June 13, 2024

Amidst the second significant heat wave in Sacramento in 2024, the temperature of negotiations over the state’s spending plan for the 2024-25 budget also increased this week.

The Legislature’s Joint Budget Plan is now in print, with AB 107 (Gabriel) and SB 107 (Wiener) as the legislative vehicles for the budget bills. Both bills are nearly identical and authored by the chair of the respective budget committee in each house. These bills reflect the Legislature’s response to the Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision budget proposal and represents their priorities for negotiation with the Administration on a final state spending plan.

As reported by CSAC last week, the Legislature will meet the June 15 constitutional deadline to pass the state budget by passing the Joint Legislative Budget Plan via AB 107. The Legislature and the Administration will continue to negotiate the final spending plan ahead of the beginning of the state’s new fiscal year (Monday, July 1) and the Legislature’s adjournment for the summer recess (Wednesday, July 3).

Major events this week:

• Tuesday, June 11—The Assembly Budget Committee heard the first of dozens of anticipated trailer bills to implement the 2024 Budget Act: SB 154 regarding K-14 education finance and SB 167 regarding taxation.  
• Wednesday, June 12—The Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review heard AB 107 (the legislative vehicle for the 2024 Budget Act) and passed AB 107 to the Senate floor.

CSAC legislative advocates appeared before the committee and testified on the numerous Legislative actions that preserve funding for safety net and core programs that counties provide for Californians. CSAC continues to advocate that now is not the time to pull back on the commitment to these programs, but rather to maintain and strengthen our investments. CSAC encouraged the Legislature to hold the line and reject cuts to vital funding for county administered programs and services that vulnerable Californians rely on every day.

Senator Skinner, a current member of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the former chair of the committee, highlighted the Legislature’s proposal to appropriate $1 billion for Round 6 of the Homelessness Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program, which is consistent with CSAC’s advocacy to legislative leadership throughout the year.

Senator Skinner offered the following comments:

“Even with the efforts we’ve made, and they are significant, and they have prevented a good deal of people from becoming homeless, but unfortunately, we still continue to have an increase in the numbers of homeless…. We need to stem the tide of that increase and the HHAP funds will help us do that.”

• Thursday, June 13—The Senate passed AB 107, sending the Legislature’s Joint Budget Plan to the Governor’s desk. This complies with the constitutional requirement for the Legislature to pass a balanced budget by June 15 annually.

What’s next?

Behind the curtain, budget negotiations between the Governor and legislative leadership are ongoing. Specifically, the Administration and the Legislature are reconciling the differences between the Governor’s May Revision budget proposal and the Legislature’s Joint Budget Plan. Although the precise timing is unknown, it is expected that the budget bill (AB 107) will be amended in June (sooner rather than later) with the introduction of a subsequent legislative budget bill (“budget bill junior”) to reflect the compromised spending package for the 2024 Budget Act. At the June 13 Senate Floor Session, the Senate President pro Tempore McGuire noted the final budget package would be considered by the Legislature the week of June 17.

Key events next week:

• Wednesday, June 19—The Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review will convene next week to hear several bills related to the budget, presumably budget trailer bills and possibly a budget bill junior to amend the budget act. The subject matter of the bills agendized to be heard is subject to change prior to the hearing. The agenda and link to watch the hearing is available here.
• It is expected that the respective budget committees will convene additional hearings to continue the work of the budget development process. The timing and content of any additional hearings was not available at the time of this publication on Thursday, June 13.

CSAC will publish a comprehensive budget action bulletin with commentary on the state budget soon after the final spending plan for the 2024 Budget Act is publicized. Past budget action bullets for each major budget development milestone are available on the CSAC website. For questions about specific budget proposals or policy areas, please contact CSAC legislative staff.