California legislators kill the accounts in a secret transcript of tension

In just 24 minutes and without any debateThe most powerful committee in the State Senate last week moved 33 bills from the public look to a secret process that will decide whether the measures live or die.

Two days later his sister Committee in the Assembly move 82 of your bills for less than two minutes To the same secret, uncertain future.

If the story is a guide, between a quarter to a third of these accounts will be killed next month. For most accounts, no one but lobbyists, a handful of capital employees, MPs and Gavin Newmo’s government team will not know exactly why.

So this is on Senate and Assembly budget loan committees, Gatekeepers for bills offering to spend taxpayers money. Committee’s “voltage files” are where hundreds of accounts die quietly every year. The fates of the bills that were moved to the file last week – along with dozens of others, which will be added later – will be declared in one hearing for what is known as the “Tension Day” scheduled for May.

As CalMatters reportedMembers of the legislature almost never vote in public hearing to kill bills by attaching their names to an official vote “No”. For example, of the 2403 bill that died in the two -year session that ended last fall, Only 25 were killed The greater part of the legislators who vote “No”. Instead, the bills tend to die behind the scenes. For public members, it can be incredibly difficult to learn who killed a measure and why.

Budgetary loan file files are the most famous example.

The opaque process thwarts some legislators including a sports member Corey JacksonDemocrat representing the Moreno Valley. He criticize The democratic guide to doing no more to deal with homelessness, inequality and the people who get out of the state.

“The way we treat the budget loan process is an undemocratic process; I believe it’s a corrupt process,” Jackson said.

Policy of decades, any bill that is calculated to cost at least to taxpayers $ 50,000 It is placed on the voltage file. Twice a year – once in May and again in August – Committees announce which bills are moving the bills from “tension” and can pass through the legislature.

Last summerThe committees killed about one -third of the 830 bills that were put in tension. Some of them were controversial.

Republicans were outraged that the Commission did not vote on its bill, which wanted to add new requirements before civil servants could put “sexually violent predators” in communities.

The most important Republican of the Senate, Seni. Brian Jones of San Diego, accused democratic leaders in defense of “predators for families”.

But some Democrats, including Jackson, were also disappointed. Jackson had a tax credit account Dies in the voltage file. Asked last week if he knew who was responsible for killing the bill, Jackson replied, “It’s part of the process. You don’t know in many cases.”

When cost estimates kill California accounts

Other Democrats last summer also accused the Newsom administration of Pouring cost estimates In order to kill healthcare legislation, the governor’s team did not like the voltage process. The Newsom administration insisted that its assessments were accurate.

“Administration is looking forward to dealing with some of the most affordable political challenges with the legislature, but that is, within our budget restrictions,” Christian Beltran, Legislative Director of the Ministry of Finance of Newsom, told the Senate Budget Committee last weekS

Last week, 82 bill that moved to the budgetary loan suspension file included measures for Parking overnight for homeless students., Prices of automatic machines in prisons and Corporate ownership of housingS

In the Senate Commission, measurements of Cases of missing root., Weapon checks and the formation of a California Latin American Commission They were all moved to the voltage file.

Now behind the scenes work begins for lobbyists like Chris Michelli, who advocates for a bill that was moved last week in tension.

“You will have conversations with the staff of the committee and the members of the committee, in particular to the chairman, who is most influential in terms of what bills, you know, stay or go,” said Michelli.

Budget chairs make heavy calls

Former chairmen of budget loan committees – called “approval” in the capitals of Capitol – have told Calmatters that this could be a difficult position.

“I would be angry with people,” said Lorena Gonzalez, a former democratic assembly from San Diego, who is now president of the California Labor Federation. “I would have the policy chairmen (committee) to come to me and they are like,” Oh, I couldn’t kill them. But here are the bills you think you should kill. ” I’m like, you know, “grow a few balls.” ”

Plus, chairs also have to deal with colleagues who accept it personally when their favorite accounts are killed.

Mike Gato, a former chairman of budget loans for a Democratic Assembly from Los Angeles, said he was facing an intense blow by some colleagues. He said a colleague Democrat directed him during a re -election campaign after Gato killed his bill in tension. Another revenge by killing one of Gato’s bills in a different committee.

“My term was to participate in the cost and benefits to the good of the state to make sure we didn’t spend more than we had,” Gato said. “Maybe I took the mandate too seriously or maybe I was not so big with human relations, but in the end I had a number of very upset colleagues.”

Gonzalez said he did not think it was fair to call the magazine process secret. She said that anyone could review the fiscal evaluations of the committee and his analysis and weigh.

But in the end, it is the President that usually has to take the heat.

“” I think everyone is letting a chair be approved with many people upset by them, “she said.

Digital Democracy Transcription Manager Hans Pershman contributed to this story.