Carpi & Clay -   2011 Legislative Session – The 2011 legislative session ended this year on September 9th (as typical, the two legislative houses heard bills well after midnight) and isn’t scheduled to return until early January. The Governor has until October 9th, 2011 to either sign or veto legislation that passed during the final two weeks of the legislative session. Just a couple of quick highlights for the 2011 legislative session;
- Roughly 2400 regular session bills were introduced between the Assembly and the Senate
- Approximately 600 bills are left pending before the Governor

Budget – Yes, the budget was passed back in mid-summer, but the ramifications of the over-all dealing are still lingering. The largest component of the Governor’s realignment proposal, shifting low-level offenders from State prisons to local jails, will be beginning October 1st, and of course, the revenues passed along with the program from the State are not sufficient to cover all local costs. Additionally, as reported in the news, the rosy revenue projects adopted with the final budget package have not been coming to fruition- this means that the trigger cuts incorporated into the final budget deal will more than likely be triggered. The legislature had passed in the final week of the legislative session a modification to the budget package/trigger cuts, requiring the Governor to notify the legislature before any trigger cuts are enacted. Concerns were raised by the State Treasurer with this legislation because it complicated the pending fall bond sale – the Treasurer had to go back and amend the bond prospectus to disclose the possiblity of changes being made to the trigger cuts (one of the few aspects of the summer budget deal that the bond rating agencies/Wall Street/Investors liked). Much like the first budget proposal passed by the Legislature in early summer, the Governor did not waste time and immediately vetoed the proposal to change the trigger cuts. Ultimately, it is very likely that the Legislature will return from the fall break early in order to re-look at the budget and try and avert some of the larger trigger cuts to education. Finally, we anticipate at least three lawsuits to be filed against the budget deal (redevelopment, shifting of city funding to counties for prisoner realignment, and education reductions likely to occur due to trigger cuts later this fall). So in conclusion, not only is the Governor/Legislature facing revenue short-falls due to unrealistic budget projections, but the likelihood of additional funding being taken off the table due to litigation is likely as well – as always, fun times in Sacramento as it relates to the State budget.