BILL NUMBER: AB 1645 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nestande
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Arambula)
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Harkey )
JANUARY 12, 2010
An act to amend Section 13337 of add
Section 13305.5 to the Government Code, relating to state
fiscal affairs.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1645, as amended, Nestande. State Budget: key
liabilities. General Fund liabilities: report.
Existing law requires the Director of Finance to provide various
reports to the Legislature regarding specified fiscal matters.
This bill would require the director, on February 1 of each year,
to submit a written report to the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee containing certain information and
recommendations regarding General Fund obligations and liabilities.
Under existing law, various duties and responsibilities are
imposed upon the Governor and the Department of Finance in connection
with the preparation and submission of the annual State Budget to
the Legislature at each regular session thereof, including, among
other things, the requirement to include a complete plan of all
proposed expenditures and estimated revenues for the ensuing fiscal
year.
This bill additionally would require the Governor, or the
Department of Finance acting on his or her behalf, at the same time
as the Governor's Budget is submitted to the Legislature, to submit a
report to the Legislature, setting forth a list of the state's key
liabilities, in the nature of debt, deferred payments, and other
liabilities that will affect the state's financial health in the
future. The bill would direct that the report include a discussion of
budget-related, infrastructure-related, and retirement-related
liabilities, as well as recommendations for the retirement of those
liabilities.
The bill also would require the Governor's Budget to include a
section that specifies the percentages and amounts of General Fund
revenues that must be set aside and applied toward retiring key
liabilities in accordance with the recommendations contained in the
report. The bill further would restrict the Governor from including
in the budget as estimated revenues those revenues estimated to be
generated from laws, programs, or executive actions not in effect or
effectuated at the time the budget is submitted to the Legislature.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13305.5 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
13305.5. On February 1 of each year, the Director of Finance
shall submit a written report to the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee containing all of the following:
(a) A list of loans made to the General Fund and a summary of each
loan, including its balance and the due date for repayment of the
loan.
(b) A list of General Fund obligations to pay deferred or
suspended expenditures or to transfer funds to any special fund or
account, and a summary of each obligation, including the amount of
the obligation and the due date for the payment or transfer.
(c) A list and summary of the state's key liabilities relating to
debt, infrastructure, retirement, and the budget, and other
liabilities that will affect the state's financial health in the
future.
(d) Recommendations for potential methods of retiring the
liabilities and obligations listed in the report.
SECTION 1. Section 13337 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
13337. (a) (1) The budget required by the California Constitution
to be submitted by the Governor at each regular session of the
Legislature shall be submitted within the first 10 days thereof and
shall contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed
expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by
him or her, and all of its institutions, departments, boards,
bureaus, commissions, officers, employees, and other agencies, and of
all estimated revenues, for the ensuing fiscal year, together with a
comparison, as to each item of revenues and expenditures, with the
actual revenues and expenditures for the last completed fiscal year,
the estimated revenues, and expenditures for the existing fiscal year
and the budgeted revenue and expenditures for the next fiscal year.
(2) Estimated revenues, for purposes of paragraph (1), shall not
include revenues estimated to be generated from laws, programs, or
executive actions not in effect or effectuated at the time the budget
is submitted to the Legislature.
(b) The budget shall include the following:
(1) In accordance with Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 41200)
of Part 24 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, a section
that specifies the percentages and amounts of General Fund revenues
that must be set aside and applied for the support of school
districts, as defined in Section 41302.5 of the Education Code, and
community college districts, as required by subdivision (b) of
Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
(2) A section that specifies the percentages and amounts of
General Fund revenues that must be set aside and applied toward
retiring key liabilities in accordance with the recommendations
contained in the report set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(i).
(c) The Governor, or the Department of Finance acting on his or
her behalf, shall make appropriate changes in the budget request to
reflect any modification in the organization or functions of state
government proposed under Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 12080)
of Chapter 1 of Part 2 prior to the passage of the budget.
(d) The Governor's Budget shall be prepared in accordance with
guidelines and instructions adopted by the Department of Finance.
(e) In order to provide meaningful comparisons, the Governor's
Budget shall be prepared in such a manner that the information
presented provides for such comparisons between the fiscal years.
(f) The Department of Finance shall submit to the committee in
each house which considers appropriations and to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee copies of budget material submitted to
it by agencies pursuant to the provisions of Article 2 (commencing
with Section 13320).
(g) The Governor's Budget shall also include a coding structure
which indicates for each budget entity the categorization of
expenditures and revenues.
(h) Prior to the submission of the Governor's Budget to the
Legislature, the Department of Finance may conduct public hearings
regarding any portion of any budget.
(i) The Governor, or the Department of Finance acting on his or
her behalf, shall, at the same time the Governor's Budget is
submitted to the Legislature, submit the following to the
Legislature:
(1) Copies of the material for the purposes of subdivision (j).
(2) A report setting forth a list of the state's key liabilities,
in the nature of debt, deferred payments, and other liabilities that
will affect the state's financial health in the future. The report
shall include a discussion of budget-related liabilities,
infrastructure-related liabilities, and retirement-related
liabilities, as well as recommendations for the retirement of those
liabilities.
(j) The Department of Finance shall develop a fiscal information
system which will provide timely and uniform fiscal data needed to
formulate and monitor the budget, including, but not limited to,
online inquiry capacity and the ability to simulate budget
expenditures and forecast revenues. This system may include, among
other things, data on encumbrances and expenditures by line item,
governmental unit, and fund source. The system shall also include
expenditures and encumbrances by program, as required. This system
shall also include a coding structure which indicates the
categorization of expenditures and revenues. This system and the data
shall be available to both the legislative and executive branches.
The system may contain separate programs accessible by only one
branch, designed to provide for distinct application of the data, but
the basic system data shall be available on an equal basis to both
the legislative and executive branches of government.