BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 854
Page 1
( Without Reference to File )
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 854 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee)
As Amended June 12, 2014
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect
Immediately
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
SUMMARY : Makes necessary statutory and technical changes to
implement changes to the Budget Act of 2014 related to the
General Government and Local Government provisions.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Transfers unencumbered funds within the State School Deferred
Maintenance Fund to the State School Utilization Fund for the
administration of the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of
1998.
2)Imposes a fee on contractors of public works projects to
enforce current laws for public project contracting at the
Department of Industrial Relations, this fee will be set at a
$300 per contractor for 2014-15.
3)Transfers authority for the management of state records from
the Department of General Services to the Secretary of State.
4)Makes technical changes by updating the names of various state
entities and makes a conforming change relation to Government
Code Section 11270 related to administrative costs.
5)Authorizes the Department of Technology to collect payments
and require monthly payments for services provided to client
agencies.
6)Repeals the January 1, 2015, sunset date for the Department of
Technology.
7)Clarifies that the Department of Finance, the State
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Controller, the State Treasurer, and the Department of General
Services are to collaboratively develop, implement, and
maintain the Financial Information System of California
(FI$Cal) system to be used upon full implementation by all
state departments and agencies.
8)Creates a FI$Cal Consolidated Payment Fund for the
distribution of consolidated payments to payees that would
have otherwise been appropriated through the State Treasury.
9)Requires that all individuals that are employees, prospective
employees, subcontractors, volunteers, or vendors conduct a
background check prior to working within specific offices of
the FI$Cal service center.
10)Extends the State Controller's authority to procure, modify,
and implement the 21st Century Project, a human resource
management system, for one year until June 30, 2015.
11)Includes minor technical amendments to delete the statutory
requirement that excess construction reserve bonds proceeds be
used to pay debt services. Changes would help reduce
unnecessary borrowing costs and facilitate compliance with
federal tax laws.
12)Makes the Trauma Recovery Center grant program, administered
by the Victims Compensation and Government Claims board
permanent.
13)Allows the Local Agency Investment Fund, under the State
Treasurer's Office, to increase the cap from 5% to "up to 8%"
to cover reasonable costs incurred in carrying out the
provisions of the program.
14)Includes a technical change to cap qualified expenses "up to
3%" on the state's commercial paper program and clarifies
eligible expenditures, consistent with Government Code Section
5924.
15)Provides reimbursement in fiscal year 2014-15 for pre-2004
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state mandate claims.
16)Provides a phased in application of salary increases to
managers and supervisors of State Bargaining Units 9 and 10,
effective July 1, 2014.
17)Enables state employee and employer contributions toward
their Health Maintenance Organizations premiums to be
deposited into the Contingency Reserve Fund.
18)Repeals Government Code Section 26915, eliminating a
provision of statute related to the 1994 Orange County
bankruptcy that gave Orange County additional audit authority
not granted to other counties.
19)Eliminates unnecessary funds administered by the Department
of Housing and Community Development and transfers cash
balances to other housing funds sources.
20)Allows up to $11 million of disencumbered funds in the Joe
Serna Farmworker Housing Grant Program to be used for
rehabilitation or construction to address the health and
safety deficiencies at the existing 24 state-owned Office of
Migrant Service Centers that provide housing for farmworkers
and their families.
21)Deletes the direct appropriation to the California Military
Museum, and instead appropriates the funds to the Military
Department for the purposes of operating the California State
Military Museum and Resource Center.
22)Specifies that the previously allowed consideration (up to
$100 per day) provided to individuals found to be factually
innocent after serving a period of incarceration applies to
those convicted in both state and federal courts.
23)Clarifies that the funds within the Victim-Witness Assistance
Fund are to be used for any purpose that supports victims.
Existing law establishes the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund,
to be administered by the Office of Emergency Services. Funds
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within the account are to be made available to any public,
private, non-profit agency, for the assistance of victims and
witnesses.
24)Contains provisions that allow for the distribution of local
property taxes that otherwise would continue to be impounded.
Under current law, certain property taxes, collected pursuant
to the supplemental role, cannot legally be distributed to
local governments if all a county's school districts are basic
aid. The bill would address this technical issue and allow
for the distribution of these "stranded" property taxes. When
all of a county's K-12 schools are basic aid, the property tax
that currently cannot be distributed to the county's K-12
schools, would be redistributed to the county, County Office
of Education, Community Colleges, cities, and special
districts. The distribution would be proportionate to each
affected taxing entity's share of the 'AB 8 base.'
25)Creates a three-year State-County Assessors pilot program to
be funded at $7.5 million per year, and to be administered by
the Department of Finance. Limits the program to nine county
assessors' offices, competitively selected from a mix of
urban, suburban, and rural counties.
26) Increases the penalties on employers that fail to pay
unemployment insurance contributions and personal income
withholdings and other employer taxes from 10% of the
amount of the contribution to 15% of the amount of
contributions and increase the penalty for unreported wages
from $10 to $20 per each unreported worker.
27)Appropriates $2 million for the General Fund to the
Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development on a
one-time basis to be used to draw down federal funding in
support of the Small Business Development Center Network
Program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Statutory changes contained in this bill related
to state costs are consistent with the 2014-15 budget package.
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COMMENTS : This bill provides the necessary statutory references
to enact the 2014-15 budget related to the General Government
and Local Government provisions.
Analysis Prepared by : Genevieve Morelos / BUDGET / (916)
319-2099
FN: 0003974