BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1852
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1852 (Campos)
As Amended April 23, 2012
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 7-3
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Atkins, Dickinson, | | |
| |Huber, Monning, | | |
| |Wieckowski, Alejo | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wagner, Gorell, Jones | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes county boards of supervisors and city
councils to increase specified fees to fund domestic violence
prevention programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)States the findings of the Legislature that, among other
things:
a) Domestic violence is costly both in human and
organizational concerns. Domestic violence affects people
of all economic and education levels, ages, and ethnic
groups;
b) Domestic violence puts children at risk. Child abuse
and neglect have lifelong impacts on affected children and
society;
c) Domestic violence is learned and generational; and,
d) Domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and family
violence require a multifaceted intervention that engages
civil, criminal, health, and social service sectors working
together to align objectives, protocols, policies and
activities of each sector.
2)Authorizes a county board of supervisors and a city council
(for everything except marriage certificates), upon making
specified findings and declarations, to increase the fees for
certified copies of marriage and birth certificates, and death
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records by up to $5, with further increases permitted on an
annual basis, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Directs that the fees be deposited into a special fund which
can be used for governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence and family violence prevention and
intervention efforts, including law enforcement, mental
health, public health, substance abuse, victim advocacy,
community education, and housing services, in order to
increase the effectiveness of prevention, early intervention
and prosecution of domestic and family violence.
3)Allows the county or city, as appropriate, to retain up to 4%
of the fees for administrative costs associated with
collection of the fees.
4)Provides that this bill will not affect any other laws that
authorize a county or city to increase fees for marriage
license and for certified copies of marriage and birth
certificates and death records.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, and the
Berkeley City Council, upon making specified findings and
declarations, to increase the fees for marriage licenses and
confidential marriage licenses, as well as certified copies of
marriage, birth, and death certificates, by up to $2, with
further increases permitted on an annual basis, based on the
CPI. Directs that the fees be deposited into a special fund
to be used for governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence and family violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution efforts.
2)Authorizes a $4 fee (subject to CPI increases) for certified
copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, and death
records to provide funding for governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention,
and prosecution efforts in Contra Costa County.
3)Authorizes the Solano County Board of Supervisors, upon making
findings and declarations of the need for governmental
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oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to
increase fees for marriage licenses, confidential marriage
licenses, and certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2 (subject to CPI
increases) in order to fund governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence and family violence
prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts.
4)Authorizes the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, upon making
findings and declarations of the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to
increase fees for marriage licenses, confidential marriage
licenses, and certified copies of marriage certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2, until January 1,
2015.
5)Authorizes the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations of the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence agencies, to
increase fees for certified copies of marriage certificates,
fetal death records, and death records by up to $2, until
January 1, 2016.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : For more than 10 years, the Legislature has
authorized, on a pilot basis, five counties, including, Alameda,
and Contra Costa, to increase fees for marriage licenses and for
marriage, birth and death certificates to fund governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution programs. These programs have
been highly successful and have led to the creation of a family
justice center in Alameda County, a youth intervention program
in the City of Berkeley and significantly greater coordination
of services in Contra Costa County. As a result of their
successes, the programs in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano
Counties and the City of Berkeley have been made permanent.
This bill seeks to allow the expansion of these programs
statewide by giving all counties the ability to raise fees for
certified copies of marriage and birth certificates and death
records by up to $5 in order to fund governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and
services to victims and their families. Likewise, cities may
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raise fees for certified copies of birth certificates and death
records by up to $5 in order to fund anti-domestic violence
efforts.
Domestic violence is a serious criminal justice and public
health problem most often perpetrated against women. (Extent,
Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings
from the National Violence against Women Survey, U.S. Department
of Justice (2001).) Prevalence of domestic violence at the
national level ranges from 960,000 to three million women each
year who are physically abused by their husbands or boyfriends.
While the numbers are staggering, they only include those cases
of reported domestic violence. In fact, according to a 1998
Commonwealth Fund survey of women's health, nearly 31% of
American women report being physically or sexually abused by a
husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. (Health
Concerns Across a Woman's Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women's
Health, The Commonwealth Fund (May 1999).)
Rather than continue what has been a county and city-specific
piecemeal approach to domestic violence prevention efforts, this
bill allows all county boards of supervisors, upon making
specified findings and declaration on the need for more funding
to combat domestic violence, to increase the fees for certified
copies of marriage and birth certificates and death records by
up to $5. Additionally, city councils can elect to do the same
for fees for birth and death records, if they happen to provide
access to them.
This bill is designed to work in tandem with the existing
domestic violence prevention programs by specifically stating
that it does not affect any other fee increase that a county or
city may have.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)
319-2334
FN: 0003352
AB 1852
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