The California Senate Wednesday approved two measures that sponsors say will rationalize the state’s budget process.
One bill would require the governor to submit two-year spending plans, beginning next year. It would also require the governor to project revenues and expenditures five years in advance and to estimate the long-term impacts that a proposed budget has on the state’s economy.
The other bill would provide a statutory framework for the implementation of performance-based budgeting and for a systematic program performance review by the Legislature.
“State government needs to look beyond the immediate budget year and do long-term fiscal planning,” Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, Democratic sponsor of the two bills, said in a statement.
“Additionally, funding should be based on the performance of the work, not on ability to spend,” he said. “The status quo just does not work.”
