The legislative session has begun in earnest and measures are finally being introduced and committees been announced. Given most work in Sacramento is focused on the budget, policy and fiscal committees will probably not start meeting and hearing measures until the end of February. Below are the most relevant committees for the CSU.

Key Senate Committees

Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review
The Budget Committee is the lead fiscal and policy committee dealing with the State budget, including the California State University budget. It is their responsibility to shepherd through the Governor’s initial proposal and come up with a finished product that both houses, both parties and the Governor can agree to. Senator Denise Ducheny (D – San Diego) continues her role as Chair and Senator Robert Dutton (R – San Bernardino) as Vice Chair.

Membership
NOTE: All Senators will be members of the full Budget Committee. However, there will be only three voting members on each of five Subcommittees.

Subcommittee #1: Education
This subcommittee deals with the budget for K-12 and higher education. As with Senator Scott before, the Chair of Education will serve as the Chair for this subcommittee as well.

Membership
Gloria Romero (Chair), Bob Huff, Carol Liu

Senate Committee on Education
This committee focuses on bills relating to education, higher education, and certificated educational personnel throughout the state of California. Legislation that impacts educational institutions non-financially is also heard here. These bills impact K-12, universities, and community colleges across the state. This legislation mainly deals with teacher prep and credentialing, along with the implementation of new programs. The new Chair of the Committee is Senator Gloria Romero, a professor at the CSU system and a member of the California Faculty Association (CFA). She is seeking the Office of State Superintendent of Education, which will be vacated in two years. The Vice Chair, Bob Huff was just elected to the Senate. The Senator grew up in the Imperial Valley on his family’s farm, is a graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, where he earned a degree in psychology. Prior to his coming to Sacramento, most of his professional experience has been in the agricultural industry.

Membership
Gloria Romero (Chair), Bob Huff (Vice Chair), Joe Simitian, Elaine Alquist, Alex Padilla, Loni Hancock, Carol Liu, Mark Wyland and Abel Maldonado. All members are returning to the committee this year except the new Senators just elected last fall – Huff, Hancock and Liu.

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Any legislative measure that would cost the state any money to implement must be referred to this committee. Appropriations has an internal process that places any measure costing more than $150,000 onto their suspense calendar, which is typically taken up just prior to the fiscal committee deadline. This session, as last, the threshold will be $50,000. Because of the scope of their authority and the ability to decide which bills advance off of the suspense file, this committee is an effective leadership tool to stop or alter controversial measures. Senator Christine Kehoe, who is from San Diego and who previously served as the Chair of the Utilities Committee, will now Chair this Committee, along with the Vice-Chair Dave Cox. Mr. Cox represents the Sacramento area and served as the Republican leader of the Assembly previously.

Membership
Christine Kehoe (Chair), Dave Cox (Vice Chair), Leland Yee, Mark DeSaulnier, Ellen Corbett, Mark Leno, Jenny Oropeza, Loni Hancock, Lois Wolk, George Runner, Mark Wyland, Mimi Walters and Jeff Denham

Key Assembly Committees

Assembly Higher Education Committee
The primary jurisdiction of this Committee is the California State University, University of California, the California Community Colleges, private postsecondary education, and student financial aid. Assemblyman Anthony J. Portantino (D – Pasadena) was chosen to serve as the Chair of this committee when he came in as a freshman in 2007. Freshman Assembly Member Connie Conway from Tulare will serve as the Vice Chair of this committee. She comes from local government, having served as a County Supervisor.

Membership
Anthony Portantino (Chair), Connie Conway (Vice Chair), Joel Anderson, Marty Block, Paul Cook, Paul Fong, Cathleen Galgiani, Alyson Huber, Fiona Ma and Ira Ruskin. This committee has six new members this year – Conway, Anderson, Block, Fong, Huber, and Fa.

Assembly Committee on Appropriations
This committee has primary jurisdiction over any bill that has a fiscal impact to the State. As measures are set to be heard by the Committee, they will use an internal process, known as the suspense file, where they temporarily hold any measure costing more than $150,000 until they have heard all eligible measures referred to their Committee. This file is typically taken up just prior to the fiscal committee deadline. Because of the scope of their authority and the ability to decide which bill advances off of the suspense file, this committee is an effective leadership tool to stop or alter controversial measures. Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D – Los Angeles) will serve as the new Chair of the Appropriations Committee, along with a new Vice-Chair, Jim Nielsen. Mr. Nielsen just returned to the legislature last December but served in the State Senate the late 70’s and 80’s and served as the Republican leader.

Membership
Kevin De León (Chair) , Jim Nielsen (Vice Chair), Tom Ammiano, Charles Calderon, Mike Davis, Mike Duvall, Felipe Fuentes, Isadore Hall, Diane Harkey, Dave Jones, Jeff Miller, John A. Pérez, Curren Price, Nancy Skinner, Jose Solorio, Audra Strickland and Tom Torlakson.

Assembly Committee on Budget
The Budget Committee is the lead fiscal and policy committee dealing with the State budget, including the California State University budget. It is their responsibility to shepherd through the Governor’s initial proposal and come up with a finished product that both houses, both parties and the Governor can agree to. Since the Budget is one of the primary responsibilities of the State Legislature, this committee is also considered a leadership committee. Assemblywoman Noreen Evans will serve as the new Chair for the Budget committee. Ms. Evans was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2004, representing the people of Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Roger Niello from Sacramento will continue to serve as the Vice-Chair.

Membership
Noreen Evans (Chair), Roger Niello (Vice Chair), Anthony Adams, Juan Arambula, Jim Beall, Jr., Bill Berryhill, Bob Blumenfield, Julia Brownley, Anna Caballero, Wilmer Carter, Wesley Chesbro, Paul Cook, Hector De La Torre, Bill Emmerson, Mike Feuer, Jean Fuller, Danny Gilmore, Diane Harkey, Ed Hernandez, Jerry Hill, Jared Huffman, Kevin Jeffries, Bill Monning, Brian Nestande, Ira Ruskin, Jim Silva and Sandré Swanson

Budget Subcommittee #2 – Education Finance
This subcommittee, which deals with the budget of the CSU along with the remaining higher education segments and K-12, will be chaired by Wilmer Amina Carter from San Bernardino. Ms. Carter had previously served on the Rialto Unified School District Board for sixteen years. She was also a staff member to the late Congressman George Brown for 23 years; during that time, she served as District Director. Finally, she served as a government affairs liaison for California State University, San Bernardino.

Membership
Wilmer Carter (Chair), Bill Berryhill, Julia Brownley, Wesley Chesbro, Jean Fuller, Sandré Swanson.