GovBlog: UC Berkeley » Legislative Process

U.S. President’s Speeches and Remarks

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:29:01 +0000

President Obama has given several very important policy speeches during this month of September 2009. In general transcripts of President Obama’s speeches are easily found on the White House Speeches and Remarks site. A few of the September 2009 speeches are highlighted here:

Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren (Sept. 8th, Wakefield High School, Arlington, VA)

Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care (Sept. 9th, U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C.)

Remarks by the President on Financial Rescue and Reform (Sept. 14th, Federal Hall, New York, NY)

Rep. Barbara Lee’s YouTube Channel

Jesse Silva — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:22:28 +0000

Representative Barbara Lee, U.S. Congressional Representative from the 9th District of California (where UCB is located), has a YouTube channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/RepLee. You can watch her speaking from the House Floor, or questioning witnesses in Congressional Committees.

If you would like to watch other congressional floor debate, try Metavid: http://metavid.org/wiki/ Metavid is free to the public and contains video from the floor of the U.S. House and Senate, archived back to 2006. It is also searchable.

California: LAO July 2009 Budget Package

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:33:37 +0000

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued the report: July 2009 Budget Package that summarizes the budget actions of the state Legislature and the Governor. The Legislature passed amendments to the 2009-10 Budget Bill on July 24, 2009. The Governor signed the budget package on July 28, 2009 and in doing so vetoed $489 million in General Fund appropriations. The new budget authorizes total General Fund spending of $84.6 billion and leaves an estimated reserve of $500 million at the end of FY 2009-10. Tables in the report of interest:

Expenditure-Related Budget Reductions in areas: K-14 education, higher education, local government, social services, transportation, health, employee compensation, criminal justice, and other; also includes increases in revenues/transfers to general fund, and increases in borrowing

2008-09 and 2009-10 Proposition 98 Funding comparisons

Another report, this one from the California Budget Project, Governor Signs Budget Revisions, also offers an analysis of the new budget. It notes that the majority of the Governor’s vetoes cut ($394 million) from health and human services programs, including the Child Welfare Services Program, the Health Family Programs, and the Regional Center services for developmentally disabled children. This publication provides a summary of the key provisions of the budget and the Governor’s line-item vetoes.

State Budget Update: July 2009

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:03:53 +0000

The recent report, State Budget Update: July 2009, by the National Conference of State Legislatures provides an excellent overview of the challenges faced by states trying to balance their budgets. In FY 2009 state lawmakers were required to close budget shortfalls that reached $113.2 billion. FY 2010 budgets face a gap of more than $142.6 billion. Budget negotiations required extension of regular sessions or convening of special sessions. Eight states did not meet their July 1 budget deadlines. As of mid-July when this report was written, six states still had not passed a budget for FY 2010. Credit is also due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds (ARRA) that helped some states balance their budgets. The report used information from legislative fiscal directors in June and July 2009 and includes information on budget gaps for all 50 states and Puerto Rico for FY 2009 and 2010. Tables provide information on budget gap number by year; FY 2009 budget gaps by state; and budget gap projections by state for FY 2011 and FY 2012. The report does also state that some of the information provided is preliminary and might change and that ARRA funds distorted many of the numbers.

California IOUs - FAQs

Susana Hinojosa — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:42:30 +0000

Want to know what a Registered Warrant or IOU is? Who gets paid in IOUs beginning July 2nd? California Controller John Chiang has created a Frequently Asked Questions about Registered Warrants (IOUs) website that will be updated regularly.

The Economic Case for Health Care Reform

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:39:28 +0000

The President’s Council of Economic Advisers just released, June 2, 2009, their report, The Economic Case for Health Care Reform, on the economic impacts of health care reform. This comprehensive analysis provides an analysis of the current economic impacts of health care in the U.S. and also a forecast of the future in the absence of any health care reform. The report includes an analysis of health care inefficiencies and market failures; key components of health care reform; and the economic effects of slowing growth in health care costs.

Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court Nominee

Susana Hinojosa — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:37:03 +0000

The Library of Congress ‘Find Legal Resources’ section has created a short list of resources on Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. The list includes citations to articles and books, her two confirmation hearings in Congress, and case opinions. Web Resources include links to special reports (CNN), newpaper articles (NYT), and more. Of special interest is the link to GPO Access to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Supreme Court Nomination Hearings, 1971 to present. Check out the hearings for Justices Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, etc.

California Propositions - May 19 Special Election

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:24:51 +0000

In a series of Budget Briefs, the California Budget Project has analysed the May 19th Special Election Ballot Propositions. Specific Budget Briefs:

What Would Proposition 1A Mean for California’s Future?

Proposition 1C: Should California Authorize the Sale of Lottery Bonds to Close the Budget Gap?

What Would Proposition 1D Mean for California?

What Would Proposition 1E Mean for California?

Finally a summary of the ballot measures:

The May 19 Special Election: What Does It Mean for Health Care?

State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:00:54 +0000

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released on May 4, 2009, State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets, a report that in a series of tables documents the measures (proposed and enacted) that states are taking to close budget gaps. These measures include actions to cut budgets and also generate new revenues. Budget areas or topics include: Criminal Justice, Education, Employee Actions (for example furloughs and layoffs), and Other Actions (purchase freezes, delayed capital projects, agency consolidation, etc.).

United States Congressional Serial Set Now Available through LexisNexis Congressional

Jesse Silva — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:38:56 +0000

UC Berkeley has recently acquired full-text access to the United States Congressional Serial Set (1789-1969) through LexisNexis Congressional. The Serial Set contains the legislative history of United States, and also includes many historic agency annual reports, House and Senate Reports, and many other official government documents (for a more complete summary of what is contained in the Serial Set, click here). Prior to this acquisition, citations to the Serial Set found in LexisNexis Congressional had to be searched in the Readex United States Congressional Serial Set database. With this purchase, you can now search LexisNexis Congressional for all your congressional research needs. Off-campus access to LexisNexis Congressional is restricted to current UCB student, faculty and staff, though anyone in the Library may access the database.