BILL NUMBER: ACA 11 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gorell
MARCH 18, 2013
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Sections
10 and 12 of, and by adding Section 12.5 to, Article IV thereof,
relating to the state budget.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACA 11, as introduced, Gorell. State budget.
(1) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor, following
the enactment of the budget bill for any fiscal year and based on a
determination that General Fund expenditures will exceed General Fund
revenues, to issue a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency and
to cause the Legislature to assemble in special session to enact
legislation to address the emergency. If the Legislature fails to
pass and send to the Governor a bill or bills to address the fiscal
emergency by the 45th day following the issuance of the proclamation,
the Constitution prohibits the Legislature from acting on any other
bill or adjourning for a joint recess until a bill or bills to
address the emergency have been passed and sent to the Governor.
This measure would require that a bill addressing a fiscal
emergency in this context be passed in each house of the Legislature
by a 2/3 vote. The measure would authorize the Governor, if the
Legislature fails to act by the 45th day following the emergency
proclamation as described above, to issue a proclamation reducing or
eliminating one or more items of appropriation from the General Fund
for the fiscal year in which the fiscal emergency is declared, and to
suspend for that fiscal year the operation of any statute to the
extent that the operation of the statute is rendered infeasible by
the reduction or elimination. The measure would prohibit the Governor
from reducing or eliminating an item of appropriation if such action
would have a substantially disproportionate impact on an
identifiable geographic region within the state as compared to all
other comparable geographic regions within the state. The measure
would authorize the Legislature to cancel or amend an action taken by
the Governor to reduce or eliminate an item of appropriation, or to
suspend the operation of a statute, by a resolution passed in each
house by a 2/3 vote.
(2) The California Constitution provides that the Budget Bill and
other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill,
as defined, take effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor
after passage by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature.
This measure would delete all references to other bills providing
for appropriations related to the Budget Bill and instead provide
that bills that amend the Budget Bill and bills that implement the
Budget Bill, as defined, take effect immediately upon being signed by
the Governor after passage by a majority vote of each house of the
Legislature. The measure would define "budget bill" as a single bill
that, as passed for each fiscal year, makes a comprehensive set of
appropriations for the support of state government for that fiscal
year. The measure would also prohibit the Legislature from passing a
Budget Bill, a bill that amends the Budget Bill, or a bill that
implements the Budget Bill, if the bill was not published on the
Internet for at least 72 hours prior to passage.
This measure would require the Legislature, from July 1 to July
31, inclusive, of each even-numbered year, to conduct oversight and
review of state programs. The measure would prohibit the Legislature
from acting on any bill during this period of time, except a bill
that addresses a state of emergency, as defined, declared by the
Governor, and that is passed by a 2/3 vote of both houses.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2013-14 Regular Session
commencing on the third day of December 2012, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Section 10 of Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 10. (a) Each bill passed by the Legislature shall be
presented to the Governor. It becomes a statute if it is signed by
the Governor. The Governor may veto it by returning it with any
objections to the house of origin, which shall enter the objections
in the journal and proceed to reconsider it. If each house then
passes the bill by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds
of the membership concurring, it becomes a statute.
(b) (1) Any bill, other than a bill which would establish or
change boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or
other election district, passed by the Legislature on or
before the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to
reconvene in the second calendar year of the biennium of the
legislative session, and in the possession of the Governor after that
date, that is not returned within 30 days after that date becomes a
statute.
(2) Any bill passed by the Legislature before September 1 of the
second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session
, and in the possession of the Governor on or after September
1 , that is not returned on or before September 30 of that
year becomes a statute.
(3) Any other bill presented to the Governor that is not returned
within 12 days becomes a statute.
(4) If the Legislature by adjournment of a special session
prevents the return of a bill with the veto message, the bill becomes
a statute unless the Governor vetoes the bill within 12 days after
it is presented by depositing it and the veto message in the office
of the Secretary of State.
(5) If the 12th day of the period within which the Governor is
required to perform an act pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4)
of this subdivision is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the
period is extended to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or
holiday.
(c) Any bill introduced during the first year of the biennium of
the legislative session that has not been passed by the house of
origin by January 31 of the second calendar year of the biennium may
no longer be acted on by the house. No bill may be passed by either
house on or after September 1 of an even-numbered year except
statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies or
appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State,
and urgency statutes, and bills passed after being vetoed
by the Governor.
(d) The Legislature may not present any bill to the Governor after
November 15 of the second calendar year of the biennium of the
legislative session.
(e) The Governor may reduce or eliminate one or more items of
appropriation while approving other portions of a bill. The Governor
shall append to the bill a statement of the items reduced or
eliminated with the reasons for the action. The Governor shall
transmit to the house originating the bill a copy of the statement
and reasons. Items reduced or eliminated shall be separately
reconsidered and may be passed over the Governor's veto in the same
manner as bills.
(f) (1) If, following the enactment of the budget bill for
the 2004-05 fiscal year or any subsequent
fiscal year, the Governor determines that, for that fiscal
year, General Fund revenues will decline substantially below the
estimate of General Fund revenues upon which the budget bill for that
fiscal year, as enacted, was based, or General Fund expenditures
will increase substantially above that estimate of General Fund
revenues, or both, the Governor may issue a proclamation declaring a
fiscal emergency and shall thereupon cause the Legislature to
assemble in special session for this purpose. The proclamation shall
identify the nature of the fiscal emergency and shall be submitted by
the Governor to the Legislature, accompanied by proposed legislation
to address the fiscal emergency.
(2) If the Legislature fails to pass and send to the Governor a
bill or bills to address the fiscal emergency by the 45th day
following the issuance of the proclamation, the
both of the following shall apply:
(A) The Governor may, by written proclamation, reduce or eliminate
one or more items of appropriation from the General Fund for the
fiscal year in which the fiscal emergency is declared. In a
proclamation issued pursuant to this subparagraph, the Governor may
also suspend for that fiscal year the operation of any statute to the
extent that the operation of the statute is rendered infeasible by
the reduction or elimination of an item of appropriation. The
Governor shall not reduce or eliminate an item of appropriation
pursuant to this subparagraph if that action would have a
substantially disproportionate impact on an identifiable geographic
region within the state as compared to all other comparable
geographic regions within the state. The Legislature may cancel or
amend an action taken by the Governor pursuant to this subparagraph
to reduce or eliminate an item of appropriation, or to suspend the
operation of a statute, by a resolution passed in each house by
rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership
concurring.
(B) The Legislature may not act
on any other bill, nor may the Legislature adjourn for a joint
recess, until that bill or those bills have been passed and sent to
the Governor.
(3) A bill addressing the fiscal emergency declared pursuant to
this section shall contain a statement to that effect and shall
be passed in each house by rollcall vote entered in the
journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring .
Second-- That Section 12 of Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 12. (a) Within the first 10 days of each calendar year,
the Governor shall submit to the Legislature, with an explanatory
message, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year containing itemized
statements for recommended state expenditures and estimated state
revenues. If recommended expenditures exceed estimated revenues, the
Governor shall recommend the sources from which the additional
revenues should be provided.
(b) The Governor and the Governor-elect may require a state
agency, officer or employee to furnish whatever information is deemed
necessary to prepare the budget.
(c) (1) The budget shall be accompanied by a budget bill itemizing
recommended expenditures.
(2) The budget bill shall be introduced immediately in each house
by the persons chairing the committees that consider the budget.
(3) The Legislature shall pass the budget bill by midnight on June
15 of each year.
(4) Until the budget bill has been enacted, the Legislature shall
not send to the Governor for consideration any bill appropriating
funds for expenditure during the fiscal year for which the budget
bill is to be enacted, except emergency bills recommended by the
Governor or appropriations for the salaries and expenses of the
Legislature.
(d) No bill except the budget bill , or a bill that amends
the budget bill, may contain more than one item of
appropriation, and that for one certain, expressed purpose.
Appropriations from the General Fund of the State, except
appropriations for the public schools and ,
appropriations in the budget bill and in other bills
providing for appropriations related to the budget bill
, appropriations in a bill that amends the budget bill, and
appropriations in a bill that implements the budget bill , are
void unless passed in each house by rollcall vote entered in the
journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring.
(e) (1)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or of this Constitution,
the The budget bill and
other bills providing for appropriations related to the budget bill
may be , bills that amend the budget bill, and bills
that implement the budget bill, upon being passed in each house
by rollcall vote entered in the journal, a majority of the
membership concurring, to shall take
effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor or upon a date
specified in the legislation. Nothing in this subdivision
shall affect the vote requirement for appropriations for the public
schools contained in subdivision (d) of this section and in
subdivision (b) of Section 8 of this article.
(2) For purposes of this section, "other bills providing for
appropriations related to the budget bill" shall consist only of
bills identified as related to the budget in the budget bill passed
by the Legislature.
(f)
(f) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Budget bill" means a single bill, except as provided in
subdivision (c), that, as passed for each fiscal year, makes a
comprehensive set of appropriations for the support of state
government for that fiscal year.
(2) "Bill that amends the budget bill" means a bill that states in
its title that it amends or augments the enacted budget bill, and
embraces the same subject as a budget bill.
(3) "Bill that implements the budget bill" means a bill that makes
statutory changes related to implementation of the budget bill, is
in print in its final form when the budget bill is first voted on for
passage in either house, is identified as a bill that implements the
budget bill in the budget bill passed by the Legislature, and is
voted on for passage in either house within 5 days of the final vote
of the Legislature to pass the budget bill.
(g) Neither house of the Legislature shall pass a budget bill, a
bill that amends the budget bill, or a bill that implements the
budget bill unless the bill has been published in its final form on
the Internet for at least 72 hours prior to passage. This subdivision
does not apply to an urgency statute that addresses a state of
emergency declared by the Governor due to an emergency as defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B.
(h) The Legislature may control
the submission, approval, and enforcement of budgets and the filing
of claims for all state agencies.
(g)
(i) The Legislature may not send
to the Governor for consideration, nor may the Governor sign into
law, a budget bill that would appropriate from the General Fund, for
that fiscal year, a total amount that, when combined with all
appropriations from the General Fund for that fiscal year made as of
the date of the budget bill's passage, and the amount of any General
Fund moneys transferred to the Budget Stabilization Account for that
fiscal year pursuant to Section 20 of Article XVI, exceeds General
Fund revenues for that fiscal year estimated as of the date of the
budget bill's passage. That estimate of General Fund revenues shall
be set forth in the budget bill passed by the Legislature.
(h)
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or of
this Constitution, including subdivision (c) of this section, Section
4 of this article, and Sections 4 and 8 of Article III, in any year
in which the budget bill is not passed by the Legislature by midnight
on June 15, there shall be no appropriation from the current budget
or future budget to pay any salary or reimbursement for travel or
living expenses for Members of the Legislature during any regular or
special session for the period from midnight on June 15 until the day
that the budget bill is presented to the Governor. No salary or
reimbursement for travel or living expenses forfeited pursuant to
this subdivision shall be paid retroactively.
Third-- That Section 12.5 is added to Article IV thereof, to read:
SEC. 12.5. From July 1 to July 31, inclusive, of each
even-numbered year, the Legislature shall conduct oversight and
review of state programs. The Legislature may not act on any bill
during this period of time, except a bill that addresses a state of
emergency declared by the Governor due to an emergency as defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B and
is passed in each house by rollcall vote entered in the journal,
two-thirds of the membership concurring.