Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 10

Introduced by Senator Huff

(Principal coauthors: Senators Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, and Vidak)

September 11, 2015

Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 10—A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Sections 8 and 12 of Article IV thereof, relating to the Legislature.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCA 10, as introduced, Huff. Legislative procedure.

The California Constitution prohibits a committee or either house of the Legislature from hearing or acting upon a bill until 31 days after it has been introduced, unless the house dispenses with this requirement by a rollcall vote with ¾ of the membership concurring. The California Constitution also prohibits either house from passing a bill until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members of the Legislature.

This measure would authorize a committee to hear or act upon a bill before 31 days have passed following the bill’s introduction if the bill, in the form to be considered by the committee, has been in print and published on the Internet for at least 15 days. This measure would also prohibit either house of the Legislature from passing a bill until it has been made available to the public, in print and on the Internet, for at least 72 hours before a vote on the measure, except for certain bills that address a state of emergency declared by the Governor.

The California Constitution provides that the Budget Bill and other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill may be passed by a majority vote in each house of the Legislature and shall take immediate effect upon being signed by the Governor. The California Constitution defines “other bills providing for appropriations related to the budget bill” to mean bills identified as related to the budget in the Budget Bill passed by the Legislature. The California Constitution requires that the Legislature pass the Budget Bill by midnight on June 15 of each year. If the Budget Bill is not passed by the deadline, the California Constitution prohibits an 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.

This measure would require that the Budget Bill be enacted by midnight on June 15. The measure would require that other bills that provide for appropriations relating to the Budget Bill be necessary to implement the budget. The measure would provide that a Budget Bill or other bill providing for appropriations relating to the Budget Bill that is passed in each house by a majority vote shall not take effect if it is not enacted by midnight on June 15, thereby requiring a Budget Bill or other bill providing for appropriations relating to the Budget Bill that is enacted after midnight on June 15 to be passed by a 2⁄3 vote. The measure would prohibit an appropriation to pay any salary or reimbursement for travel or living expenses for Members of the Legislature and the Governor from midnight on June 15 until the Budget Bill and all other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill are enacted.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular
Session commencing on the first day of December 2014, 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--  

This measure shall be known, and may be cited, as the
“Budget Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015.”

Second--  

The people of the State of California find and declare
all of the following:

(a) In 2010, the voters adopted Proposition 25, which requires
Members of the state Legislature to forfeit their pay in years in
which they fail to pass a budget by the state constitutional deadline.

(b) Since the enactment of Proposition 25, half of the budgets
passed by the Legislature by the June 15th deadline were not signed
into law by the Governor, and the budgets continued to be debated
even after the beginning of the fiscal year.

(c) Since the enactment of Proposition 25, dozens of budget
trailer bills have been drafted in secrecy, have included only token
$1,000 appropriations to satisfy Proposition 25’s technical
requirements, and have been enacted quickly with little, if any,
public notice.

(d) Since the enactment of Proposition 25, budget trailer bills
have been enacted after the beginning of the fiscal year and as late
as three months after the constitutional deadline.

(e) Transparency and public disclosure in the legislative process
are vital to a representative democracy, and the purpose of public
hearings is to allow Members of the Legislature to respectfully
hear from the public and to provide citizens the opportunity to
comment on proposed changes to state law.

(f) In order to give both the Legislature and the Governor an
incentive to enact the annual state budget and budget trailer bills
on time, legislators and the Governor should not be paid or
reimbursed for living expenses if they fail to enact the budget on
time. This measure would require legislators and the Governor to
permanently forfeit their salaries and expenses for each day the
budget and budget trailer bills are late.

(g) Requiring all bills to be in print and published on the Internet
at least 72 hours before being voted on by the Legislature will
ensure that the public has the opportunity to comment on the
proposed changes in law.

Third--  

It is the intent of the people of the State of California
that this measure do all of the following:

(a) End budget delays and ensure that the annual budget bill
and budget trailer bills are signed into law by the beginning of the
fiscal year by requiring legislators and the Governor to forfeit their
pay for each day after June 15 that the budget and budget trailer
bills are not enacted.

(b) Leave Proposition 13’s property tax limitations intact and
not change the two-thirds vote requirement for the Legislature to
raise taxes.

(c) Require the Legislature to provide adequate notice before
public hearings or votes on legislative measures so that citizens
are able to participate in the legislative process in a meaningful
way.

Fourth--  

That Section 8 of Article IV thereof is amended to
read:

SEC. 8.  

(a) At regular sessions begin insert , end insert no bill other than the budget
bill may be heard or acted on by begin insert a end insert committee or either house until
the 31st day after the bill is begin delete introduced unless the house dispenses
with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the journal, three
fourths of the membership concurring. end delete begin insert introduced, except in either
of the following circumstances: end insert

begin insert

(1) A committee or either house may hear or act on a bill if the
house dispenses with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in
the journal, three-fourths of the membership concurring.

end insert begin insert

(2) A committee may hear or act on a bill if the bill, in the form
to be considered by the committee, has been in print and published
on the Internet for at least 15 days.

end insert

(b) begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert  The Legislature may make no law except by statute and
may enact no statute except by bill. No bill may be passed unless
it is read by title on begin delete 3 end delete begin insert three end insert days in each house except that begin delete the end delete begin insert a end insert
house may dispense with this requirement by rollcall vote entered
in the journal, begin delete two thirds end delete begin insert two-thirds end insert of the membership concurring.
No bill may be passed until the bill with amendments has been
printed and distributed to the begin delete members. end delete begin insert Members. end insert No bill may be
passed unless, by rollcall vote entered in the journal, a majority of
the membership of each house concurs.

begin insert

(2) (A) No bill may be passed in either house until the bill, in
the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public, in
print and published on the Internet, for at least 72 hours before
the vote.

end insert begin insert

(B) This paragraph does not apply to a bill that contains an
urgency clause if the Governor submits to the Legislature a written
statement, for that bill, that dispensing with the requirements of
subparagraph (A) is necessary to address a state of emergency
declared by the Governor. “Emergency,” for purposes of this
subparagraph, has the same meaning as in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII B and does not include
a fiscal emergency declared pursuant to Section 10 of this article.

end insert

(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and begin delete (3) of this
subdivision, end delete begin insert (3), end insert a statute enacted at a regular session shall go into
effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from the date
of enactment of the statute and a statute enacted at a special session
shall go into effect on the 91st day after adjournment of the special
session at which the bill was passed.

(2) A statute, other than a statute establishing or changing
boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or other election
district, enacted by a bill 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, shall go into
effect on January 1 next following the enactment date of the statute
unless, before January 1, a copy of a referendum petition affecting
the statute is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II, in which event the
statute shall go into effect on the 91st day after the enactment date
unless the petition has been presented to the Secretary of State
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9 of Article II.

(3) Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies
or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and
urgency statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their
enactment.

(d) Urgency statutes are those necessary for immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. A statement of
facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of
the bill. In each house the section and the bill shall be passed
separately, each by rollcall vote entered in the journal, begin delete two thirds end delete
begin insert two-thirds end insert of the membership concurring. An urgency statute may
not create or abolish any office or change the salary, term, or duties
of any office, or grant any franchise or special privilege, or create
any vested right or interest.

Fifth--  

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 begin delete Legislature shall pass the end delete budget bill begin insert shall be enacted end insert
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 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, are void unless passed in each house by rollcall
vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership
concurring.

(e) (1)  begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert Notwithstanding any other provision of law or of
this Constitution, begin insert except as provided in subparagraph (B), end insert the
budget bill and other bills providing for appropriations related to
the budget bill may be passed in each house by rollcall vote entered
in the journal, a majority of the membership concurring, to take
effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor begin insert , end insert or upon a
date specified in the legislation.

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A budget bill or other bill providing for appropriations
related to the budget bill that is passed in each house by a majority
vote pursuant to this subdivision shall not take effect if it is not
enacted by midnight on June 15. end insert

begin insert (C) end insert begin insert   end insert 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 begin delete 8 of this article. end delete
begin insert 8. end insert

(2) For purposes of this section, “other bills providing for
appropriations related to the budget bill” begin delete shall consist only of end delete
begin insert means end insert bills identified as related to the budget in the budget bill
passed by the begin delete Legislature. end delete begin insert Legislature and that are necessary to
implement the budget. end insert

(f) The Legislature may control the submission, approval, and
enforcement of budgets and the filing of claims for all state
agencies.

(g)  begin delete For the 2004-05 fiscal year, or any subsequent fiscal year,
the end delete begin insert The end insert Legislature begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert not send to the Governor for
consideration, begin delete nor may end delete begin insert and end insert the Governor begin insert shall not end insert 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) 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 begin delete is not passed by the Legislature end delete begin insert and all other
bills providing for appropriations related to the budget bill are
not enacted end insert 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 begin insert or the Governor end insert during any regular or special session
for the period from midnight on June 15 until the day that the
budget bill begin delete is presented to the Governor. end delete begin insert and all other bills
providing for appropriations related to the budget bill are enacted. end insert
No salary or reimbursement for travel or living expenses forfeited
pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid retroactively.

Sixth--  

Severability.

If any of the provisions of this measure or the applicability of
any provision of this measure to any person or circumstance is
found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the finding shall
not affect the remaining provisions or applications of this measure
to other persons or circumstances, and to that extent the provision
of this measure are deemed to be severable.