BILL NUMBER: SB 1185 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Price
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to add Part 12.2 (commencing with Section 15910) to
Division 3 of Title 2 of , and to repeal Section 15923 of,
the Government Code, relating to the Centralized Intelligence
Partnership Act.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1185, as amended, Price. Centralized Intelligence Partnership
Act.
Existing law requires various state entities, including, but not
limited to, the State Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board,
and the Department of Justice, to enforce laws relating to the
taxation and legal operation of businesses throughout the state under
their respective jurisdictions.
This bill would create a multiagency partnership consisting
of specified state entities , to be known as the Centralized
Intelligence Partnership, to collaborate in combating illegal
underground operations by, among other activities, providing a
central intake process and organizational structure, with an
administrator and support staff, to document, review, and evaluate
data and complaints. This The bill
would create an advisory committee, comprised of one representative
from each entity participating in the partnership,
to provide guidance on the activities and operations of the
partnership. This The bill would require the
advisory committee to the partnership to determine the appropriate
agency to house the processing center for the partnership. The
bill would authorize duly authorized representatives of members
of the partnership to exchange information for the purpose of
investigating illegal underground operations. The bill would
require the partnership, starting on or before July 1, 2014, to
annually report to the Legislature and entities belonging to
participating in the partnership on its
activities. The bill would require an additional report to be
filed with the Legislature by December 1, 2018, to include the number
of complaints received by the partnership and cases investigated or
prosecuted, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) According to the Employment Development Department's analysis
of findings made by the Internal Revenue Service, the underground
economy in California is estimated to be between $60 billion
sixty billion dollars ($60,000,000,000) and
$140 billion one hundred forty
billion dollars ($140,000,000,000) each year.
(b) According to the State Board of Equalization, an average of
$8 billion eight billion dollars
($8,000,000,000) in corporate, personal, and sales and use
taxes goes uncollected in California each year, with unreported and
underreported economic activity responsible for the vast majority of
that total.
(c) The underground economy hurts all Californians. Revenues to
support government services are lost, workers are forced to go
without basic employment protections, and legitimate businesses are
confronted with unfair competition. Furthermore, the
presence of the underground economy allows human traffickers to
operate and victimize individuals who are trapped into forced labor
conditions. Regrettably, California is reported to be one of the top
four human trafficking destination states in the United States.
(d) Since the activities of many operating in the underground
economy span across multiple jurisdictions, various joint agency
enforcement efforts have been undertaken to combat the underground
economy, including, but not limited to, the creation of the Joint
Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy in
1993, and the creation of the Economic and Employment Enforcement
Coalition in 2005. Furthermore, various individual agency efforts
have been created, including, but not limited to, the State Board of
Equalization's Statewide Compliance and Outreach Program and the
Contractors' State License Board's Statewide Investigative Fraud
Team. Thus, investigative collaboration among state agencies is not a
new concept in California. Many collaborative efforts are already
under way, pursuant to which investigators periodically meet to
discuss current investigations, collaborate to conduct sting
operations, and develop best practices policies.
(e) Despite significant statewide efforts, California continues to
lose billions of dollars in annual revenue due to the underground
economy.
(f) The Legislature intends this act to enhance existing efforts
to combat the underground economy by institutionalizing collaboration
among state agencies through a Centralized Intelligence Partnership
that acquires relevant data for collaborative data analysis, economic
threat assessment, strategic planning, and provides a referral
tracking and value-added referral disbursement process to
monitor the progress and measure the success of the partnership
activities . This collaborative effort to combat the
underground economy will, in turn, further aid the state in its
progress toward preventing human trafficking. The Legislature
recognizes that the state needs to comprehensively address the
underground economy and capitalize on each agency's enforcement
efforts and investigative resources by creating the Centralized
Intelligence Partnership. A key element of this effort is to
authorize and facilitate data and intelligence sharing among the
Centralized Intelligence Partnership and state agencies. It is the
intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to focus on the
criminal and civil prosecution of those operating in the
underground economy in flagrant violation of the law.
Businesses that are in compliance with state employment, safety,
licensing, and tax laws that are found to have committed minor or
inadvertent violations of existing law are to be addressed through
other administrative procedures.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act be part of
ongoing efforts by the Legislature to combat the underground economy
in this state through legislation.
SEC. 2. Part 12.2 (commencing with Section 15910) is added to
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
PART 12.2. Centralized Intelligence Partnership Act
15910. This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Centralized Intelligence Partnership Act.
15912. (a) The Centralized Intelligence Partnership is hereby
established in state government.
(b) For purposes of this part, the term "partnership" shall refer
to the Centralized Intelligence Partnership.
15914. (a) The partnership
shall include all of the following state entities:
(1)
(a) California Health and Human Services Agency.
(2)
(b) Department of Consumer Affairs.
(3)
(c) Department of Industrial Relations.
(4)
(d) Department of Insurance.
(5)
(e) Department of Justice.
(6)
(f) Department of Motor Vehicles.
(7)
(g) Employment Development Department.
(8)
(h) Franchise Tax Board.
(9)
(i) State Board of Equalization.
(b) The Centralized Intelligence Partnership may include any other
state or local entity that chooses to participate.
15916. (a) The advisory committee to the Centralized Intelligence
Partnership is hereby established to provide guidance to, and advice
on, the activities and operations of the partnership.
(b) The advisory committee is comprised of one representative from
each of the entities participating in the
partnership. Each representative shall be appointed by the head of
the entity participating in the partnership and
serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
(c) The advisory committee shall meet as needed but at least
quarterly to conduct its business.
15918. (a) To serve the best interests of the state by combating
the underground economy, the partnership shall do all of the
following to combat illegal underground operations:
(1) Provide a central intake process and organizational structure
to document, review, and evaluate data and complaints.
(2) Establish a processing center to receive and analyze data,
share complaints, and research leads from the input of each impacted
agency , including, but not limited to, federal and local
law enforcement agencies .
(3) Provide participating and nonparticipating agencies with
value-added investigative leads where collaboration opportunities
exist for felony-level criminal investigations, including, but not
limited to, referring leads to agencies with appropriate enforcement
jurisdiction.
(4) Provide that each participating and nonparticipating agency
retain jurisdictional authority over whether to pursue partnership
strategies or collaborative investigative leads based upon the
direction of their respective governing structures or available
resources.
(5) Document and provide intake data analysis, analytic data
findings, referrals, collaborative opportunities, outcomes, emerging
evasion trends, lessons learned, as well as additional enforcement,
administrative, and legislative opportunities.
(b) The scope of activities and projects undertaken by the
partnership shall be consistent with the amount of funds appropriated
by the Legislature.
(c) The Department of Justice advisory
committee to the partnership shall determine the
appropriate agency to house the processing center for the
partnership.
(d) The partnership may hire an administrator and staff.
15920. Notwithstanding any other law, duly authorized
representatives of members of the partnership may exchange
intelligence, data, documents, information, complaints, or lead
referrals for the purpose of investigating illegal underground
operations. Information exchanged pursuant to this section shall
retain its confidential status.
15920. Duly authorized representatives of members of the
partnership may exchange intelligence, data, documents, information,
complaints, or lead referrals for the purpose of investigating
illegal underground operations. Any member or ex-member of the
partnership, any agent employed by any member of the partnership, or
any person who has at any time obtained such knowledge from any of
the foregoing partners or persons, shall not divulge, or make known
in any manner not provided by law, any of the confidential
information received by, or reported to, the partnership. Information
exchanged pursuant to this section shall retain its confidential
status and shall remain subject to the confidentiality provisions
contained in the following provisions:
(a) Department of Consumer Affairs: Section 30 of the Business and
Professions Code and Section 56.29 of the Civil Code.
(b) Department of Justice: Section 11183 of the Government Code.
(c) Department of Motor Vehicles: Sections 1808.2, 1808.4, 1808.5,
1808.6, 1808.21, 1808.24, and 12800.5 of the Vehicle Code.
(d) Employment Development Department: Sections 1094 and 1095 of
the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(e) Franchise Tax Board: Sections 19542, 19542.1, and 19542.3 of
the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(f) State Board of Equalization: Section 15619 of the Government
Code, Section 42464.8 of the Public Resources Code, and Sections
7056, 7056.5, 8255, 9255, 9255.1, 30455, 38705, 38706, 43651, 45981,
45982, 45983, 45984, 46751, 50159, 50160, 50161, 55381, 60608, and
60609 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
15922. On or before July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the
partnership shall report on its activities and accomplishments to the
Legislature and each participating member entity
in the partnership .
15923. (a) The partnership shall submit to the Legislature on or
before December 1, 2018, a report that includes, but is not limited
to, the following information:
(1) The number of leads or complaints received by the partnership.
(2) The number of cases investigated or prosecuted through civil
action or criminal prosecution.
(3) Recommendations for modifying, eliminating, or continuing the
operation of any or all of the provisions of this part.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.