BILL ANALYSIS
AB 400
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 400 (De Leon) - As Amended: April 28, 2009
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 11 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Financial Information System for
California (FISCal) to list state General Fund and federal fund
expenditures in the amount of $10,000 or greater on a public web
site and update this information annually.
FISCAL EFFECT
The Department of Finance (DOF) intends to include a public
portal in the FISCal system. Therefore, there are no significant
costs associated with this legislation.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This legislation is designed to provide greater
transparency in the state budget process by allowing the
public to easily access and review how taxpayer money is spent
through an annually updated, searchable, public web site. The
author believes that the on-going development of the FISCal
system provides the state with the ideal opportunity to build
in transparency by requiring it to contain a portal that
allows for public access.
2)Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FAT Act) . In
2006, the federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act,
sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama
(D-IL), was passed. That legislation was an effort to
increase transparency and accountability in government
operations. FAT mandates a free, online searchable database
that includes information on all federal grant and contract
expenditures over $25,000. The Office of Management and
AB 400
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Budget maintains the web site and database which launched on
December 13, 2007. FAT has triggered parallel budget
transparency efforts at the state level and in 2007, the
legislatures of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and
Minnesota, passed similar transparency laws.
3)FISCal is an integrated information technology project
designed to create and implement a new statewide financial
system which will encompass the areas of budgeting,
accounting, procurement, cash management, financial
management, financial reporting, cost accounting, asset
management, project accounting, and human resources
management. FISCal is designed to replace California's aging
financial management systems; FISCal will be rolled out in
five phases, over a multi-year period, to more than 100
departments and agencies.
The FISCal project was proposed during the 2007-08 budget
process as an entirely General Fund project. However, due to
a number of factors including General Fund expense, the
Legislature requested more information on alternative funding
scenarios, vendor accountability, and formalization of control
agency roles. It is unclear when FISCal will move forward.
4)Related Legislation . In 2008, SB 1494 (McClintock) would have
required each state department and agency to develop and
operate a web site accessible by the public that includes
specified information related to the expenditures of state
funds, defined to include, among other things, grants,
contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, and tax refunds,
rebates, and credits that are $1,000 or greater. This bill
died in Senate Appropriations.
In 2008, AB 1843 (Garrick) would have required the State
Controller, with the assistance of the Department of
Technology Services to create and maintain an easily
searchable database providing information regarding how the
state expends funds on certain programs and whether the state
achieved the intended results of those programs. That bill
was held by this committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081