BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 304  


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          Date of Hearing:  August 26, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          SB 304  
          (Lara) - As Amended July 8, 2015


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          Urgency:  Yes State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill, an urgency measure, one of two annual state claims  
          bills introduced pursuant to California Victim Compensation and  
          Government Claims Board (board) determinations and carried by  
          the Appropriations Committee chairs, appropriates $3,277,141.90  








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          from specified funds to the (board) for the payment of 199 state  
          claims.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Appropriates $3,277,141.90 from various funds to the (board),  
          including $621,535.15 from the General Fund, to the board for  
          the payment of 197 state claims for reissuance of stale-dated  
          warrants and $2,610,709.44 in capital outlay bond funds, for two  
          claims, to reissue payments for Los Angeles Community College  
          District (LACCD) projects that previously received an  
          allocation, but the funds reverted.  


          COMMENTS:


          1)Rationale. The Government Code Section 13928 requires the  
            board to ensure that all claims approved by the board, for  
            which no legally available appropriation exists, are submitted  
            for legislative approval at least twice during each calendar  
            year.  In general, the board approves claims in November and  
            February.  

            The re-issuance of stale-dated warrants (expired checks) is  
            the most prevalent claim approved by the board.  For  
            stale-dated warrants, the Controller must confirm the check  
            was not cashed and that more than three years has passed 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.  


            Electronic claims were submitted for grants from the 2006  
            Community College Capital Outlay Bond Fund (Fund 6049) for  
            contract costs incurred by the LACCD.  These claims were  
            denied because the appropriation was thought to have reverted.  








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             These eligible claims were previously approved in AB 139  
            (Fuentes, Chapter 194, Statutes of 2011), but could not be  
            paid because the funding source was identified as a specific  
            2011 Budget Act item (6870-303-6049), which was invalid.  This  
            bill appropriates funds directly from Fund 6049 to the board  
            for payment of the LACCD claims.


          2)Related Legislation.  AB 165 (Gomez, Chapter 7, Statutes of  
            2015), an urgency measure, appropriated $504,743.99 in various  
            state funds, including $227,308.96 from the General Fund, to  
            the board for the payment of 110 state claims for reissuance  
            of stale-dated warrants.  The bill also appropriated $968,400  
            to the board for payment of three specified erroneous  
            conviction claims.  





          Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081