Senate Heightens Scrutiny

California’s tough budget situation will require more spending bills to undergo additional scrutiny in the Senate, leaders of the upper chamber announced Monday.

The Senate Appropriation Committee announced that all bills with a general fund cost of $50,000 or more will go to the suspense file.

The suspense file is where spending bills are held during the session to prioritize them. The file limit is usually set at $150,000 but the threshold was lowered in light of the state’s large budget deficit, according to Appropriations Committee chairman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch.

“In light of our current budget predicament, it will be extremely difficult to justify any additional spending,” he said in a statement. “Bringing even very small spending proposals into the suspense process will allow us a chance to give them an extra measure of review.”

The deadline for bills to move out of the committee is May 23.

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