The Attorney General antitrust account is hereby created in the General Fund. All money in the account is available to the Department of Justice for expenditure in carrying out the antitrust activities of the department and for the refund, in accordance with law, of any moneys erroneously paid in to the account. Money in the account shall be available for expenditure only upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Bill. Such appropriation may be augmented by executive order issued by the Director of Finance, provided that within 30 days after such augmentation the Director of Finance shall notify the Chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the chairman of the committee in each house which consider appropriations of any additional allocations. It is the intent of the Legislature that any augmentation shall be limited to the amount required to meet specific unbudgeted workload needs. Any continuing increase in the level of antitrust activity shall be subject to legislative review through the appropriation process. The expenses of the antitrust section in excess of the funds available in the Attorney General antitrust account within the General Fund shall be paid out of the regular appropriation for the support of the Department of Justice.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 45, Sec. 35. (AB 127) Effective July 10, 2023.)