6500     ADMINISTRATION OF THE OPERATING BUDGET 
(Revised 2/98)

The system for budget administration and control is legally grounded in the State Constitution, Government Code provisions, and a number of sections of the Budget Act.  The system also adheres to the Attorney General’s opinions.

The operating budget is the total of all the expenditure authorizations provided by law.  This includes the Budget Act, continuing authorizations provided by the Constitution and statutory law, separate appropriation measures enacted by the Legislature, plus initiatives.

No single document is produced to represent a Final Budget; however, each year a Final Change Book, which includes all legislative changes to the Governor's Budget, is published by DOF, shortly after enactment of the Budget Act.  This list summarizes the effect of changes by the Legislature and the Governor and includes a detailed list of all changes, identified by the item number of the printed Governor's Budget.  Each department sets up its initial operating budget accounts based upon its portion of the printed Governor's Budget, the Budget Act and the Final Change Book.

In large measure, DOF has established a system of delegation of the approval authority for routine documents to the department head.  Only those transactions which do not meet the criteria for delegation must be referred to DOF for budgetary approval.