BILL NUMBER: SB 1185INTRODUCED BILL TEXT 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 the Government Code, relating to the Centralized Intelligence Partnership Act. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1185, as introduced, 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, 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 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 bill would require the partnership, starting on or before July 1, 2014, to annually report to the Legislature and entities belonging to the partnership on its activities. 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 and $140 billion each year. (b) According to the State Board of Equalization, an average of $8 billion 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 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. 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 prosecution of those operating in the underground economy in flagrant violation of 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) California Health and Human Services Agency. (2) Department of Consumer Affairs. (3) Department of Industrial Relations. (4) Department of Insurance. (5) Department of Justice. (6) Department of Motor Vehicles. (7) Employment Development Department. (8) Franchise Tax Board. (9) 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 shall 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. 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.