Chris Micheli

Does a "Continuous Appropriation” Violate the Principle that One Legislature Cannot Bind a Future One?  By Chris Micheli             According to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, a continuous appropriation is defined as the “amount available each year under a permanent constitutional or statutory expenditure authorization. A continuous appropriation is not dependent on passage of the budget.” Similarly, the California Department of Finance glossary of terms includes two definitions of the term, continuous appropriation: The first definition is “an appropriation for a set amount that is available for more than one year.” The second definition is “constitutional or statutory expenditure authorization that is renewed each year without further legislative action. The amount available may be a specific, recurring sum each year; all or a specified portion of the proceeds of specified revenues that have been dedica...

Citing Statutes and Court Decisions in California Legislation  By Chris Micheli             On occasion, bills in the California Legislature must cite statutes or court decisions and there are rules that the Office of Legislative Counsel follows in drafting legislation. Examples of each type of citation include the following: How California legislation cites federal statutes in bills:   “Statewide voter database” means the statewide voter registration database developed in compliance with the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 20901 et seq.).             Legislative Counsel generally places the word “federal” in front of the name of the federal act being cited, followed by the citation to the federal statute. U.S.C. stands for United States Code, which contains all of the codes in which federal statutes are found. They a...

California’s Constitutional Officers  By Chris Micheli There are a number of political institutions in the State of California, from the obvious political parties to state entities governing how elections are conducted in this state. California’s constitutional officers (i.e., those elected to statewide office) besides the governor are also important political institutions. In addition to the Governor, California has eight other constitutional offices, including two offices that are normally appointees of a governor in most other states: Superintendent of Public Instruction and Insurance Commissioner. Note that, even though there are four members of the Board of Equalization, they are described here as one statewide office. Lt. Governor The Lt. Governor has a largely ceremonial role in this state. He or she runs separately (i.e., the Lt. Governor is not on the same ticket as the governor, as opposed to how the President and Vice President of the United States are elected jo...

California State Budget Lingo   By Chris Micheli Now that California’s budget session is in full swing, a brief review of key terminology is warranted. The phrases that readers should be familiar with are defined by the Office of Legislative Counsel and the Department of Finance on their respective websites. The following are some of the key budget terms: A-Pages – This is the term often used to refer to the Governor's Budget Summary, which are the Governor’s Budget highlights. Appropriation – An appropriation is an amount of money and authorization for a specific agency to make expenditures for a specified purpose.                            Appropriation Schedule – This is the detail of an appropriation showing where appropriations are made to each of program. Appropriations Limit (“Gann Limit”) – The constitutional limitation on the maximum amount of tax proceeds that stat...

California’s First Codes  By Chris Micheli             California’s first constitution was adopted in 1849 after the Constitutional Convention of 1849. That first state constitution was actually published in both English and Spanish. Thereafter, a second constitutional convention was held in 1878-79 and resulted in California’s second constitution, which was adopted in 1879. That second constitution remains in place today.             During the 1872 Session of the California Legislature, there were four original codes that were adopted and which contained state statutes. In fact, today’s Civil Code contains several provisions under the heading, “Effect of the 1872 Codes.” This heading was added in 1951 by Chapter 655. The original four codes from 1872 were: the Political Code (which no longer exists), Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, and Penal Code.   ...

Determining the Validity of Regulations Under the APA  By Chris Micheli             The judicial branch in California has the ultimate say over the validity of regulations that are promulgated by the executive branch’s agencies. How do state courts consider the validity of regulations?             As an initial matter, in assessing the validity of an administrative rule, the court’s task is to inquire into the legality of the challenged regulation, not its wisdom. In reviewing the legality of a regulation or policy adopted pursuant to a delegation of legislative power, courts are limited to determining whether it is within the scope of authority conferred on the agency and is reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute. San Diego Nursery Company v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 128 The task of a court considering the valid...

Determining Whether Agency Action Is a Regulation  By Chris Micheli             California’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA) sets forth the process for executive branch administrative agencies to promulgate regulations. These formal actions can add, amend or repeal regulations that are contained in the Code of California Regulations. As a threshold matter, one needs to determine whether the proposed action by a state rulemaking body is actually a regulation.             So, what is a “regulation” for purposes of the APA? According to Government Code Section 11342.600, “r egulation” means every rule, regulation, order, or standard of general application or the amendment, supplement, or revision of any rule, regulation, order, or standard adopted by any state agency to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by it, or to govern its proce...