Bill Text: CA SCA1 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State budget.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-01-29 - To Coms. on RLS. and E., R. & C.A. [SCA1 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SCA1-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SCA 1 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Walters
DECEMBER 1, 2008
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 9
of Article II thereof, and by amending Sections 8 and 12 of Article
IV thereof, relating to the state budget.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 1, as introduced, Walters. State budget.
(1) Existing constitutional provisions require each house of the
Legislature to pass a bill appropriating money from the General Fund,
except appropriations for the public schools, by a 2/3 vote.
This measure would provide, as an exception to this vote
requirement, that if the total amount of General Fund appropriations
in a Budget Bill, as defined, for the ensuing fiscal year combined
with all other General Fund appropriations for that fiscal year on
the date of passage does not exceed by 5% or more the amount of
General Fund appropriations for the immediately preceding fiscal
year, as determined by the Department of Finance, the Budget Bill may
be passed by a majority vote.
(2) Existing constitutional provisions provide that a statute
takes immediate effect upon enactment if the statute calls for an
election, provides for a tax levy or makes an appropriation for the
usual and current expenses of the state, or is an urgency statute.
The California Constitution exempts these statutes from the
referendum, which is the power of the electors to approve or reject
statutes or parts of statutes.
This measure would provide that statutes enacting a Budget Bill
meeting the condition set forth in (1) above also take effect
immediately, and are not subject to referendum.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2009-10 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2008, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Section 9 of Article II thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 9. (a) The referendum is the power of the electors to
approve or reject statutes or parts of statutes except urgency
statutes, statutes calling elections, statutes enacting budget
bills meeting the condition set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(d) of Section 12 of Article IV, and statutes providing for
tax levies or appropriations for usual current expenses of the State.
(b) A referendum measure may be proposed by presenting to the
Secretary of State, within 90 days after the enactment date of the
statute, a petition certified to have been signed by electors equal
in number to 5 percent of the votes for all candidates for Governor
at the last gubernatorial election, asking that the statute or part
of it be submitted to the electors. In the case of a statute enacted
by a bill passed by the Legislature on or before the date the
Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in the second
calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session, and in the
possession of the Governor after that date, the petition may not be
presented on or after January 1 next following the enactment date
unless a copy of the petition is submitted to the Attorney General
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II
before January 1.
(c) The Secretary of State shall then submit the measure at the
next general election held at least 31 days after it qualifies or at
a special statewide election held prior to that general election. The
Governor may call a special statewide election for the measure.
Second-- That Section 8 of Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 8. (a) At regular sessions no bill other than the budget
bill may be heard or acted on by committee or either house until the
31st day after the bill is introduced unless the house dispenses with
this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the journal,
three fourths three-fourths of the membership
concurring.
(b) The Legislature may make no law except by statute and may
enact no statute except by bill. No bill may be passed unless it is
read by title on 3 three days in each
house except that the house may dispense with this requirement by
rollcall vote entered in the journal, two thirds
two-thirds of the membership concurring. No bill may be
passed until the bill with amendments has been printed and
distributed to the members Members . No
bill may be passed unless, by rollcall vote entered in the journal,
a majority of the membership of each house concurs.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of
this subdivision , a statute enacted at a regular session
shall go into effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from
the date of enactment of the statute and a statute enacted at a
special session shall go into effect on the 91st day after
adjournment of the special session at which the bill was passed.
(2) A statute, other than a statute establishing or changing
boundaries of any legislative, congressional, or other election
district, enacted by a bill passed by the Legislature on or before
the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in
the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session,
and in the possession of the Governor after that date, shall go into
effect on January 1 next following the enactment date of the statute
unless, before January 1, a copy of a referendum petition affecting
the statute is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 10 of Article II, in which event the
statute shall go into effect on the 91st day after the enactment date
unless the petition has been presented to the Secretary of State
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9 of Article II.
(3) Statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies
or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State,
statutes enacting budget bills meeting the condition set forth in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 12, and urgency
statutes shall go into effect immediately upon their enactment.
(d) Urgency statutes are those necessary for immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. A statement of
facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of
the bill. In each house the section and the bill shall be passed
separately, each by rollcall vote entered in the journal,
two thirds two-thirds of the membership
concurring. An urgency statute may not create or abolish any office
or change the salary, term, or duties of any office, or grant any
franchise or special privilege, or create any vested right or
interest.
Third-- That Section 12 of Article IV thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 12. (a) Within the first 10 days of each calendar year,
the Governor shall submit to the Legislature, with an explanatory
message, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year containing itemized
statements for recommended state expenditures and estimated state
revenues. If recommended expenditures exceed estimated revenues, the
Governor shall recommend the sources from which the additional
revenues should be provided.
(b) The Governor and the Governor-elect may require a state
agency, officer, or employee to furnish whatever information is
deemed necessary to prepare the budget.
(c) (1) The budget shall be accompanied by a budget bill itemizing
recommended expenditures.
(2) The budget bill shall be introduced immediately in each house
by the persons chairing the committees that consider the budget.
(3) The Legislature shall pass the budget bill by midnight on June
15 of each year.
(4) Until the budget bill has been enacted, the Legislature shall
not send to the Governor for consideration any bill appropriating
funds for expenditure during the fiscal year for which the budget
bill is to be enacted, except emergency bills recommended by the
Governor or appropriations for the salaries and expenses of the
Legislature.
(d) (1) No bill except the budget bill may
contain more than one item of appropriation, and that for one
certain, expressed purpose. Appropriations
Except as provided by paragraph (2), appropriations
from the General Fund of the State, except appropriations for the
public schools, are void unless passed in each house by rollcall vote
entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring.
(2) If the total amount of General Fund appropriations made in a
budget bill for a fiscal year, when combined with all appropriations
from the General Fund for that fiscal year as of the date of the
budget bill's passage, does not exceed by 5 percent or more the total
amount of General Fund appropriations made as of that date for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, as determined by the Department of
Finance, the budget bill may be passed in each house by rollcall
vote entered in the journal, a majority of the membership concurring.
For purposes of this section, Section 8, and Section 9 of Article
II, a "budget bill" is a bill that makes appropriations for the
support of the government of the State for an entire fiscal year.
(e) The Legislature may control the submission, approval, and
enforcement of budgets and the filing of claims for all state
agencies.
(f) For the 2004-05 fiscal year, or any subsequent fiscal year,
the Legislature may not send to the Governor for consideration, nor
may the Governor sign into law, a budget bill that would appropriate
from the General Fund, for that fiscal year, a total amount that,
when combined with all appropriations from the General Fund for that
fiscal year made as of the date of the budget bill's passage, and the
amount of any General Fund moneys transferred to the Budget
Stabilization Account for that fiscal year pursuant to Section 20 of
Article XVI, exceeds General Fund revenues for that fiscal year
estimated as of the date of the budget bill's passage. That estimate
of General Fund revenues shall be set forth in the budget bill passed
by the Legislature.
