Why Do California Bills Contain Reimbursement Disclaimers That Can Be Ignored?
Why Do California Bills Contain Reimbursement Disclaimers That Can Be Ignored? By Chris Micheli A common provision that readers may notice while reading a California bill is that, at the end of the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, there are four “Digest Keys,” which identify the vote required for passage of the bill, whether the bill contains an appropriation, whether the bill will be re-referred to a fiscal committee, and whether the bill contains a mandated local program. This last bill key will appear as either “ Local Program: no” or “Local Program: yes.” To begin, what is a mandated local program? Both the California Constitution and the California Government Code describe in detail a state-mandated local program. As a result of these laws, a California bill is identified as mandating or not mandating a local program that may require rei...