Sacramento, CA — AB 2010, the Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Act, passed off the Assembly floor late Monday afternoon, 43-32. The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), will create a five-year pilot program in Alameda and Solano Counties to provide oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts.

Under the bill, the Board of Supervisors in both counties is authorized to increase fees for copies of marriage, birth, and death records by up to $2. The fees will generate nearly $200,000 a year for each county’s domestic violence programs.

Current law prohibits any domestic violence funding from being used for oversight and coordination of and between the multiple agencies and county partners involved in fighting domestic violence. Hancock asserts, “AB 2010 will help establish a much-needed framework to improve and identify existing gaps in services and resources.”

Last Friday, Hancock held a press event on AB 2010 at Harrison House in Berkeley, a multi-service agency center offering domestic violence assistance. Alameda County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker, boona cheema, Executive Director of Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), and representatives from social services agencies offered strong support of the legislation.

Life-size cutouts from Alameda County’s “Silhouette Project” were also on display, graphically illustrating the number of domestic violence deaths in the county. Photos are available for those that missed the press conference.

The bill now awaits a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.