Manuel also firmly believes that we must address the broken aspects of state government. For example, one major hindrance to the budget process is our structure of state government finance. There are too many loopholes and not enough transparency. Therefore, Manuel supports efforts to evaluate tax expenditures to analyze the true impact of this state spending. He has worked to promote performance-based evaluation of state programs, as well as increased legislative oversight to ensure public funds are being spent appropriately.
Manuel currently serves on the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review. This committee has held hearings and made recommendations to address inefficiency in state government contracting, such as related to the incarceration of California inmates out of state; automobile and other purchases by the Department of General Services; and juvenile justice spending and programs.
In addition, during his first term, he authored a bill to ensure that individuals on state boards and commissions who are paid more than $100,000 must work full time to earn that salary. He also supports legislative efforts to reform “spiking” and other abuses within the public pension systems.