Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: State Legislature Passes Sham Budget So Members Can Get Paid
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 3 years ago on
June 16, 2021

Share

The Legislature’s Democratic supermajority put on something of a show Monday as they pretended to pass a new state budget.

There were floor speeches, formal roll call votes and a deluge of self-congratulatory statements after the day’s activities.

Dan Walters

Opinion

‘Fake Budget’ Still Needs to Settle 10% of Disagreements

“The budget we’re sending to Governor Newsom reflects responsible budgeting as the Legislature’s top priority and makes vital investments in California’s future,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins said in a post-session statement.

However, it was just a sham driven by the state constitution’s requirement that legislators pass a budget by June 15 or see their salaries suspended.

Republican Sen. James Nielsen captured the situation when he said, “This is a fake budget. It’s a feel-good budget. It’s a let-us-get-paid budget. But what we’re voting on is not going to be the budget.”

It’s not going to be the budget because Rendon and Atkins still must settle disagreements with Gov. Gavin Newsom, not only on how much to spend but even how much revenue they have to spend.

The two budgets are perhaps 90% in agreement but in a spending plan that tops $200 billion, 10% is still a lot of money.

Change in Practice of How Budgets Are Drafted

Monday’s charade caps decades of political wrangling over how state budgets should be drafted.

Until the early 1970s, budgets were typically written in secret by a few legislators and the governor’s office but that practice ended when one legislator, facing a tough re-election campaign, loaded up a budget with pork barrel projects for his district.

The legislator was stripped of his position, his budget was set aside and new, seemingly more transparent, procedures were adopted. Eventually, however, the process drifted back into secret negotiations between the governor and a “Big 5” of legislative leaders that included Republicans because the budget required two-thirds votes for enactment.

A decade ago, the Big 5 became the Big 3, excluding Republicans, after voters approved a 2010 ballot measure, largely sponsored by public employee unions, that reduced the vote needed to pass a budget to a simple majority.

Suspension of Salaries Rush Unfinished Budgets

Proposition 25’s sponsors cited months-long delays in passing budgets during Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governorship as a rationale and included the threat of legislators’ losing their salaries to make it more attractive to voters.

The revised system had its first test in 2011, the first year of Jerry Brown’s second governorship. The Legislature sent a budget to Brown and he vetoed it, declaring it to be unconstitutionally unbalanced.

Then-Controller John Chiang backed Brown by suspending legislators’ salaries. The Legislature sued and won a judicial declaration that only the Legislature itself could determine whether the June 15 deadline had been met.

Legislators were thus empowered to pass what they deemed to be a budget bill by June 15, even though — as is happening this year — it may not be a finished product.

Misuse of ‘Trailer Bills’

Proposition 25 contained another piece of procedural mischief, allowing any bill the Legislature declared to be connected to the budget to also be enacted with simple majority votes. Thus, budget “trailer bills” often became vehicles for major changes in state policy without full committee hearings and other traditional exposure.

The misuse of trailer bills sparked another ballot measure in 2016, Proposition 54, requiring that bills be in print — and available for public viewing — for at least 72 hours before enactment. It didn’t stop the procedural abuses, but at least made them more obvious.

Newsom and legislators will eventually settle their differences, but the complete budget picture will not emerge for weeks and even months as trailer bills and budget modification measures dribble out of the Capitol.

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.
[activecampaign form=31]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Newsom, Legislators Opt for Gimmicks and Wishful Thinking to Close California’s Budget Deficit

DON'T MISS

Courage to Embrace Change: El Rio Reyes Conservation Trust Boldly Rebrands as Kings River Land Trust

DON'T MISS

Committed to Politics or Committed to Fresno’s Children?

DON'T MISS

Repealing Prop. 47 is a Misguided Battle Cry. It Won’t Make California Safer.

DON'T MISS

Misty Her Might Be Best Superintendent Candidate. But Fresno Unified Still Needs a Statewide Search.

DON'T MISS

How California’s Prized Solution for Methane Gas Is Backfiring on Farmers

DON'T MISS

Many Californians Rely on This Farmers Market Program. Newsom Wants to Cut It

DON'T MISS

Carbon Capture Storage Is Key to California’s Economy & Energy Future

DON'T MISS

Shady Business Owners Can Hide Behind LLCs. CA Should Make Their Identities Public.

DON'T MISS

SLO Moves to End Gerrymandering, Yet Much of California Still Lets Politicians Draw Voting Maps

No data was found

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

16 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

16 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

17 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

17 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

17 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

18 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

18 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

18 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

19 hours ago

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

20 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

Carmi, an incredible 1-year-old kitten mama, can be very gentle but can also get overstimulated and give love bites. Even her warm, honey-co...
Animals /

3 hours ago

Animals /
3 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

10 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
15 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

16 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

16 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

17 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

17 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

17 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend