The California Constitution (Art. IV, § 12(a)) requires the Governor to submit a budget to the legislature within the first 10 days of each calendar year. Newly elected Governor Jerry Brown did so on Monday.

The Governor’s submission of a budget should not be confused with the enactment of an actual budget. Theoretically, the Constitution requires that the legislature pass a budget bill by midnight on June 15 of each year. (Cal. Const. Art. IV, § 12(c)). This means, again in theory, that a budget will be enacted before the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1. The California Department of Finance has created this flowchart to illustrate the budget process. In reality, the constitutional deadline is routinely violated. For example, the current fiscal year’s budget was enacted more than three months late.