Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

16 hours ago

S&P 500, Nasdaq Near Record Highs as Rate-Cut Bets Creep Up

22 hours ago

Bobby Sherman, Easygoing Teen Idol of the 1960s and ’70s, Dies at 81

22 hours ago

Cargo Ship That Caught Fire Carrying Electric Vehicles Sinks in the Pacific

22 hours ago

US Supreme Court Backs South Carolina Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

22 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

2 days ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

2 days ago

Fresno Residents Join Nationwide Fast to Call Attention to Gaza Crisis

2 days ago

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

3 days ago
Walters: How Budget 'Trailer Bills' Are Misused
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 6 years ago on
April 17, 2019

Share

In the jargon of the Capitol, “trailer bills” are measures that accompany the annual state budget – in theory making the changes of law necessary to implement the budget’s fiscal policies.


Opinion
Dan Walters
CALmatters Commentary

Because trailer bills are considered part of the budget, they can be enacted with simple majority legislative votes and take effect immediately upon being signed by the governor.
In practice, they serve another, much different function – to sneakily do things that might otherwise be difficult to do if they were fully exposed in advance to the public.
Because trailer bills are considered part of the budget, they can be enacted with simple majority legislative votes and take effect immediately upon being signed by the governor, thus protecting them from being challenged via the referendum process that would give voters the final word.
The blatant misuse of trailer bills, making them into political Christmas trees festooned with ornamental favors to interest groups, finally sparked a ballot measure that requires them to be in print for 72 hours before final passage votes. But that has only slowed their misuse, not prevented it.

The Diversion Sparked a Lawsuit From Consumer Advocacy Groups

A case in point is Senate Bill 861, which whipped through the Legislature in a few days last August. It was an attempt to legalize a $331 million diversion of funds away from distressed homeowners after the diversion was declared illegal by the courts.
In 2012, the federal government and 49 states, including California, settled a massive suit against the nation’s five largest home mortgage servicers, alleging mishandling of home loans that contributed to the nationwide financial crisis a few years earlier.
California received $410 million, most of which was supposed to be used to relieve the financial impacts on homeowners.
However, Jerry Brown had just become governor when the cash arrived in Sacramento and he was coping with a massive budget deficit that resulted from the financial crisis. So one of the steps he and the Legislature took to balance the general fund budget was to divert $331 million from the settlement into repaying existing housing bonds and offsetting some expenditures in the Department of Justice.
The diversion sparked a lawsuit from consumer advocacy groups, alleging that the money was not being used as intended and ever since it’s been winding slowly through the courts with the state consistently losing.

Newsom Use the Money as Intended

SB 861, drafted and passed while the dispute was before the state Supreme Court, was an effort by Brown and legislators to stop their losing streak. It would, essentially, declare that the diversion was legal. However, it just generated another judicial slap-down.

Jerry Brown’s name is no longer on the lawsuit because he’s been succeeded by Gavin Newsom, who’s now the defendant and was ordered by the appellate court “to retransfer from the General Fund to the National Mortgage Settlement Deposit Fund the sum of $331,044,084.”
Early this month, three justices of the Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that the legislation still doesn’t make the diversion legal and ordered the state to use the $331 million for its intended purposes.
Jerry Brown’s name is no longer on the lawsuit because he’s been succeeded by Gavin Newsom, who’s now the defendant and was ordered by the appellate court “to retransfer from the General Fund to the National Mortgage Settlement Deposit Fund the sum of $331,044,084.”
Newsom could appeal to the state Supreme Court, but likely would lose. An appeal, asking legal permission for the state to stiff consumers, would also be bad political optics.
The lessons Newsom should take from this case are to use the money as intended, to help distressed homeowners, not underwrite the state budget, and stop misusing budget trailer bills. But don’t count on that outcome. New trailers are already being drafted for the new budget cycle.
CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

DON'T MISS

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

UP NEXT

Things Netanyahu Might Say if Injected With Truth Serum

UP NEXT

California Politicians Ignore Ag’s Troubles, but Boost Movie Business

UP NEXT

Trump’s Courageous and Correct Decision to Bomb Iran

UP NEXT

How the Attacks on Iran Are Part of a Much Bigger Global Struggle

UP NEXT

Groceries Are Now a Luxury. So Is Breathing.

UP NEXT

California Politicians Agree on School Money, but Poor Test Scores Need Attention

UP NEXT

Sen. Alex Padilla: This Is How an Administration Acts When It’s Afraid

UP NEXT

Bay Area Transit Systems Want More Money. But Their Payrolls Soared as Ridership Declined

UP NEXT

History Suggests the GOP Will Pay a Political Price for Its Immigration Tactics in California

UP NEXT

Only Nonviolence Will Beat Trump

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

14 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

15 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

16 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

16 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

16 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

17 hours ago

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

17 hours ago

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

17 hours ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

18 hours ago

New Data Clarifies a Lingering Question on 2024 Turnout

18 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

WASHINGTON – Hawaiian Airlines said on Thursday that some of its IT systems were disrupted by a hack, adding its flights were operatin...

13 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines airplanes on the runway at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. April 28, 2020.
13 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

A view of Harvard campus on John F. Kennedy Street at Harvard University is pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., December 7, 2023. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

A convicted felon was arrested in Fresno County after investigators found a rifle, handgun, and ammunition while serving a search warrant. (Fresno PD)
14 hours ago

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

14 hours ago

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

American_Flag_Bitcoin_1280x720
15 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

Journalist Bill Moyers delivers the keynote speech at the People for the American Way Foundation's Spirit of Liberty dinner in Beverly Hills September 21, 2004. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
16 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

Clovis police are searching for Surinder Pal, 55, an at-risk man last seen in Fresno, after his car was found abandoned. (Clovis PD)
16 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend