Administrative History
The State Legislature created five new state agencies in 1921 - one of which was the Dept. of Finance (Stats. 1921, c. 603). The new agency absorbed a number of existing responsibilities from other agencies including budgets and accounts, claims and disbursements, purchases, printing, motor vehicles and libraries. The State Board of Control was to serve as the governing body for the department.
In 1927, the Legislature expanded and further defined the role of the Dept. of Finance as supervising all financial and business policies of state government and giving it the authority to conduct investigations in the interest of the state (Stats. 1927, c. 251). The State Board of Control was removed as the agency's governing body and replaced by the director of the Department. The 1927 legislation charged the Department - among other things - with visiting state institutions to ascertain their condition and monitoring public buildings under construction. The Department was also given the authority to audit the financial records of state agencies and institutions as well as to review and approve all state contracts and purchases.
The Dept. of Finance continued to expand in subsequent years to encompass management of the State Agricultural Society (California State Fair) and district agricultural associations (county fairs), acquisition and maintenance of state-owned and rented office buildings, and management of state-owned public lands. The State Legislature transferred many of the Department's responsibilities (buildings and grounds, printing, purchasing) to a new state agency - the Dept. of General Services - in 1963 (Stats. 1963, c. 1786).
From the guide to the Department of Finance, Director's Office Photographs, ca. 1917-1950, (California State Archives)
