BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 369 (de León) - State claims.
          
          Amended: August 12, 2013        Policy Vote: N/A
          Urgency: Yes                    Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 19, 2013                           
          Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    
          
          Pursuant to the committee's rules, the Suspense File rule does  
          not apply to the provisions of this bill as claims are  
          considered valid obligations of the state.  Additionally, claims  
          may have time sensitivity.  

          
          Bill Summary: AB 369 would appropriate $414,054.01 from the  
          General Fund and various special funds to pay state claims. The  
          claims are for 155 stale dated warrants.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              $202,062.68 appropriation from the General Fund.
              $211,991.33 in appropriations from various special funds.

          Background: The State Board of Control was established in 1945.   
          It was revised and renamed the Victim Compensation and  
          Government Claims Board by Chapter 1016/2000 (AB 2491, Jackson).  
           Government Code 13928 requires the board to ensure that all  
          claims have been approved by the board, and for which there  
          exists no legally available appropriation, are submitted for  
          legislative approval at least twice during each calendar year.   
          In general, the board will approve claims in November and in  
          February.  Those claims are reported to the chairs of the  
          Appropriations Committees who introduce bills appropriating  
          General Funds and special funds to pay the claims.  These bills  
          may appropriate funds in amounts to the penny for tens to  
          hundreds of claims, usually stale dated warrants.  Government  
          Code 906 provides for the payment of interest on claims approved  
          by the board for which an appropriation has been made beginning  
          30 days after the effective date of the law by which the  
          appropriation is enacted.

          Proposed Law: This bill appropriates funding for 155 stale dated  
          warrants.  The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants is the most  
          prevalent claim approved by the board.  For stale-dated  








          SB 369 (de León)
          Page 1


          warrants, the Controller must confirm that (1) the check was not  
          cashed and has not been reissued and (2) more than three years  
          have elapsed since the check was issued and the monies have  
          reverted to the General Fund or to the relevant special fund.   
          For these warrants an appropriation is needed to reissue the  
          payment.  This category also may include state treasury bonds  
          that have not been redeemed within ten years of their maturity  
          date (there are no such claims in this bill), but the majority  
          of warrants generally are for lost payroll or tax refund checks.  
           

          This bill is an urgency measure.

          Related Legislation: 
              SB 371 (de León, Statutes of 2013) appropriated $15.6  
              million to pay one settlement against the state.
              AB 234 (Gatto) would appropriate $20.75 million to pay two  
              settlements against the state. That bill is on the Assembly  
              floor.