SB 1359

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, the 2011 Realignment Legislation addressing public safety and related statutes, requires that certain specified felonies be punished by a term of imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, and provides for postrelease community supervision by county officials for persons convicted of certain specified felonies upon release from prison or county jail. As part of the realignment of public safety services to local agencies, existing law establishes the Local Revenue Fund 2011 into which specified tax revenues are deposited and are continuously appropriated for the provision of public safety services, as defined. This bill, the 2014 Realignment Legislation addressing justice reinvestment, would establish the Realignment Reinvestment Fund in the State Treasury as a continuously appropriated fund. The bill would require the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Legislative Analyst, to annually calculate the net savings to the state for the prior fiscal year and an estimate of the net current fiscal year savings resulting from the 2011 Realignment Legislation addressing public safety, as specified. The bill would require the Controller to transfer $441,834,000 from the General Fund to the Realignment Reinvestment Fund for the 2014–15 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would, beginning in the 2015–16 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, require the Controller to transfer an amount equal to the estimate of net current fiscal year savings resulting from the 2011 Realignment Legislation addressing public safety, adjusted by the difference between the preceding year's estimate and the calculated prior fiscal year net savings, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Controller to annually allocate moneys in the Realignment Reinvestment Fund to each county for deposit in the county's Realignment Reinvestment Services Account pursuant to a multiplier, which the bill would require the Controller to calculate in consultation with the Board of State and Community Corrections by dividing the total number of felons sentenced to county jails in a county during the preceding fiscal year by the total number of felons sentenced to county jails statewide during the preceding fiscal year. The bill would require a Realignment Reinvestment Services Account to be established in each county treasury and would require the county auditor to allocate the moneys in the Realignment Reinvestment Services Account within 30 days of deposit. The bill would require the moneys to implement a comprehensive, locally run, supplemental community-based corrections plan, as specified. The bill would require the supplemental community-based corrections plan to be developed by the membership of each county's local Community Corrections Partnership and one additional member representing a city within the county and appointed by the California Police Chiefs Association. The bill would require each county or city and county to annually report to the county board of supervisors and the Board of State and Community Corrections on the programs funded pursuant to these provisions, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that moneys allocated from a Realignment Reinvestment Services Account be expended exclusively for services included in the county's supplemental community-based corrections plan, and not used to supplant any existing funding for law enforcement services or programs or activities included in the supplemental community-based corrections plan. The bill would require that funds received pursuant to its provisions be expended or encumbered no later than June 30 the following year, and would require unspent moneys to be remitted for deposit in the Realignment Reinvestment Fund. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.