a
violation of any rule of the road and directs the funds to the
University of California's spinal cord injury research programs.
ANALYSIS:
Current law permits the University of California, upon a
resolution of the regents, to establish the Roman Reed Spinal
Cord Injury Research Fund and expend public and private funds
that it receives solely for spinal cord injury research programs
and grants as well as for the costs of peer review and grant
administration.
Pursuant to a 2010 budget trailer bill, SB 857 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 720, the Judicial Council has
convened a Court-Ordered Debt Task Force to identify and
evaluate the fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and
assessments currently in place. Final recommendations may be
available this summer.
This bill imposes a $1 assessment upon every conviction for a
violation of any rule of the road contained in the Vehicle Code,
or a violation of any rule of the road contained in a local
ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code, except offenses
relating to parking. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
bill directs these funds, minus the actual, reasonable, and
necessary county costs of collection, to the Roman Reed Spinal
Cord Injury Research Fund.
COMMENTS:
AB 1657 (WIECKOWSKI) Page 2
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, California is
home to approximately 650,000 people living with paralysis,
and this number is increasing steadily. Health care costs and
lost income potential associated with spinal injuries cost the
State of California upwards of $1 billion per year. Promising
research-driven therapies currently underway, however, could
greatly improve the quality of life and functionality of
individuals with spinal cord injuries and offset a significant
portion of these state costs.
Between 2000 and 2009, $15.1 million in state contributions to
the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund leveraged $63
million in non-state funds to finance 129 research projects.
Unfortunately, the current fiscal condition of the state has
all but eliminated the original General Fund support for the
program. To continue receiving matching funds and provide
extensive research, a new funding source is necessary.
Because motor vehicle accidents cause nearly 46% of all
reported spinal cord injury cases and 56% of cases in
children, the author believes vehicle assessments are an
appropriate source.
2.Background on the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Program . The
Reeve-Irvine Research Center (Center) at UC Irvine administers
the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Program. The program has
two components: 1) a core laboratory on the Irvine Campus
that allows for the rapid translation of ideas into research
by making it possible for any scientist with a novel idea to
undertake experiments in a state-of-the-art facility with
well-developed animal models; and 2) a grant program to launch
unique, creative research projects by scientists throughout
California and forums bringing grant recipients together to
share their work.
A report the Center produced does not describe breakthroughs
developed to date that have significantly increased
independence for persons with spinal cord injuries or reduced
state health expenditures but also states that the laboratory
and grant program "are expanding the number of scientists
working on spinal cord injury research, which will accelerate
progress towards treatments."
Ron Reed, the father of Roman Reed, states that a grant from
the Center made possible the research that first resulted in
rats with modeled spinal cord injuries being able to walk
again. He also cites advances such as cost-saving new methods
AB 1657 (WIECKOWSKI) Page 3
of rehabilitation using robotics, a helmet which reads brain
waves so a paralyzed person can control a computer, an
electronic bridge to surpass the wound injury scar, and a way
to reduce the injury itself by modifying the body's immune
reaction.
3.Current assessments . Current law imposes the following
penalty assessments and fees on the base fine for any traffic
offense:
State assessment: $10 for every $10
State surcharge: 20% surcharge
Court operations assessment: $40 per offense
Court construction assessment: $5 for every $10
Conviction assessment: $35 per infraction
County assessment: $7 for every $10
Emergency medical services assessment:$2 for every $10
DNA identification assessment: $4 for every $10
Emergency air ambulance assessment:$4 per offense
Traffic violator school monitoring fee:$52 per offense if
eligible for traffic school
As a result, a common $35 base fine becomes a $233 penalty,
and possibly a $285 penalty if the violator is eligible for
traffic school. A $100 base fine becomes a $479 or $531
penalty. Persons who cannot pay penalties may not be able to
re-register their vehicle and therefore lose access to a
vehicle. While the assessment added by this bill is small,
the committee may wish to consider whether it is advisable to
increase penalties further, especially while the Judicial
Council is evaluating current assessments.
4.Special treatment ? Traffic accidents result in many types of
injuries. This bill, however, provides funding to research
treatments or cures for only one type of injury, namely spinal
cord injuries. The committee may wish to consider why persons
with spinal cord injuries should receive a higher priority
than persons with other types of injuries or whether a
research program for the treatment and cure of motor vehicle
injuries more generally is more appropriate. In this light,
it may be worth noting that the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury
Research Fund received roughly $1.5 million per year in
General Fund support in better times, and this bill would
generate roughly $14 million per year, a 930% increase in
annual state funding.
AB 1657 (WIECKOWSKI) Page 4
5.Arguments in opposition . Opponents argue that assessments
have increased exponentially and today fund a plethora of
programs unrelated to traffic safety. They question the nexus
between spinal cord injury and all of the crimes to which the
$1 assessment would attach, and they point out that there are
many causes of spinal cord injury and that the bill requires
only motorists to shoulder the burden of funding research. In
addition, the California Catholic Conference believes that
this bill will divert enhanced traffic fine penalties to the
funding of immoral and scientifically unproven embryonic stem
cell research.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 46-24
Appr: 12-5
Health: 10-6
Public Safety: 4-2
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 20,
2012)
SUPPORT: Boston Scientific
California Healthcare Institute
California Hepatitis C Task Force
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsome
StemCyte
University of California
18 individuals
OPPOSED: Automobile Club of Southern California
California Catholic Conference
California Public Defenders Association