BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 207 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 207 (Kehoe) - As Amended: May 11, 2011 Policy Committee: AppropriationsVote: Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill, one of two annual bills sponsored by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (board) and carried by the Appropriations Committee chairs, appropriates $557,729 from various funds to the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (board) to pay 211 claims against the state as approved by the board. FISCAL EFFECT Appropriates $557,729 from the 2011 Budget Act to the board for payment of claims. Of this amount, $539,247 is from the General Fund. COMMENTS 1)Rationale. The Government Code requires the board to take all necessary steps to ensure that all approved claims, for which there exists no legally available appropriation, are submitted for legislative approval at least twice each calendar year. 2)Support . This bill, supported by the board, the Department of Finance, and the administration, has no opposition. 3)Of the 221 claims in this bill, 208 are for stale-dated warrants (expired checks) ranging from $47 to $95,000. The 17 stale-dated warrants that exceed $4,000 account for 63% of the cost of this bill. The other 194 claims average $1,062. For stale-dated warrants, the controller must confirm the check was not cashed and that more than three years have SB 207 Page 2 passed since the check was issued and the funds have reverted to the General Fund. For these warrants an appropriation is needed to reissue the payment. 4)Related Legislation . AB 139 (Fuentes), which appropriated $247,000 for 47 claims and passed the Assembly 79-0, is pending in the Senate. AB 1715 (Fuentes) and SB 910 (Kehoe) were the two claims bills last year. Both passed without a dissenting vote. Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081