Columnist Says Calif. Budget Process Reverting to Secrecy
Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters argues that in recent years the annual budget process "has been reverting to secrecy, with major policy decrees, including those totally unrelated to the budget, being drafted in the dead of night and enacted without any public exposure." He writes, "This year, the Legislature is taking even more steps down the path to secret government by abolishing the traditional 'conference committee' that goes through the budget line by line in public, and by increasing the number of so-called 'trailer bills,' many of which contain token $1,000 appropriations, but have no real budget connection."
- "Dan Walters: California Budget Process Has Reverted To Secrecy" (Walters, Sacramento Bee, 6/11).