Senate Appropriations Committee Records, 1985-2008

Summary

Title:

California State Senate Appropriations Committee Records

Dates:

1985-2008

Creators:

Senate Appropriations Committee

Abstract:

The Senate Appropriations Committee is the most recent Senate committee to oversee bills which appropriate money or result in a substantive expenditure or loss of revenue and which are not referred to the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. The Senate Appropriations Committee records consist of Bill Files, 1985-2008; Hearing Files, 1991-1996, 2001-2007; and Final Reports 2003-2007. Also included are the records of two subcommittees. The records of the Senate Subcommittee on Bonded Indebtedness and Methods of Financing consist of Bill Files, 1987-1996, Hearing Files, 1989-1996; and Subject Files, 1988-1996. The records of the Senate Subcommittee on Fiscal Oversight and Bonded Indebtedness consist of one hearing file from 2007.

Extent:

119 cubic feet

Language:

Languages represented in the collection: English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Senate Appropriations Committee Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Senate Appropriations Committee records consist of Bill Files, 1985-2008; Hearing Files, 1991-1996, 2001-2007; and Final Reports 2003-2007. Also included are the records of two subcommittees. The records of the Senate Subcommittee on Bonded Indebtedness and Methods of Financing consist of Bill Files, 1987-1996, Hearing Files, 1989-1996; and Subject Files, 1988-1996. The records of the Senate Subcommittee on Fiscal Oversight and Bonded Indebtedness consist of one hearing file from 2007.

Each legislative session the Senate Appropriations Committee reviewed a large percentage of the bills introduced in the legislature to determine their fiscal feasibility. The records of the committee document their recommendations for each bill. As a result of the high volume of bills under review each year, the bill files are minimal and contain routine forms and analyses. Similarly, the majority of the hearing files contain primarily vote logs and very little substantive discussion. Subject files from the Subcommittee on Bonded Indebtedness and Methods of Financing contain the most in-depth information on various political issues.

Biographical / historical:

The Senate Appropriations Committee is the most recent Senate committee to oversee bills which appropriate money or result in a substantive expenditure or loss of revenue and which are not referred to the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Additionally, any bill having a digest which, indicates that the bill requires state reimbursement to local agencies or school districts for costs mandated by the state shall be referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

The first committee that had appropriations under its purview was the Senate Finance Committee. Its purpose was to review appropriations bills, including the Budget Bill and claim bill, other bills and concurrent resolutions required to be referred to the committee by Joint Rule 10.5 and any bills described in subdivision (a) of Rule 28.9. In 1985 this committee was abolished. The Senate Appropriations Committee then was formed by Senate Resolution 11, passed on February 15, 1985. Initially, the committee consisted of nine members then increased to twelve members in 1989. In 1992, committee membership increased again to thirteen and in 2007 the committee consisted on seventeen members.

The chairs of the committee from 1985 to 2008 were:

Alquist, Alfred E. (Dem.), 1985-1986

Presley, Robert (Dem.) 1987-1994

Johnston, Patrick (Dem.) 1995-2000

Alpert, Deirdre W. (Dem.) 2001-2004

Migden, Carole (Dem.) 2005-2006

Torlakson, Tom (Dem.) 2007-2008

Acquisition information:

The State Archives received these records in accordance with California Government Code 9080(b) which requires legislative committees to transfer their records to the State Archives when they are no longer needed by the committee.

Accruals:

Further accruals are expected.

Physical location:

California State Archives

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Researchers interested in this committee are advised to check the papers of its Chairs. Committee Chairs often kept materials relating to committee operations among their personal files. For Chair papers available at the California State Archives or other repositories, this information can be found in the committee history.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Government spending
Fiscal policy

Names:

California State Senate Appropriations Committee

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Processed by Michael McNeil

Date Prepared:

© 2011

Date Encoded:

Machine-readable finding aid created by Michael McNeil. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: 1 February 2011.

Restrictions:

While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions will be noted in the record series descriptions.

Terms of access:

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Senate Appropriations Committee Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street

Sacramento, CA 95814, US

Contact:

(916) 653-2246

reference@sos.ca.gov

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