Existing law requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature, within the first 10 days of each calendar year, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Existing law requires the Director of Finance to provide to the Legislature, on or before February 1 of each year, all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governors Budget.

This bill would require the Director of Finance, if the director proposes to limit the operation of a recently amended or added statute as a part of the budget process described above, to, at the same time that the director proposes statutory changes to the Legislature, notify the author of the bill that last amended or added that statute, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the relevant policy committees of the Legislature of the proposed changes in writing. The bill would also define various terms for the purposes of these provisions.

Existing law requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature, within the first 10 days of each calendar year, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Existing law requires the Director of Finance to provide to the Legislature, on or before February 1 of each year, all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governors Budget.

This bill would require the Director of Finance, if the director proposes to limit the operation of a recently amended or added statute as a part of the budget process described above, to, at the same time that the director proposes statutory changes to the Legislature, notify the author of the bill that last amended or added that statute statute, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the relevant policy committees of the Legislature of the proposed changes in writing.

Existing law requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature, within the first 10 days of each calendar year, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Existing law requires the Director of Finance to provide to the Legislature, on or before February 1 of each year, all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governors Budget.

This bill would require the Director of Finance, if the director proposes to limit the operation of a recently amended or added statute as a part of the budget process described above, to, at the same time that the director proposes statutory changes to the Legislature, notify the author of the bill that last amended or added that statute of the proposed changes in writing.

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 2199

Author:(Irwin)

As Amended Ver:May 9, 2018

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Requires the Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) to notify the author of enacted legislation when DOF proposes during the budget process to delay or modify the effective date of the enacted legislation. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the Director of DOF to provide written notification to the author of enacted legislation when DOF proposes during the budget process to limit the operation of the enacted legislation.
2. Specifies that the written notification must also be provided to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature.
3. Defines "author" to mean the first lead author of the affected bill, or a committee, if the author was a committee.
4. Requires the Director of DOF, with regard to a member who is no longer with the Legislature, to provide the notification to the relevant Rules Committee for forwarding to the former member's last known home address.
5. Defines "limit the operation" to mean any proposed statutory change that would make a requirement or authorization in a recently enacted statute operative contingent upon later appropriation of funds by the Legislature or limited to funds that were appropriated in prior years.
6. Applies the requirements of this bill to legislation enacted within the two immediately preceding calendar years, as specified.
7. Exempts budget and trailer bills from the requirements of this bill.

EXISTING LAW: The State Constitution requires the Governor to submit a balanced budget proposal to the Legislature by January 10 each year for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. Government Code Section 13308 requires trailer bills, consisting of all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governor's Budget, to be provided to the Legislature by February 1. The Constitution requires the Legislature to pass the budget by June 15.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Budget Committee, minimal absorbable costs by the DOF.

COMMENTS: This bill directs the Director of DOF to notify the author of enacted legislation, in writing, when DOF proposes during the process to delay or modify the effective date of the enacted legislation. The notification would also have to be provided to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature and the appropriate Rules Committee would be responsible for forwarding the notification to authors who are former members of the Legislature.

According to the author, this bill is "designed to ensure that the Department of Finance provides a minimal amount of transparency and notice to the author of legislation and to the relevant committees when they delay or de-fund a program" created by the affected legislation.

This bill is designed to alert legislators if this circumstance arises in the future. According to the Assembly Budget Committee, the circumstance it addresses, a bill in the policy process being immediately cut in the budget process, has rarely occurred in the last decade. An alternative is to create a process by which budget committee staff review all trailer bill proposals in February and report any proposals that would impact bills that were recently enacted in the policy process. This could be accomplished by including this requirement in the Committee Rules in the 2019-20 legislative session.

Analysis Prepared by: Cassie Royce / A. & A.R. / (916) 319-3600 FN: 0002957

Date of Hearing: May 14, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUDGET

Philip Y. Ting, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2199 (

Author:Irwin) – As Amended Ver:May 9, 2018

SUBJECT: State budget.

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Finance to notify the legislature if the proposed Governor’s budget includes statutory changes that would amend or change a recently enacted bill. Specifically, this bill:

1. Defines that any proposed trailer bill that would alter any statutory changes would require notification:
   1. Any changes that would “limit the operation” of a bill, which would make the operation of recently enacted legislation contingent upon appropriation or limited to funds in previous years.
   2. Exempts budget and trailer bills from the notification process.
2. Requires notification to:
   1. The author of the original legislature;
   2. The Assembly Budget Committee;
   3. The relevant policy committee;
   4. And, if the author were to leave the Legislature, that the Rules Committee forward the proposed change to the author’s last know home address.

EXISTING LAW: Current law requires the Governor to post proposed statutory changes associated with the January 10 Budget proposal by February 1 of each year. This proposed language is on the Department of Finance website.

FISCAL EFFECT: Minimal absorbable costs by the Department of Finance.

COMMENTS: Last year, the Administration proposed undoing recent budget and legislative actions to address a budget shortfall. The Governor’s 2017 January Budget proposal projected a $1.6 billion budget deficit and included $3.2 billion of budget solutions to address the projected deficit. Among these solutions was $550 million of proposed reduction to spending. These included not funding $328 million of budget change proposals, some of which enacted recent legislation. Also included in the budget proposal was a trailer bill provision to make four new bills chaptered in 2016 bills, AB 1348 (Irwin), AB 1993 (Irwin), AB 2263 (Baker), and SB 524 (Lara) contingent upon funding in the budget. Ultimately, none of these reductions were included in the final 2017 plan.

The author of this measure argues that the proposed trailer bills amounted to a “bureaucratic veto” as the proposal would have effectively stopped four recently adopted legislative measures from being implemented.

This bill is designed to alert legislators if this circumstance arises in the future. The circumstance it addresses, a bill in the policy process being immediately cut in the budget process, has rarely occurred in the last decade. An alternative is to create a process by which budget committee staff review all Trailer Bill Proposals in February and report any proposes that would impact bills that were recently enacted in the policy process. This could be accomplished by including this requirement in the Committee Rules in the 2019-20 legislative session.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file.

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Christian Griffith / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099

Date of Hearing: May 3, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUDGET

Philip Y. Ting, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2199 (

Author:Irwin) – As Amended Ver:April 2, 2018

SUBJECT: State budget.

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Finance to notify the legislature if the proposed Governor’s budget includes statutory changes that would amend or change a recently enacted bill. Specifically, this bill:

1. Defines that any proposed trailer bill that would alter any statutory changes would require notification:
   1. Any changes that would “limit the operation” of a bill, which would make the operation of recently enacted legislation contingent upon appropriation or limited to funds in previous years.
2. Requires notification to:
   1. The author of the original legislature;
   2. The Assembly Budget Committee;
   3. The relevant policy committee;
   4. And, if the author were to leave the Legislature, that the Rules Committee forward the proposed change to the author’s last know home address.

EXISTING LAW: Current law requires the Governor to post proposed statutory changes associated with the January 10 Budget proposal by February 1 of each year. This proposed language is on the Department of Finance website.

FISCAL EFFECT: Minimal absorbable costs by the Department of Finance.

COMMENTS: Last year, the Administration proposed undoing recent budget and legislative actions to address a budget shortfall. The Governor’s 2017 January Budget proposal projected a $1.6 billion budget deficit and included $3.2 billion of budget solutions to address the projected deficit. Among these solutions was $550 million of proposed reduction to spending. These included not funding $328 million of budget change proposals, some of which enacted recent legislation. Also included in the budget proposal was a trailer bill provision to make four new bills chaptered in 2016 bills, AB 1348 (Irwin), AB 1993 (Irwin), AB 2263 (Baker), and SB 524 (Lara) contingent upon funding in the budget. Ultimately, none of these reductions were included in the final 2017 plan.

The author of this measure argues that the proposed trailer bills amounted to a “bureaucratic veto” as the proposal would have effectively stopped four recently adopted legislative measures from being implemented.

This bill is designed to alert legislators if this circumstance arises in the future. The circumstance it addresses, a bill in the policy process being immediately cut in the budget process, has rarely occurred in the last decade.

However, within the budget process there are hundreds of adjustments made each year to the previous year’s budget that would likely be interpreted to “limit the operations” of the previous budget year. For example in the 2018 budget proposal, there are over 100 requests to adjust encumbrance periods or reappropriate funding to reflect routine project delays for various natural resources and capital projects. Each of these changes should be considered a limitation of the 2017 budget package, which would trigger 21 separate letters to the two budget committees, two policy committees that the Department of Finance deemed “relevant”, and the 17 co-authors of the budget committee bills that made up the budget package. Therefore, the Department of Finance may need to submit thousands of letters each year to comply with this proposal, just for the normal adjustments made to in the budget package to reflect caseload, revenues, expenditures, and project timelines. The normal course of building a budget would create a large volume of low value information to comply with this proposal.

Legislators deserve to know if the budget proposes to change their legislation. However, the proposed solution would likely create a lot of paperwork and noise, but not necessarily help protect the interests of the members. An alternative is to create a process by which budget committee staff review all Trailer Bill Proposals in February and report any proposes that would impact bills that were recently enacted in the policy process. This could be accomplished by including this requirement in the Committee Rules in the 2019-20 legislative session.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file.

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Christian Griffith / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099

Date of Hearing: April 11, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2199 (

Author:Irwin) – As Amended Ver:April 2, 2018

SUBJECT: State budget

SUMMARY: Requires the Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) to notify the author of enacted legislation when DOF proposes draft budget trailer bill language (TBL) that would delay or modify the effective date of the enacted legislation.  Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the Director of DOF to provide written notification to the author of enacted legislation when DOF proposes draft TBL that would limit the operation of the enacted legislation.
2. Specifies that the written notification must also be provided to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature.
3. Defines “author” to mean the first lead author of the affected bill, or a committee, if the author was a committee.
4. Requires the Director of DOF, with regard to a member who is no longer with the Legislature, to provide the notification to the relevant Rules Committee for forwarding to the former member's last known home address.
5. Defines "limit the operation” to mean any proposed statutory change that would make a requirement or authorization in a recently enacted statute operative contingent upon later appropriation of funds by the Legislature or limited to funds that were appropriated in prior years.
6. Applies the requirements of this bill to legislation enacted within the two immediately preceding calendar years, as specified.

EXISTING LAW: The State Constitution requires the Governor to submit a balanced budget proposal to the Legislature by January 10 each year for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. Government Code Section 13308 requires trailer bills, consisting of all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governor’s Budget, to be provided to the Legislature by February 1. The Constitution requires the Legislature to pass the budget by June 15.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: This bill directs the Director of DOF to notify the author of enacted legislation, in writing, when DOF proposes draft TBL that would delay or modify the effective date of the enacted legislation. The notification would also have to be provided to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature and the appropriate Rules Committee would be responsible for forwarding the notification to authors who are former members of the Legislature.

According to the author, this bill is "designed to ensure that the Department of Finance provides a minimal amount of transparency and notice to the author of legislation and to the relevant committees when they delay or de-fund a program" created by the affected legislation. The author further contends that "while fiscal realities must be dealt with, and delay of some programs may be warranted, no member of the Legislature should have to comb through the hundreds of trailer bill proposals to ensure that their hard fought legislative victories remain intact."

The State Constitution requires that the Governor submit a balanced budget to the Legislature by January 10 each year. The Director of DOF, as the chief financial advisor to the Governor, directs the effort for preparation of the Governor's Budget. By constitutional requirement, the Governor's Budget must be accompanied by a Budget Bill itemizing recommended expenditures which shall be introduced in each house of the Legislature. The Constitution also requires that the Legislature pass the bill by June 15.

When there are budget changes proposed by the Governor or the Legislature that require changes to existing law in order to implement those changes, separate implementation bills, known as trailer bills, are introduced and heard concurrently with the Budget Bill. By law, all proposed statutory changes necessary to implement the Governor’s Budget are due to the Legislature by February 1. DOF also posts copies of TBL proposals electronically on its public website along with a tracking document on each proposal.

DOF indicates that, currently, notification of the posting of the TBL proposals is provided electronically to relevant fiscal, caucus, and leadership staff of the Legislature as well as to staff of the Legislative Analyst's Office.  DOF also adds that TBL proposals are discussed and vetted as part of the routine budget subcommittee hearing process.

DOUBLE REFERRAL: This bill is double referred. Should it pass this committee, it will be re-referred to the Assembly Budget Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file.

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Cassie Royce / A. & A.R. / (916) 319-3600