This week, both the State Senate and Assembly reconvened after summer recess with massive Appropriations Committees Hearings.  Both Appropriations Committees slogged through large agendas and heard hundreds of bills: 181 in the Assembly, and 251 in the Senate.  Since bills are now in the second house, the Assembly was hearing Senate bills and the Senate was hearing Assembly bills. 

Many bills were sent to each Committee’s “Suspense File.”  Although these bills were heard and testimony was taken, no vote occurred due to the expense incurred by the policy changes outlined in the bill.  Instead, these bills will be weighed against each other and balanced against available Budget funds or other revenue mechanisms to determine which bills will move forward.  Arguably, this decision is based upon the best use of available funds, but most often is a political mechanism to stymie the forward progress of controversial bills.

RCRC-supported issues taken up and moved forward in the process included two measures on timber harvest plan (THP) expansions, AB 1867 (Patterson, R-Fresno), and AB 2142 (Chesbro, D-Arcata); while many key items including home-to-school transportation, SB 1137 (Torres, D-Pomona) and concurrent enrollment, AB 1451 (Holden, D-Pasadena) were forwarded to the Suspense File.  Additionally, RCRC-opposed measure AB 2311 (Bradford, D-Gardena), which would mandate ongoing county General Assistance payments to all Veterans, was also forwarded to the Suspense File. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet on Monday, August 11, 2014 to hear the remaining fiscal bills, and will take up their Suspense File on Thursday, August 14, 2014.  The Assembly Appropriations Committee will continue with their regular calendar on Wednesday, August 13, 2014, and will hold their Suspense File Hearing on the Thursday, August14, 2014.

For additional information regarding the Appropriations Committee process or individual pieces of legislation, please contact the RCRC Governmental Affairs staff at (916) 447-4806.