The Leading Role of the Governor in the Executive Branch
In theory, the plural executive diminishes the governor’s power because the other offices are accountable to the people rather than dependent on the governor for their appointments. In practice, the agenda-setting role of the executive remains almost entirely with the governor. Another executive officeholder will rarely step out from the governor’s shadow.
As with the U.S. President, the governor campaigns for office on a platform of promises. The governor is the de facto political head of their state party. When the governor’s party holds the majorities in the State Assembly and State Senate, the governor exercises much sway over legislation. Lawmakers will introduce and prioritize the governor’s agenda. If the legislature is recalcitrant, governors may use the initiative and referendum mechanisms of direct democracy to change policy, organizing petition drives and advertising campaigns for various economic and social causes.
The state budget is the governor’s most powerful tool to set the agenda. The budget details all the revenues and expenditures of the government, revealing the priorities of the state government and, by inference, of the California people (or at least the party coalition that supports the governor). The governor organizes his fiscal priorities for each government agency as a single budgetary document compiled by the Department of Finance. The governor submits the proposed budget to the state legislature by January 10, which must approve it by June 15 in time for the beginning of the fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Revenue sources are many. The state of California is most dependent on income and sales taxes. Consequently, in a recession, receipts abruptly fall, causing great difficulty. Governor Brown enlarged the rainy-day fund to $20 billion to address sudden downturns in income. On the expenditure side, the largest expenditure is for education. California voters passed Proposition 98 in 1988, which established minimum funding levels for K-14 education, including that it must receive approximately 40% of general fund revenues. For complete data regarding the budget, visit the Department of Finance.
The governor’s proposed budget is reviewed and debated in legislative budget subcommittees by issue areas and revised and amended according to legislative preferences. These committees hold hearings where testimony from citizen groups, agency leaders, the Department of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office helps provide information and judgment for lawmakers. However, the governor has an integral role in this process, partially because the governor has the line-item veto power. The line-item veto allows for specific appropriations to be changed or eliminated by the governor, so it behooves legislators to work with the governor rather than at cross purposes. The governor only has the line-item veto power regarding the budget and appropriations bills, not with other bills where he can only veto or approve the entire bill (Micheli 219-27).
Until 2011, a two-thirds majority of each legislative chamber was necessary to pass the budget. A dedicated minority of lawmakers (such as fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party) might stop the budget process in this situation. Budget impasses sometimes even shut down the government. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 25, which shifted the percentage needed to pass a budget to a simple majority. Tax increases still require a two-thirds majority. As Republican seats diminish, the Democrats can reach this two-thirds majority more easily.
