AB 879

This bill requires the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and the Legislative Council

Staff to submit a joint report, following each biennial budget act, to the governor,

attorney general, and legislature that identifies coercive conditions attached to

federal funds made available to the state. The report must identify each condition

that is coercive or could reasonably be considered coercive, as determined by the

Legislative Council Staff, and is placed on the state's continued eligibility to receive

federal funds. Under the bill, an eligibility condition is coercive if it requires the

expenditure of state or local funds or relates to matters of state or local policy other

than the manner in which federal, state, or local funds must be spent. The bill

requires that the report include only programs for which more than $5,000,000 in

federal funding is appropriated in the applicable budget act and exempts certain

grants.

The bill authorizes the attorney general to bring an action in the name of the

state to enjoin the application of a condition identified in the joint report and requires

the governor to consult with the governors of other states to develop a coordinated

approach among the states to coercive conditions attached to federal funding.