BILL ANALYSIS
SB 548
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Date of Hearing: July 20, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 548 (Hollingsworth) - As Amended: July 16, 2007
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 14 - 0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill extends the July 1, 2007 sunset for the Disaster
Response-Emergency Operations Account (DREOA) to January 1, 2009
and declares an urgency.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)There are no new costs associated with this legislation.
However, it would continue the allocation of $1 million per
year from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties into the
DREOA. These funds are continuously appropriated. Therefore,
the fund will maintain a minimum balance of $1 million, but
the appropriations into the fund could greatly exceed that
amount.
2)This bill continuously appropriates money from the Economic
Uncertainties Fund to the DREOA.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the Office of Emergency Services, this
legislation is needed because this Account provides the
Director of Finance authority to make certain
disaster-response allocations from the DREOA. This funding
source provides the state an opportunity for a more
expeditious response to and recovery from disasters. In
addition, the DREOA provides flexibility to the governor as
the DREOA could be and has been used as an alternative to the
budget deficit process for necessary disaster related costs to
state agencies. Without an extension of the sunset, this
SB 548
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account would cease to exist.
2)Angora Fire . Continuing this account is necessary to
facilitate state actions in support of the recovery of the
Angora Fire in El Dorado County. Currently, OES lacks the
ability to reimburse California Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB) for their work involving structural debris
removal from private property and the public right-of-way.
Without the DREOA, the CIWMB must find and use funds from
other accounts instead of receiving a direct allocation from
the DREOA.
OES estimates that the cost to the state for the removal of
debris alone will likely exceed $7 million. Without this
legislation, those costs will need to be recovered through the
budget deficiency request process.
3)DROEA . The DREOA provides the Director of Finance authority to
make certain disaster-response allocations. This account has
been utilized to provide an immediate funding source for
extraordinary emergency response costs expended by state
agencies. This funding source provides the state an
opportunity for a more expeditious response to and recovery
from disasters.
In addition, the DREOA provides flexibility to the governor as
the DREOA could be and has been used as an alternative to the
cumbersome budget deficit process for necessary disaster
related costs to state agencies.
Existing law provides for the DREOA in the Reserve for
Economic Uncertainties. The account exists as a funding
mechanism to provide reimbursement to state agencies for
disaster response activities. The statute states that money
in the account will be continuously appropriated for
allocation by the Director of Finance (DOF). These provisions
became inoperative and were repealed on July 1, 2007.
4)Related Legislation . SB 1102 (Hollingsworth) Chapter 561,
Statutes of 2005. Extended the sunset date applicable to the
DREOA within the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties from
January 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007.
SB 1102 (Budget Committee) Chapter 227, Statutes of 2004.
Among other things, this measure continued until January 1,
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2006 the DREOA within the Special Fund for Economic
Uncertainties and allocated $1 million to the Account at the
beginning of each fiscal year.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081