BILL ANALYSIS
AB 400
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 400 (De Leon)
As Amended April 28, 2009
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 11-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Emmerson, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Conway, Eng, Hernandez, | |Ammiano, |
| |Nava, Niello, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |John A. Perez, Price, | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| |Ruskin, Smyth | |Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Financial Information System for
California (FISCal) to list State General Fund (GF) and federal
fund expenditures in the amount of $10,000 or greater on a
public Web site. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "General Fund and federal fund expenditures" as the
expenditure or transfer of funds in excess of $10,000 by any
state department, including:
a) Grants;
b) Contracts; and,
c) Purchase orders.
2)Excludes GF transfers between state departments or agencies,
or the transfer of state or federal assistance payments to any
individual recipient or beneficiary of those assistance
payments.
3)Requires the following information for each GF and federal
fund expenditure to be listed:
a) The name and principal location of each entity or other
recipient of the funds;
AB 400
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b) The amount of the expenditure;
c) The type of transaction;
d) The identity of the state department or agency making
the expenditure;
e) The budget program source for the expenditure;
f) A brief description of the purpose for the expenditure;
and,
g) A brief description of any item purchased pursuant to
the expenditure.
4)Makes legislative findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW requires state agencies to comply with transparency
laws, including open meeting acts and public information
requests.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, 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 : According to the author's office, "AB 400 seeks to
provider greater transparency in the state budget process, so
the public can easily access and readily review how taxpayer
money is being spent. Support for public programs is largely
predicated on the belief that tax dollars are spent in a prudent
and efficient manner. Transparency in the expenditure of these
tax dollars is critical to returning public support and
confidence in state government."
Federal legislation in 2006, mandated a free, online searchable
database that includes information on all federal grant and
contract expenditures over $25,000. In California, legislation
has surfaced in previous years requiring state and local
agencies to post guidelines on submitting information requests.
FISCal is an integrated information technology project designed
to create and implement a new statewide financial system which
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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 a hundred departments and agencies.
Development of this system has been done collaboratively (under
FISCal), which includes the DOF, the State Treasurer's Office,
the State Controller's Office, and the Department of General
Services. The system is required to have an online searchable
database and the capability of operating a coding structure
which indicates the categorization of expenditures and revenues.
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 and
whether the proposed timeline will remain intact.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
FN: 0000575