BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 801|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 801
Author: Roth (D)
Amended: 4/17/13
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/30/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Department of Finance: reports: crimes
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that the Department of Finance
(DOF) has the authority to require certifications, signed under
penalty of perjury, that budgeting information provided to the
DOF reconciles to the information submitted to the State
Controller's Office (Controller).
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that there is in the State Government a DOF.
2. Provides that the DOF has general powers of supervision over
all matters concerning the financial and business policies of
the state and whenever it deems it necessary, or at the
instance of the Governor, shall institute or cause the
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institution of such investigations and proceedings as it
deems proper to conserve the rights and interests of the
state.
3. Requires that the Director of DOF shall be responsible for
coordinating state agency internal audits and identifying
when agencies are required to comply with federally mandated
audits. The Director of DOF, in coordinating the internal
auditors of state agencies, shall ensure that these auditors
utilize the "Standards for the Professional Practices of
Internal Auditing."
4. Requires state agencies to "prepare and maintain financial
and accounting data for inclusion in the Governor's Budget,
Budget Act and related documents, and the budgetary-legal
basis annual report (as specified), according to the methods
and bases provided in regulations, budget letters, and other
directives of the DOF. . . . The DOF shall implement
procedures, that facilitate annual reconciliations of General
Fund and special fund balances between those provided by a
state agency to the DOF and to the State Controller. In the
Governor's Budget documents, appendices thereof, or other
directives, the DOF shall ensure that adjustments of
prior-year fund balances and accounting methods are clearly
noted in some fashion in order to ensure the closest possible
comparability of these documents with past and future
budgetary-legal basis annual reports."
5. Provides that every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who:
A. Fails or neglects to make, verify and file with the
DOF any report required by this part.
B. Fails or neglects to follow the directions of the DOF
in keeping the accounts of his/her office.
C. Refuses to permit the examination of or access to the
records, files, books, accounts, papers, documents or
cash drawers or cash of his/her office by a
representative of the DOF or in any way interferes with
such examination.
6. Provides that "(e)very officer whose duty it is to audit and
allow the accounts of other state, county, or city officers
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shall, before allowing such accounts, require each of such
officers to make and file with him/her an affidavit or
certificate under penalty of perjury that he has not violated
any of the provisions of this article, and any individual who
willfully makes and subscribes such certificate to an account
which he/she knows to be false as to any material matter
shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall
be subject to the penalties prescribed for perjury by the
Penal Code of this state."
7. Provides that perjury is a felony punishable by imprisonment
for two, three or four years.
This bill requires the DOF to require each officer whose duty it
is to audit the accounts of a state agency as specified, to
provide a certification under penalty of perjury to the DOF that
the budgeting and accounting information provided reconciles to
the information submitted to the Controller's Office.
Comments
The author states:
Last year it was discovered that the California Department
of Parks and Recreation amassed a secret surplus of more
than $20 million over 12 years. Recently, it was also
revealed that the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection misreported $3.6 million. This money was
hidden and misreported at a time when the economic
recession forced billions in budget cuts to state programs
affecting families and Californians in need.
In both instances, required reporting documents were
submitted to the state Department of Finance and money
desperately needed for specific programs and the state's
general fund during the severe economic recession were
misreported. The Department of Finance has audited other
departments and more than $200 million were hidden in one
way or another to protect agencies facing state budget
cuts.
Senate Bill 801 would clarify that the Department of
Finance has the authority to require a certification,
signed under penalty of perjury, that the budgeting and
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accounting information provided to the department
reconciles to the year-end finance reports submitted to
the State Controller's office.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
JG:d 5/14/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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