BILL NUMBER: SB 8 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Huff
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act relating to state finance, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 8, as introduced, Huff. State finance: performance budgeting.
Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in its role of
assisting the Governor in preparing the annual state budget, to
develop, issue, and implement consistent and adequate guidelines for
agencies required to submit budgets.
This bill would additionally require the Department of Finance to
develop a performance budgeting pilot project under which the budgets
of at least 4 departments in specified fiscal years would be
analyzed by specified criteria. The bill would require these pilot
project budgets to be considered by the Senate Committee on Budget
and Fiscal Review and the Assembly Committee on Budget. The bill
would require the Department of Finance to evaluate this pilot
project and report its findings to the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee on or before January 1, 2012.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Performance Budgeting and
Government Accountability Act of 2009.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) The state's traditional budgeting process, based on an
incremental review of funding adjustments to the previous year's
level of spending, impairs the ability of the Governor and
Legislature to impose new budget priorities that are needed as the
state confronts the most severe fiscal crisis in recent state
history.
(b) Inadequate review of baseline spending encourages the
continuation of funding for programs that may be duplicative,
wasteful, inefficient, or no longer as important as other competing
needs.
(c) The perception of waste and inefficiency in state government
undermines Californians' confidence in government and reduces the
state's ability to adequately address vital public needs.
(d) Performance budgeting provides a framework for reviewing state
expenditures based on program results rather than intentions. It
assists legislative policymaking, spending decisions, and program
oversight by evaluating the relative priority, performance, and
management efficiencies in programs. Performance budgeting can
provide a useful tool to help determine where to make targeted
spending reductions without sacrificing vital services.
SEC. 3. The Department of Finance shall develop a performance
budgeting pilot project involving at least four departments. As part
of the state budgets for the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 fiscal
years that are to be submitted by the Governor to the Legislature,
the Department of Finance shall include an analysis of pilot
department expenditures based on all of the following:
(a) The extent to which the pilot department's programs are
relevant with respect to all of the following:
(1) Whether the program addresses a specific interest, problem, or
need that is clearly identified and immediately necessary.
(2) Whether the program represents a critical, essential role for
state government.
(3) Whether the elimination of the program would result in other
parties mitigating the loss of the program wholly or in part.
(4) Whether the program is designed to make a unique contribution
that is not duplicative of other federal, state, or local government
programs or private and nonprofit programs.
(5) Whether the program's budget has grown over the past 10 years
in a manner consistent with the growth in the need it is designed to
address.
(b) The extent to which the department's performance measures
demonstrate an impact, as described in all of the following:
(1) Whether the program has specific, long-term performance
measures focusing on outcomes.
(2) Whether the program has a limited number of annual performance
measures demonstrating progress toward long-term goals.
(3) Whether the program actually meets the impacts described in
paragraphs (1) and (2).
(4) Whether the program delivers quality performance in comparison
to similar program activities in other governments, the private
sector, and nonprofits.
(5) Whether the program collects timely and credible performance
information that can be verified and validated.
(c) The extent to which the department avoids internal
inefficiencies and poor resource allocation, as specified in all of
the following:
(1) Whether the program can provide a compelling cost-per-unit of
service.
(2) Whether employees are held accountable for performance
standards and trained and managed to produce optimal results.
(3) Whether information technology and other processes have
improved performance and cost-efficiencies of the program.
(4) Whether the program uses partnerships, grants, and contracts
to improve efficiency of operations and service delivery.
(5) Whether the program has strong internal controls that reduce
waste, fraud, and errors in its payment and financial management
systems.
SEC. 4. The Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the
Assembly Committee on Budget shall consider the performance budget
analysis presented by the Department of Finance in accordance with
Section 3.
SEC. 5. The Department of Finance shall evaluate the pilot program
and report to the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee, on or before January 1, 2012, regarding the extent to
which performance budgeting results in a more cost-effective and
innovative provision of government services.
SEC. 6. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to determine budget priorities for the 2009-10 fiscal
year, it is necessary that this act go into immediate effect.