Bill Text: CA AB1487 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: State government: state funds.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)

Status: (Passed) 2012-09-17 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 343, Statutes of 2012. [AB1487 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB1487-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1487	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 28, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 29, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 21, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Budget (Blumenfield (Chair), Alejo,
Bonilla, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Cedillo, Chesbro, Dickinson,
Feuer, Gordon, Huffman, Mitchell, Monning, and Swanson)

                        JANUARY 10, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 12460 and 12461 of, and to add Section
13344 to, the Government Code, relating to state government, and
making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill
related to the budget.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1487, Committee on Budget. State government: state funds.
   Existing law requires every state agency and court for which an
appropriation has been made to submit to the Department of Finance
for approval, a complete and detailed budget at such time and in such
form as may be prescribed by the department, setting forth all
proposed expenditures and estimated revenues for the ensuing fiscal
year. Existing law requires the Department of Finance to, among other
things, develop, issue, and implement consistent and adequate
guidelines to be utilized by agencies required to submit budgets to
the department.
   Existing law requires the Governor's Budget to be prepared in
accordance with guidelines and instructions adopted by the Department
of Finance. Existing law requires the Governor's Budget to also
include a coding structure that indicates for each budget entity the
categorization of expenditures and revenues. Existing law requires
the Department of Finance to develop a fiscal information system that
will provide timely and uniform fiscal data needed to formulate and
monitor the budget, as specified.
   Existing law requires the Controller to submit an annual report to
the Governor containing a statement of the funds of the state, its
revenues, and the public expenditures during the preceding fiscal
year. Existing law requires the annual report to be prepared in the
manner that will account for revenues and expenditures on the same
basis as that of the Governor's Budget and the Budget Act. Existing
law requires the format of the annual budgetary legal report to be
preparedas closely as possible in accordance with "Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles."
   This bill would require the Controller to submit a newly modified
annual report to the Governor, to instead be referred to as the
budgetary-legal basis annual report. The bill would require the
budgetary-legal basis annual report to account for prior year
adjustments, fund balances, encumbrances, deferred payroll, revenues,
expenditures, and other components on the same basis as that of the
applicable Governor's Budget and Budget Act. The bill would require
the Controller to confer with the Department of Finance to propose
and develop methods to facilitate these changes. The bill would
require the annual reports of the Controller to be posted on the
Internet Web site of the Controller, and would authorize the
Controller to charge a reasonable fee for providing copies of those
reports, not to exceed the costs thereof.
   The bill would also require every state agency, as defined, to
prepare and maintain financial and accounting data for inclusion in
the Governor's Budget, Budget Act and related documents, and the
budgetary-legal basis annual report, according to methods adopted by
the Department of Finance. The bill would require the Department of
Finance to implement procedures that facilitate annual
reconciliations of General Fund and special fund balances between
those provided by a state agency to the Department of Finance and the
Controller. The bill would exempt from the Administrative Procedure
Act, actions taken by the Department of Finance to implement these
provisions.
   This bill would appropriate $1,000 from the General Fund to the
Department of Finance for purposes of implementing this bill, thereby
making an appropriation.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a
bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
   Appropriation: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
   (a) A principal purpose of the Governor's Budget documents, the
state's budgetary-legal basis annual reports, and the state's
comprehensive annual financial reports is the provision of accurate,
comprehensible, consistent, and informative data to the public, the
Legislature, other state policymakers, federal and local governments,
capital markets participants, and other external entities. It is the
intent of the Legislature that the Controller and the Director of
Finance ensure that these documents are prepared in a manner that
presents accurate state financial information. The state continues to
place a high priority on presenting its comprehensive annual
financial reports in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted for state and local governments ("Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles" or GAAP).
   (b) State agencies and departments, working cooperatively with the
Department of Finance and the Controller, must ensure that budgetary
documents and the state's budgetary-legal basis annual reports are
prepared in a manner that provides for the comparability of financial
data between these documents and ensures that the information
presented to the Legislature concerning the historical budgetary
position of the state's funds and accounts is accurate in all
material respects.
  SEC. 2.  Section 12460 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   12460.  The Controller shall submit an annual report to the
Governor containing a statement of the funds of the state, its
revenues, and the public expenditures during the preceding fiscal
year. The annual report shall be known as the budgetary-legal basis
annual report and prepared in a manner that will account for prior
year adjustments, fund balances, encumbrances, deferred payroll,
revenues, expenditures, and other components on the same basis as
that of the applicable Governor's Budget and the applicable Budget
Act, as determined by the Director of Finance in consultation with
the Controller. If the Governor's Budget or the Budget Act do not
provide the applicable information for this purpose, funds shall be
accounted for in the budgetary-legal basis annual report in a manner
prescribed by Section 13344. The requirements of this section shall
apply beginning with the issuance of the budgetary-legal basis annual
report for the 2013-14 fiscal year. The Controller shall confer with
the Department of Finance to propose and develop methods to
facilitate these changes pursuant to Section 13344, including methods
to ensure that information related to encumbrances and deferred
payroll continue to be listed in the state's financial statements, as
deemed appropriate by the Controller.
    The Controller shall also issue a comprehensive annual financial
report prepared strictly in accordance with "Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles."
   The annual reports referenced in this section shall be compiled
and published by the Controller in the time, form, and manner
prescribed by him or her.
  SEC. 3.  Section 12461 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   12461.  The Controller shall release an annual report that
includes all of the following:
   (a) General Purpose Financial Statements prepared in accordance
with Section 12460 and "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles."
   (b) Tabular statements showing:
   (1) The amount of each appropriation for the preceding fiscal
year, the amounts expended, and the balance, if any.
   (2) The revenues and cost of government of the state for the
preceding fiscal year in a manner consistent with Sections 12460 and
13344.
   (3) The receipts, disbursements, and closing balances of each fund
in the State Treasury for the preceding fiscal year in a manner
consistent with Sections 12460 and 13344.
   (4) Variances between budgetary-legal statements prepared pursuant
to Section 12460 and any statements prepared under "Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles."
   (c) The Controller may also publish a condensed summary of the
annual report.
   (d) The reports required by this article shall be published in an
electronic format or printed, as determined by the Controller. The
Controller shall make printed copies of the reports available upon
request, to the extent feasible, and may charge a reasonable fee for
printed copies of the reports, including the shipping or mailing
thereof, not to exceed the costs of providing those copies.
   (e) The Controller shall post on the Internet Web site of the
Controller copies of the state's annual financial reports and any
annual financial report supplements that are prepared, to the extent
feasible. The Controller may deem the reporting requirements of this
section satisfied each year upon completion of the budgetary-legal
basis annual report and comprehensive annual financial report
described in Section 12460.
  SEC. 4.  Section 13344 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   13344.  (a) State agencies shall prepare and maintain financial
and accounting data for inclusion in the Governor's Budget, Budget
Act and related documents, and the budgetary-legal basis annual
report described in Section 12460, according to the methods and bases
provided in regulations, budget letters, and other directives of the
Department of Finance. The adoption, amendment, or repeal of these
regulations, budget letters, or other directives consistent with this
section are exempted from the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2). The Department of Finance
shall consult with the Controller concerning significant changes to
these financial and accounting methods, unless those changes are
otherwise specified in law. The Department of Finance shall implement
procedures, consistent with this section, that facilitate annual
reconciliations of General Fund and special fund balances between
those provided by a state agency to the Department of Finance and to
the Controller. In the Governor's Budget documents, appendices
thereof, or other directives, the Department of Finance shall ensure
that adjustments of prior-year fund balances and accounting methods
are clearly noted in some fashion in order to ensure the closest
possible comparability of these documents with past and future
budgetary-legal basis annual reports.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "state agency" means every state
office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and
commission.
  SEC. 5.  The sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Finance for
purposes of implementing this bill.
  SEC. 6.  This act is a bill providing for appropriations related to
the Budget Bill within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 12
of Article IV of the California Constitution, has been identified as
related to the budget in the Budget Bill, and shall take effect
immediately.