BILL NUMBER: AB 1270INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torrico FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to add Section 13958.5 to the Government Code, relating to victims compensation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1270, as introduced, Torrico. Victims compensation: procedure. Existing law provides that crime victims and derivative victims, as defined, may be awarded compensation by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board from the State Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the pecuniary losses they suffer as a direct result of criminal acts. The board is required to approve or deny applications, based on recommendations of the board staff, within an average of 90 calendar days and no later than 180 calendar days of acceptance by the board or victim center. This bill would require the board, for purposes of meeting the requirement for the timely processing of applications, to adopt written procedures and timeframes for approving or denying applications and specified procedures for use in communicating with entities when verifying the required information. 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. Section 13958.5 is added to the Government Code, to read: 13958.5. For purposes of meeting the requirements of Section 13958 for the timely processing of applications, the board shall do both of the following: (a) Adopt written procedures and timeframes for approving or denying application. (2) Adopt specified procedures for board staff to use when communicating with entities to verify the information required by this article, including appropriate timeframes for seeking responses and the number of attempts that should be made to achieve a response.