Legislative contingent funds

All appropriations for contingent expenses of the Legislature and committees thereof shall be deposited in and credited to the following funds, which funds are created in the State Treasury:

Disbursements from Senate Contingent Fund and Assembly Contingent Fund

Except as provided by affirmative recorded vote of two thirds of the membership of the rules committee having powers of direction under Section 9930, all disbursements from the Senate Contingent Fund and the Assembly Contingent Fund shall be divided proportionately according to the partisan composition of the house in question.

Disbursements from Contingent Funds of the Senate and Assembly

No disbursements shall be made from the Contingent Funds of the Senate and Assembly except as provided by vote of the Joint Rules Committee, two thirds of the total membership thereof concurring.

Disbursement of money appropriated for legislative printing

Any money appropriated for legislative printing shall be disbursed under or pursuant to the direction of the Senate or Assembly as provided in the rules of the Senate or Assembly or their joint rules, in accordance with the provisions of Sections 9931 and 9932.

Limits upon public expenditure

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, within 30 days following the enactment of this chapter, the total amount of monies appropriated for the support of the Legislature, including but not limited to all monies appropriated to the Senate Contingent Fund, the Assembly Contingent Fund, the Contingent Funds of the Senate and Assembly, for legislative printing, and for aids to the Legislature as described in Part 2 of this title, shall be reduced by an amount equal to thirty percent of the total amount of monies appropriated for support of the Legislature for the 1983–84 fiscal year, and the amount so reduced shall revert to the General Fund. For each fiscal year thereafter, the total amount of monies appropriated for support of the Legislature shall not exceed an amount equal to that expended for support in the preceding fiscal year, adjusted and compounded by an amount equal to the percentage increase or decrease in state General Fund spending for that fiscal year.

Continuous availability of funds; special accounts

Except as described in Section 9934 and this Section, appropriations deposited in and credited to the Senate Contingent Fund, the Assembly Contingent Fund, or the Contingent Funds of the Senate and Assembly, shall be continuously available without regard to fiscal years. Appropriations made at extraordinary or special sessions for the expenses of said sessions shall be maintained as separate accounts within the particular funds and shall be available for expenditure for such purpose for the duration of said sessions, and the unexpended balance of any such appropriation shall revert to the General Fund upon the adjournment sine die of the special session or sessions for which it was appropriated.

Reports to public on expenditures made from contingent funds; contents

Independent audit of contingent funds

The Joint Rules Committee shall annually contract for an independent audit of the revenues and expenditures, for each fiscal year, from the Assembly Contingent Fund, Senate Contingent Fund, and the Contingent Funds of the Assembly and Senate. The organization performing the audit shall be subject to approval by the Fair Political Practices Commission. The audit shall include, but need not be limited to, an evaluation of the accuracy of the expenditures described in Section 9936 and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal auditing procedures of the individual rules committees.

The audit shall be completed and made available to the public within 180 calendar days following the completion of the fiscal year for which the audit is performed.