BILL ANALYSIS
Bill No: SB
835
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 835 Author: Strickland
As Introduced: January 4, 2010
Hearing Date: April 13, 2010
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Act of 2011
DESCRIPTION
SB 835 enacts the Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Act
of 2011 for the purpose of establishing an 8-member
commission and a process for realigning or closing outdated
or ineffective and inefficient governmental entities.
Specifically, this measure:
1. Establishes an 8-member Bureaucracy Realignment and
Closure Commission in state government, with a specified
membership, appointed by the Governor by April 1, 2011.
(Four members will be subject to confirmation by the
Senate Committee on Rules.)
2. Stipulates that commission members are to be appointed
to two-year terms, with a maximum of two terms, and
provides that they shall receive reimbursement for
expenses plus compensation for each day of official
business at the daily equivalent salary received by an
agency head as specified.
3. Requires each member of the commission to have had
management experience, as defined, prior to appointment;
requires the Governor to designate a chairperson of the
commission; and, authorizes the commission to employ an
executive secretary and other staff.
4. Specifies that none of the commission members shall be
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employed with a governmental entity, been a party to a
contract with a federal, local or state governmental
agency, been employed by an entity that is a party to an
ongoing contract with a government entity, or be a person
who, at the time of his/her appointment, qualifies as a
lobbyist.
5. Requires the commission to do all of the following: (a)
examine the current configuration of state bureaucracies,
along with their duties and responsibilities, to
determine if agency jurisdictions overlap or have become
obsolete; (b) propose realignment and closure of state
bureaucracies to reduce duplication; and, (c) submit a
report to the Governor and Legislature detailing the
commission's findings.
6. Specifies that beginning on January 1, 2011, the
Controller, the Director of Finance, the Legislative
Analyst, the Legislative Counsel, the "Little Hoover"
Commission and the State Auditor must develop
recommendations for the closure and realignment of state
agencies for consideration by the commission.
(Recommendations must be reported to the commission by
July 15, 2011)
7. Requires that by January 1, 2012, at least one
commission member is to have "visited" each state
bureaucracy considered for realignment or closure. Also,
requires the commission to conduct public hearings, as
specified, as part of its review process.
8. Requires the commission to submit its final
recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by July
15, 2012 and requires the Governor, by August 15, 2012,
to either approve the recommendations or return the
report to the commission for revision, whereby the
commission would have one month to return a revised
report to the Governor. (The commission is not required
to incorporate the Governor's recommendations.)
9. Establishes that, if the Governor rejects the revised
commission report, the process ends for the year, but
authorizes the commission to submit a revised report the
following year after consideration and public hearings.
10. Stipulates that if the Governor approves the list, then
a Governor's Reorganization Plan (GRP) must be prepared
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and submitted to the Legislature. The GRP is then
subject to existing law and rules regarding GRPs.
11. Provides that if the GRP becomes effective, the
Director of Finance must compute the savings in state
expenditures that are forecast to occur due to the
closure or realignment of state bureaucracies included in
the GRP and submit this information to the Governor and
Legislature.
12. Appropriates $250,000 from the General Fund for the
commission's first year of operation and caps total
expenditures by the commission at $500,000.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law, the State Government Strategic Planning and
Performance and Review Act of 1994 (AB 2711 - V. Brown,
Chapter 779/94), requires each agency, department, office,
or commission for which strategic planning efforts are
recommended to develop a strategic plan, as specified, that
identifies, among other things, the steps being taken to
develop performance measures to implement a performance
budgeting system or a performance review. The Act also
requires that these entities report to the Governor and the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee by April 1 of each year
on the steps being taken to develop and adopt a strategic
plan.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of SB 835: The author believes that ineffective
and inefficient bureaucracies cost California taxpayers a
great deal of money. Thus, this measure is intended to
establish a commission, modeled after the federal military
base realignment and closure commission, to make government
more efficient and cost effective. The federal military
base realignment legislation called for an independent
commission to examine which military bases should be closed
or downsized.
The author states that "budgets for individual
bureaucracies are not colossal, but when taken as an
aggregate amount, make a substantial impact on the state
budget. In the end, general good government considerations
lose out to entrenched, duplicative and over-bloated
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bureaucratic establishments? Both bureaucracies and
military bases have an established constituency and
financial incentive to lobby for individual expansion and
growth."
The author believes that "if California can duplicate the
success of the federal base closure commission future
legislatures will be spared the specter of $20 billion-plus
budget deficits and future taxpayers can be spared a
bureaucracy that is currently spending a larger portion of
their earnings and delivering less with it than at any time
in history."
Arguments in Support: Proponents point out that in light
of the fact that the state's budget has quadrupled in the
past twenty years "an examination of the effectiveness of
state government bureaucracies is a logical and fair step
to take in assessing which programs and organizations work,
and which do not." Proponents claim that "one of the
reasons California has a $20 billion budget deficit is
because it has yet to really analyze where mismanagement is
occurring within government."
Arguments in Opposition: Opponents argue that SB 835 is
not necessary because the authority to accomplish the
bill's objectives is found in existing law - the State
Government Strategic Planning and Performance Review Act.
Opponents point out that the Legislature has ample
opportunity during the annual budget process to determine
the appropriateness of programs and positions in state
government. Opponents also do not accept the premise that
"an additional layer of bureaucracy will unearth the
mythical waste, fraud and abuse that some believe exists."
Staff Comments: Senator McClintock authored nearly
identical bills to SB 835 beginning in 1997. SB
971(McClintock) of 2007 received a favorable vote (6-0) in
this committee on January 8, 2008. SB 9 (McClintock) of
2003 received a favorable vote (7-2) in this committee on
April 29, 2003. That measure also passed the full Senate on
a vote of 37-0. Additionally, SB 1428 (McClintock) of 2002
received a favorable vote (9-0) in this committee on April
23, 2002 and passed the full Senate on a vote of 33-1.
Technical Amendment: On page 3, line 14, after the word
"Senate" add the following: Committee on Rules
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PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 971 (McClintock) 2007-08 Session. Similar to SB 835
(Strickland) of 2010, SB 9 of 2003, SB 1428 of 2002, AB 86
of 1999, and AB 19 of 1997 all by Mr. McClintock. (Died on
the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.)
SB 9 (McClintock) 2003-04 Session. Similar to SB 835
(Strickland) of 2010, SB 971 of 2007, SB 1428 of 2002, AB
86 of 1999, and AB 19 of 1997 all by Mr. McClintock. (SB 9
passed the Senate on a vote of 37-0; the measure was
eventually gutted in the Assembly and used for another
purpose.)
SB 1750 (Battin) 2003-04 Session. Would have established a
12-member independent commission in state government to
review and recommend state property for divestiture.
(Failed passage in this Committee)
SB 1428 (McClintock) 2001-02 Session. Similar to SB 835
(Strickland) of 2010, SB 971 of 2007, SB 9 of 2003, AB 86
of 1999 and AB 19 of 1997 all by Mr. McClintock. (Failed
passage in Assembly Appropriations)
AB 86 (McClintock) 1999-2000 Session. Similar to SB 835
(Strickland) of 2010, SB 971 of 2007, SB 9 of 2003, SB 1428
of 2002 and AB 19 of 1997, all by Mr. McClintock. (Failed
passage in Assembly policy committee)
AB 19 (McClintock) 1997-98 Session. Similar to SB 835
(Strickland) of 2010, SB 971 of 2007, SB 9 of 2003, SB 1428
of 2002, and AB 86 of 1999, all by Mr. McClintock. (Failed
passage in Assembly policy committee)
SUPPORT: As of April 9, 2010:
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
National Tax Limitation Committee
People's Advocate, Inc.
Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association
Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association
OPPOSE: As of April 9, 2010:
Professional Engineers in California Government
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DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Rules Committee
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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