(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except as specified in subdivision (b), revenues derived from the assessment of fines and penalties by any state agency shall not be expended unless the Legislature specifically provides authority for the expenditure of these funds in the annual Budget Act or other legislation. A fine or penalty is a charge imposed by an agency or department for wrongdoing, in excess of the cost of investigating, processing, or prosecuting the conduct for which the charge is assessed, or the cost of collecting it. A charge reasonably related to a service provided by a department or agency is not a fine or penalty for purposes of this section.
(b) This section shall not apply to the following:
(1) Any governmental cost fund if the use of revenues subject to this section that are deposited in that fund for General Fund purposes is prohibited by the California Constitution or the United States Constitution.
(2) Late charges collected by state agencies.
(3) Funds collected by a state agency that are required to be maintained by that agency for purposes of administration of a federal program.
(4) A fund established for restitution to victims of the conduct for which the fine or penalty was imposed or for repairing damage to the environment caused by the conduct for which the fine or penalty was imposed.
(5) The following funds, though the omission of any other fund from the list contained in this paragraph shall not be grounds for inferring the applicability of this section:
(A) The Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
(B) The Restitution Fund.
(C) The Peace Officers’ Training Fund.
(D) The Driver Training Penalty Assessment Fund.
(E) The Corrections Training Fund.
(F) The Local Public Prosecutors and Public Defenders Training Fund.
(G) The Victim-Witness Injury Fund.
(H) The Traumatic Brain Injury Fund.
(I) The Industrial Relations Construction Industry Enforcement Fund.
(J) The Workplace Health and Safety Revolving Fund.
(K) The Oil Spill Response Trust Fund.
(L) The Oil Spill Prevention and Administration Fund.
(M) The Environmental Enhancement Fund.
(N) The Recovery Account of the Real Estate Fund.
(O) The Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund.
(P) The State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund.
(Q) The Motor Vehicle License Fee Account in the Transportation Tax Fund.
(R) Funds for programs established pursuant to the Food and Agricultural Code that can be terminated through an industry referendum vote.
(c) For the purposes of this section, revenues derived from the assessment of fines and penalties includes interest accrued from the assessment of the fines and penalties.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 654, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018