BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |                                                                 |
          |         SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER         |
          |                   Senator Fran Pavley, Chair                    |
          |                    2011-2012 Regular Session                    |
          |                                                                 |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          
          BILL NO: SB 825                    HEARING DATE: January 10, 
          2012  
          AUTHOR: Corbett                    URGENCY: No  
          VERSION: January 5, 2012           CONSULTANT: Marie Liu  
          DUAL REFERRAL: No                  FISCAL: Yes  
          SUBJECT: State Parks and Recreation  
          
          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
          The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) may issue 
          publications giving information regarding its activities, 
          powers, duties, and functions. Under Section 512 of the Public 
          Resources Code, all monies generated from the sale of these 
          publications must be deposited into the General Fund.

          The State Parks and Recreation Fund primarily receives revenues 
          from fees charged at parks. This fund is used for the operation 
          of state parks.

          PROPOSED LAW
          This bill would require that revenues from publication sales be 
          deposited into the State Parks and Recreation Fund instead of 
          the General Fund.

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
          The author references the pending park closures as a result of 
          budget cuts and states, "Every park closed harms our tourism 
          industry and robs Californians of the opportunity to enjoy these 
          beautiful places. SB 825 is a small but important way to give 
          State Parks a tool to be more self-sufficient with their 
          funding.  Shifting �deposits from publication sales] will give 
          State Parks more incentive to create more revenue from 
          publications and thereby more funding for parks." 

          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
          None received.

          COMMENTS 
          According to DPR, most of the publications published by the DPR 
                                                                      1







          are informational (maps, brochures) and are given away for free. 
          The vast majority of the publications available for purchase are 
          published by cooperating associations (e.g. Friends of �blank] 
          State Park), who may keep the revenues so long as the monies are 
          reinvested into the park. This bill will not significantly 
          increase the balance of the State Parks and Recreation Fund; 
          however, the author's intent is to encourage DPR to be more 
          entrepreneurial by allowing them to reap the rewards of creating 
          profitable publications.

          SUPPORT
          None Received

          OPPOSITION
          None Received
































                                                                      2