Penalties Could Affect State Budgets

More than 30 state departments and agencies could see their budgets languish and their administrative spending slashed by 10% under a pair of proposals expected to be considered today by a powerful legislative committee.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), who heads the Assembly Budget Committee, said any department or agency with reports that are past due to the Legislature will have its budgets held up from consideration under a rule that he expects to be adopted today. He said he also plans to introduce a motion that would slash by 10% the administrative budgets of the same agencies and departments.

An estimated 32 departments or agencies have about 66 reports overdue. Offenders, according to data supplied by Cardenas’ office, include the Department of Transportation, which owes the Legislature at least three reports, and the Department of Information Technology, which has five overdue.

Some department officials, Cardenas said, have told him they submitted their reports to Gov. Gray Davis’ office, which has yet to forward them to the Legislature. In other cases, he added, the reports are simply late.

Cardenas said the reports are crucial in guiding lawmakers as they craft the upcoming budget, because the documents allow them to gauge the success or failure of past funding decisions.

“It’s a matter of responsibility on both sides,” Cardenas said. “The Legislature needs to take its responsibility seriously when it comes to oversight, and the departments and agencies need to take the Legislature seriously when we ask for something.”

“Those reports are in the final stages and will be submitted to the Legislature shortly,” said Dennis Trujillo, a Caltrans spokesman.

Cardenas said that he and Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) began discussing the penalty idea last year and that he warned the departments in February during the Assembly Budget Committee’s first hearing.

Exceptions to the rule, which would prohibit the Assembly’s budget subcommittees from considering or passing budgets of department or agencies with past due reports, will be made in cases where health care or public safety, among other issues, are at stake.

In most cases, the agencies and departments will need to submit the tardy reports to have their funding restored and their budgets passed.

The proposals received a mixed response from Davis’ Finance Department.

“We certainly believe the departments ought to be complying with deadlines for reports,” spokesman Sandy Harrison said. “But if they’re having difficulty finding the time and people to get the reports in it might be counterproductive to cut their budgets.”