State of emergency: Governor's powers and annual report.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature, in enacting the CESA, to provide flexibility for the administration to respond to emergencies, but not an alternative legislative, budget, or regulatory process. The bill would further state that, to the greatest extent possible, additional spending should be undertaken through the Legislature's budget and policy process, as defined, and changes to law or regulation should be undertaken through state legislation.

This bill would further require the Governor, in cases where the Governor orders the suspension or modification of existing statutes or regulations, including the state Budget Act, or promulgates new statutes or regulations, to demonstrate in each order the need for those suspensions, modifications, or promulgations and specify the general reasons why the Legislature's budget and policy processes are insufficient to address these needs.

The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1 of each year thereafter, to prepare and submit a prescribed annual report to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst's Office consisting of a review of all open state of emergency proclamations.

Existing law establishes the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Moneys in the account are continuously appropriated, subject to specified limitations, for allocation by the Director of Finance to state agencies for disaster response operation costs incurred by state agencies as a result of a state of emergency proclamation by the Governor. Existing law requires funds to be allocated from the account subject to certain conditions and upon notification by the Director of Finance to the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees in each house.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting existing law to provide flexibility for the administration in response to unanticipated emergency expenses. The bill would further state that existing law does not provide an alternative budget process, and proposals for additional spending ordinarily should be considered in the annual state budget or other state legislation to the greatest extent possible, as specified. The bill would require notification by the Director of Finance to include certain information, including a description of the entities that will receive funding allocations from the account.