BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1852 HEARING: 6/27/12
AUTHOR: Campos FISCAL: No
VERSION: 6/20/12 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Weinberger
COUNTIES' DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FEES
Authorizes counties and some cities to impose fees on
copies of vital records to fund the coordination of
domestic violence and child abuse prevention efforts.
Background and Existing Law
Counties can charge fees when they issue marriage licenses
or provide certified copies of vital records, such as birth
certificates and death records. Counties must add charges
on to their marriage license fees to fund domestic violence
shelters. The additional amount has increased over time
and is now $23 (SB 5, Presley, 1993).
In 2001, the Legislature authorized a pilot program in
Contra Costa County, allowing the County to provide
governmental oversight and coordination of domestic
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts
(SB 425, Torlakson, 2001). After making findings and
declarations about the need for governmental oversight and
coordination, the board of supervisors may fund the program
by increasing fees by a maximum of $4 on certified copies
of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records, and death records. The County must deposit the
fees into a special county fund, with no more than 4% being
retained for administrative costs, and may increase the
fees each year by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). After a
County report to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary
Committees cited improved outcomes from the additional
funding for domestic violence prevention oversight and
coordination activities, legislators made Contra Costa's
program permanent (SB 968, Torlakson, 2006).
Legislators authorized similar pilot programs in Alameda
and Solano counties, allowing the counties to increase fees
for marriage licenses and certified copies of marriage
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 2
certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and
death records by up to $2 (AB 2010, Hancock, 2004).
Because the City of Berkeley runs its own domestic violence
programs and maintains birth certificates, fetal death, and
death records for city residents, it received a separate
authorization to increase vital records fees (AB 1712,
Hancock, 2005).
In recent years, the Legislature has approved bills to:
Make the Alameda County and Berkeley programs
permanent (AB 73, Hayashi, 2009);
Extend the sunset date for Solano County's pilot
program and authorize a similar pilot program in
Sonoma County (SB 635, Wiggins, 2009); and,
Authorize a domestic violence prevention pilot
program in Stanislaus County (AB 1770, Galgiani,
2010).
Rather than taking a county-by-county approach, domestic
violence and child abuse prevention advocates want
legislators to allow all counties to adopt pilot programs
to provide governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence prevention and intervention, support
programs to prevent child abuse and neglect, and fund
community-based nonprofits.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1852 allows a county board of supervisors, or
a city council of a city with a local registrar, upon
making findings and declarations of the need for
governmental oversight and coordination of agencies dealing
with domestic violence and child abuse, to increase fees
for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up
to $5.
AB 1852 allows a board of supervisors or city council to
annually increase those fees by the increase in the
Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco metropolitan
area, rounded to the nearest half dollar.
AB 1852 requires applicants for a certified copy of a birth
certificate, fetal death record, or death record to pay an
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 3
additional fee to the local registrar, county recorder, or
county clerk, as established by the board of supervisors or
city council.
AB 1852 requires a county board of supervisors or city
council to direct the local registrar, county recorder, and
county clerk to deposit those fees into a special fund. The
county or city may retain up to 4 percent of the fund for
administrative costs.
AB 1852 requires that proceeds from the fee increase on
birth records, fetal death records, and death records, must
be allocated as follows:
60% of the proceeds must go to nonprofit,
community-based organizations that serve domestic
violence victims and their families, including, but
not limited to, organizations that serve underserved
communities, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender community, ethnic and racial communities,
the disabled community, teens, and the elderly.
40% of the proceeds must 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 and early intervention
of domestic and family violence.
AB 1852 requires that all proceeds from the fee increase
from birth certificates must go to community-based
organizations and other agencies in the county for the
purpose of increasing the effectiveness and prevention and
early intervention of child abuse and neglect.
AB 1852 states that it must not be construed to affect any
other law that authorizes a county or city to increase fees
for certified copies of marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 4
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . Domestic violence and child abuse
have widespread, costly effects in California. The
response to domestic violence and child abuse involves a
complex web of stakeholders, including law enforcement
agencies, the courts, social services agencies, and various
non-profit community organizations. By giving all counties
the same vital records fee authority that has been
successfully implemented in five counties and Berkeley, AB
1852 generates more money for the oversight and
coordination of domestic violence and child abuse
prevention and intervention efforts throughout California.
2. Territorial issues . While not disputing the need to
reduce domestic violence, some opponents of AB 1852 argue
that the fees proposed by the bill are misplaced. County
recorders argue that fees for vital records should relate
exclusively to the cost of recording or obtaining certified
copies of vital records and should not force a county
recorder into the unwanted role of being a revenue
generator. Even though there are precedents, the Committee
may wish to consider whether vital records fees are the
most appropriate revenue source for coordinating domestic
violence and child abuse prevention.
3. Fee or tax ? Previous legislation authorized counties
to impose additional charges on certified copies of vital
records as "regulatory fees," which did not require voter
approval. In the November 2010 election, California voters
approved Proposition 26, which amended the California
Constitution to expand the definitions of local taxes and
tax increases that require voter approval. Under
Proposition 26, any levy, charge, or exaction of any kind
imposed by a local government is a tax, requiring voter
approval, except for:
A charge for a benefit or privilege conveyed
directly to the payor and not conveyed to those not
charged.
A charge for a service or product provided directly
to the payor and not provided to those not charged.
A fee to cover certain costs of regulation.
Entrance fees for state or local property.
Fines imposed by a court or a local government.
A charge imposed as a condition of property
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 5
development.
Assessments and property related fees governed by
Proposition 218.
It is not clear that local fees on vital records to fund
the coordination of domestic violence prevention efforts
qualify as fees under any of Proposition 26's exceptions.
Instead, they may be local special taxes, which must be
approved by two-thirds of voters before they can be added
to the charges for copies of vital records.
4. Not identical . While the programs in Contra Costa,
Alameda, Solano, Sonoma, and Stanislaus counties and the
City of Berkeley are all similar, they are not identical.
The program that AB 1852 authorizes statewide also is
unique. For example, unlike existing programs, AB 1852
dedicates the revenues from higher fees on birth
certificates to child abuse and neglect prevention. The
following chart shows each jurisdiction's authorized fees
for domestic violence prevention programs:
---------------------------------------------------------
| |Marriag|Marriage|Birth |Death |
|County/City |e | |Record| |
| |License|Certific| |Record|
| | |ate | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Contra Costa | $-- | $4 | $4 | $4 |
|??????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Alameda | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|?????????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Berkeley | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
|?????????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Solano | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|???????????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Sonoma | 2 | 2 | -- | 2 |
|??????????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|Stanislaus | -- | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|????????????????? | | | | |
|--------------------------+-------+--------+------+------|
|AB 1852 counties and | -- | 5 | 5* | |
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 6
|cities ????? | | | |5 |
---------------------------------------------------------
* For prevention of child abuse and neglect.
AB 1852 doesn't affect existing laws related to county fees
for coordinating domestic violence prevention. To
authorize such fees uniformly statewide, the Committee may
wish to consider amending existing statutes to allow fees
of up to $5 in Contra Cost, Alameda, Solano, Sonoma, and
Stanislaus counties and in the City of Berkeley.
5. Conformity . AB 1852 requires that some fund revenues
must be used for child abuse prevention programs. Current
law channels funding for local child abuse and neglect
prevention efforts through a County Children's Trust Fund
(CCTF) established in each county. To conform AB 1852 to
this existing funding structure, the Committee may wish to
consider amending AB 1852 to require that revenues from
fees on copies of birth certificates be deposited into a
(CCTF).
6. Let's get technical . To make AB 1852's provisions more
clear and consistent, the Committee may wish to make the
following technical amendments to the bill:
Insert "marriage certificate," after the second "a"
on page 3, line 39.
Strike "marriage certificates," on page 5, line 21
and on page 5, line 28.
7. Related legislation . AB 1883 (Evans, 2010), which
allowed all counties to adopt pilot programs to provide
governmental oversight and coordination of domestic
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts
and to fund community-based nonprofits, died in the Senate
Local Government Committee. AB 1275 (DeSaulnier, 2007),
which authorized any county to impose additional vital
records fees to fund domestic violence, child abuse, and
family violence programs, died in the Senate Local
Government Committee.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Judiciary Committee: 7-3
Assembly Floor: 49-24
AB 1852 -- 6/20/12 -- Page 7
Support and Opposition (6/21/12)
Support : American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees; Child Abuse Prevention Center;
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence; California
Police Chiefs Association; Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors; Peace Officers Research Association of
California.
Opposition : CalTax; County Recorders' Association of
California; Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association