BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1873
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1873 (Galgiani) - As Amended: March 27, 2012
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:7-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill appropriates $90,000 from the state's General Fund to
the Counties of San Joaquin and Calaveras to reimburse costs
incurred for assistance provided by outside agencies that
offered mutual aid during the 2012 excavation and recovery of
murder victims.
FISCAL EFFECT
This bill will result in a cost to the General Fund of $90,000.
To the extent it provides a precedent for reimbursement of
mutual aid costs, the state could incur much higher costs as
other local governments sponsor bills for reimbursement.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, in the 1980s and 90s the
Central Valley was terrorized by two men called the "Speed
Freak Killers." Numerous victims went missing from northern
California and throughout rural Central Valley prior to the
arrest of the two serial killers in 1999. The recent search
and recovery effort occurred in a remote area in Calaveras
County and an abandoned well in a cattle pasture in San
Joaquin County. According to the author, the scope and
magnitude of this recent effort has extended far beyond what
anyone might have imagined and may lead to re-opening missing
person's cases.
2)Background. Mutual aid is the voluntary sharing of personnel
and resources when an agency cannot deploy its own resources
sufficiently to respond to an unusual occurrence. Resources
AB 1873
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are requested by the affected agency through a system
established by an agreement adopted by most cities and all 58
counties. This agreement creates a formal structure with each
jurisdiction retaining control of its own personnel and
facilities, while giving and receiving help when it is needed.
Generally speaking, there is no reimbursement for providing
law enforcement mutual aid. The agency receiving the mutual
aid is responsible for the care, feeding and shelter of
personnel from agencies that volunteered mutual aid resources.
In some instances, reimbursement for mutual aid costs may be
possible under state and federal disaster declarations.
3)Bureau of State Audits . The bureau released a report in
January 2012 on California's mutual aid system. The audit
found that a majority of the 15 local fire agencies that were
interviewed stated that they have not evaluated the impact
that providing mutual aid has on their budgets. Moreover, the
majority of these local fire agencies said that they absorb in
their operating budgets the costs of responding to mutual aid
requests. Similarly, the five local law enforcement agencies
interviewed stated that they have not evaluated the impact
that fulfilling aid requests have on their budgets.
4)Related legislation . A similar bill, AB 1863 (Chesbro), also
makes an appropriation from the state's General Fund to
reimburse Mendocino County for mutual aid costs.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081