BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1182
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Date of Hearing: May 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1182 (Santiago) - As Amended May 5, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill narrows the current definition of tangible personal
property, as specified, and requires the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to annually update the list of items which represent a
significant class of stolen goods and post it on its website.
AB 1182
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The bill allows a county law enforcement agency to use its own
list of a significant class of stolen goods until DOJ provides
its first annual update. Specifically, this bill:
1)Narrows the definition of "tangible personal property" to mean
only those elements listed in current law.
2)Requires the DOJ to update its list annually of personal
property commonly sold by secondhand dealers which is
statistically found through crime reports to constitute a
significant class of stolen goods and post the list on the
DOJ's website.
3)Allows a county law enforcement agency to use its own list of
personal property commonly sold by secondhand dealers, which
is statistically found through crime reports to constitute a
significant class of stolen goods, until DOJ provides its
first annual update.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor and absorbable cost to DOJ to update its list and post it
on the DOJ website.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. By narrowing the list of items considered "tangible
personal property, this bill seeks to limit the category of
secondhand items that need to be reported to local law
AB 1182
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enforcement on a daily basis. The intent is to remove
burdensome information gathering and reporting requirements on
secondhand dealers, while still providing law enforcement the
data they need to curtail the sale of, and facilitate the
recovery of, stolen property.
According to the author, "?with the passage of AB 391(Pan),
Chapter, 172, Statutes of 2012, secondhand dealers now need to
take the name and current address of the intended seller of
the property, take the identification of the intended seller
or pledger and a legible fingerprint from the intended seller,
to report daily, and to retain for 30 days all tangible
personal property reported."
2)Background. The regulation of secondhand dealers began 35
years ago in an effort to provide law enforcement agencies
with a means to curtail the selling of stolen property and to
facilitate its recovery by means of a uniform statewide,
state-administered secondhand dealer licensing and reporting
program.
Local law enforcement entities have the responsibility to
incorporate the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker licensing
process into their local programs. It is the responsibility
of the local licensing agency to administer, maintain, and
enforce state law regarding the secondhand dealer or
pawnbroker licenses. Persons, entities, or corporations
wishing to conduct business as a secondhand dealer or
pawnbroker, must first apply for a specific license to conduct
the business with the local licensing agency, who then
receives background check results and a license number issued
by the DOJ's Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Unit.
Under current law, secondhand dealers are required to report
daily, through a statewide electronic database directly to the
AB 1182
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DOJ, all of the secondhand tangible personal property which
has been purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, or accepted
for sale or consignment. Because the electronic database is
not yet fully functional, the reports are required to be
submitted directly to local law enforcement.
Because the definition of personal tangible property is so
broad, the secondhand dealers indicate they feel compelled to
report all secondhand transition items, even those which may
be of minor material value. The intent of narrowing the
definition of "tangible personal property" is to limit the
number of secondhand transactions that must be reported by
secondhand dealers to those which are of significance for
crime tracking purposes.
3)Arguments in Support. Second hand dealers argue that current
law was written to address potential criminal activity, but
did not contemplate the circumstances surrounding traditional
second hand vendors, antique fair vendors, auction houses and
collectors where there is no evidence of selling stolen goods.
4)Arguments in Opposition. Pawnbrokers indicate that the latest
amendment requiring secondhand licensees to report items from
a local sheriff's list until the DOJ list is available, would
be a reporting "nightmare" for those with locations in
multiple jurisdictions. Further, they state that the bill
unravels the previous 12 year effort to standardize and
coordinate a "single and uniform electronic data base for the
reporting of tangible personal property" through DOJ.
5)Current Legislation. AB 632 (Eggman), pending referral in the
Senate, would authorize specified unique identifying numbers
to be used as the serial number reported for handheld
electronic devices, as specified.
AB 1182
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6)Prior Legislation. AB 391 (Pan), Chapter 172, Statutes of
2012, established the process and fee schedule to implement a
single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system for
pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers as specified administered
by the DOJ.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081