As we reported
last week, Friday, May 17 is the deadline for the Senate
Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Appropriations
Committee (collectively referred to as “the fiscal committees”)
to hear and report bills with fiscal impacts to the floor of that
house (Senate or Assembly) for a vote of the full house.
Due to cost concerns, particularly during deficit years, many
bills are held in fiscal committees by being set aside in the
“suspense file.” Alternatively, fiscal bills may be significantly
amended by a fiscal committee to reduce cost impacts without the
consent of the bill’s author.
Today, both fiscal committees convened vote-only “suspense
hearings” to hear the bills on the suspense file and pass bills
out of the committee and onto the floor. While the “suspense
file” hearing process is designed to comprehensively consider the
costs of all bills that meet a certain threshold of fiscal impact
to the state, it’s also widely viewed as a tool for the
Legislature to prioritize its proposals and winnow the long list
of bills each house must consider on the floor prior to the house
of origin deadline on May 24.
Collectively, the fiscal committees considered 1,009 bills
referred to the suspense file. Any fiscal bill not passed
out of a fiscal committee by the deadline is considered “dead”
unless it receives a rule waiver allowing for further
consideration.
In advance of these hearings, CSAC engaged in conversations with
committee staff and members and submitted letters urging the
committees to consider every bill through the lens of its unique
impacts on California’s local governments. This year, more than
ever, there is truth to the time-honored Sacramento adage that
“this year’s bills are next year’s budget.”
