A3993

An Act concerning the annual appropriations act, supplementing Title 1 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.1944, c.112.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. No bill to effectuate the annual appropriations act for any State fiscal year shall receive third reading and final passage in either house of the Legislature unless:

(1) the bill receives first reading and introduction on or before June 1 of the immediately preceding State fiscal year;

(2) the final text of the bill is available to the public for not less than 14 full calendar days before the date of third reading and final passage, during which period not less than one public hearing shall be heard by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee or the Assembly Budget Committee, or any successor committee, as applicable, in which hearing members of the public shall be given opportunity to testify on the bill; and

(3) the bill is accompanied by an explanation, either in the sponsor statement, committee statement, or other similar document, explaining any significant changes related to the total appropriation provided in the bill, or any items of appropriation contained in the bill, as compared to the Governor’s budget recommendations. The explanation shall also explain any ways in which the sponsor of the bill disagrees with the Governor’s long-term revenue and expenditure projections provided for informational purposes pursuant to section 11 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-20).

b. The requirements of this section may be waived by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the total authorized membership of each house of the Legislature.

2. Section 5 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-14) is amended to read as follows:

5. On or before October first in each year, each department of the State Government, board, commission, officer or other State agency, hereinafter in this article called "spending agency," shall file with the [commissioner] Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury:

a. a request for appropriation or permission to spend, as the case may be, which shall specify all expenditures proposed to be made by such spending agency during the next ensuing fiscal year; and

b. for informational purposes, a projection of the request for appropriations or permission to spend, as the case may be, which shall specify all expenditures that are anticipated for the two State fiscal years immediately following the next ensuing State fiscal year to be included in the Governor’s budget recommendations.

(cf: P.L.1944, c.112, art.3, s.5)

3. Section 6 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-15) is amended to read as follows:

6. A request [provided in] and the projection for informational purposes, pursuant to section [five] 5 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-14), shall be made by the request officer. In the case of the Supreme and Superior Courts, the request officer shall be the administrative director of the courts under the direction of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and, in the case of the Legislature, the request officer shall be the secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the General Assembly, respectively.

(cf: P.L.1953, c.49, s.51)

4. Section 7 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-16) is amended to read as follows:

7. [Said] A request and the projection for informational purposes, pursuant to section 5 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-14), shall be made on forms to be furnished by the [commissioner] Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury and subject to such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe from time to time and shall show in detail:

a. A statement exhibiting for the next ensuing fiscal year all estimated revenues; the estimate of revenues for the current fiscal year and the actual revenues for the past completed fiscal year;

b. The several purposes and itemized amounts for which appropriations or permissions to spend are requested, without deductions for estimated revenues allocated to such spending agency;

c. A statement exhibiting for the last preceding fiscal year the amounts of the annual and supplemental appropriations, transfers of appropriations, allotments from the emergency fund, dedicated receipts, if any, and of all expenditures made thereunder and the unexpended balance, if any, and the extent to which the same is obligated or encumbered;

d. A statement indicating how much of the requested appropriation will be spent in each quarter of the fiscal year; and

e. For informational purposes, a statement indicating the amount of revenues and expenditures that are anticipated for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the request is submitted.

In case an appropriation is requested for a project which cannot be completed within the next ensuing fiscal year, the request shall set forth in detail a complete description of the whole project and the estimated and detailed cost thereof, and shall show separately the part of the project which has been completed, if any, and the actual cost thereof; the part remaining to be completed and the estimated cost thereof, and the part proposed to be completed within the ensuing fiscal year and the estimated cost thereof.

(cf: P.L.1944, c.112, art.3, s.7)

5. Section 10 of article 3 or P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-19) is amended to read as follows:

10. On or before December [thirty-first] 31st of each year, or at such other time or times as the Governor may request, the [commissioner] Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury shall certify and transmit to the Governor and Governor-elect the requests of the spending agencies, together with [his] the director’s findings, comments and recommendations thereon.

(cf: P.L.1944, c.112, art.3, s.10)

6. Section 11 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-20) is amended to read as follows:

11. The Governor shall examine and consider all requests for appropriations, together with the findings and recommendations of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, and shall formulate the Governor's budget recommendations, which shall be presented as a budget message by the Governor during an appearance before a joint session of the Legislature which shall be convened at 12 noon on a date on or before the fourth Tuesday in February in each year.

The budget message shall include the proposed complete financial program of the State Government for the next ensuing fiscal year, and shall set forth in columnar form detailed as to each source of anticipated revenue and the purposes to which the recommended appropriations and permissions to spend shall apply for each spending agency in substantially the following form:

A. Revenues for the General Fund, other budgeted State revenues, all other dedicated funds, Federal aid funds, and trust funds:

(1) An estimate of all balances to be on hand on the first of July next ensuing which are to be available for appropriations, supported by the calculations used in arriving at the estimated figures;

(2) An estimate of the anticipated revenues from all sources applicable to the budget period, together with the actual amount earned from each source during the last completed fiscal year, and the estimate of revenues expected to be earned from each source for the current fiscal year; and

(3) For informational purposes, a projection of the amount of revenues anticipated from all sources applicable and available to support appropriations for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the budget message is presented, which projection shall be based on the requests submitted pursuant to subsection b. of section 5 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-14).

B. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2003, c.275).

C. Appropriations. The total of the appropriations recommended for the ensuing fiscal year in substantially the following form:

Detailed Budget:

(1) An itemized statement of all appropriation requests and requests for permission to spend from the General State Fund, other budgeted State revenues, other dedicated funds and Federal aid and trust funds;

(2) An itemized statement of the amounts recommended by the Governor with respect to item "1" above;

(3) An itemized statement of all amounts appropriated and permissions granted for the current fiscal year with respect to item "1" above;

(4) An itemized statement of all amounts appropriated and permissions granted for the last preceding fiscal year with respect to item "1" above detailed as to annual and supplemental appropriations, transfers of appropriations, State Emergency Fund allotments, and permission to spend, as the case may be, and showing also total expenditures, reserves, lapses and unencumbered balances;

(5) In addition, such other statistical information as may more fully show comparisons and costs of the several departments; and

(6) For informational purposes, a projection of the anticipated appropriations to be made from the General State Fund, other budgeted State revenues, other dedicated funds and Federal aid, and trust funds for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the budget message is presented, which projection shall be based on the requests submitted pursuant to subsection b. of section 5 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-14).

(cf: P.L.2003, c.275, s.1)

7. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to the preparation and final passage of the annual appropriations act for each fiscal year beginning on or after the July 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the requirements for the preparation and final passage of the annual appropriations act and incorporates multi-year revenue and expenditure projections for informational purposes.

Specifically, the bill provides that no bill to effectuate the annual appropriations act for any State fiscal year would be allowed to receive third reading and final passage in either house of the Legislature unless the following three requirements are met:

(1) the bill receives first reading and introduction on or before June 1 of the immediately preceding State fiscal year;

(2) the final text of the bill is available to the public for not less than 14 full calendar days before the date of third reading and final passage, during which period not less than one public hearing is required be heard by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee or the Assembly Budget Committee, or any successor committee, as applicable, in which hearing members of the public would be given opportunity to testify on the bill; and

(3) the bill is accompanied by an explanation, either in the sponsor statement, committee statement, or other similar document, explaining any significant changes related to the total appropriation provided in the bill, or any items of appropriation contained in the bill, as compared to the Governor’s budget recommendation. The explanation would also be required to explain any ways in which the sponsor of the bill disagrees with the Governor’s long-term revenue and expenditure projections, which the bill would require the Governor include in the annual budget message for informational purposes.

Under the bill, these three requirements for the preparation and final passage of the annual appropriations act for any State fiscal year could be waived by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the total authorized membership of each house of the Legislature.

In addition to the information currently included in the Governor’s annual budget message, the bill also requires the Governor to include the following information for informational purposes: (1) a projection of the amount of revenues anticipated from all sources applicable and available to support appropriations for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the budget message is presented; and (2) a projection of the anticipated appropriations to be made from the General State Fund, other budgeted State revenues, other dedicated funds and Federal aid, and trust funds for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the budget message is presented. To facilitate the inclusion of this information, the bill requires that each department of State government, board, commission, officer, or State agency submit to the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury a projection of its request for appropriation or permission to spend, as the case may be, that specifies all expenditures that are anticipated for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the Governor’s budget message is presented. The director would certify and submit to the Governor, for informational purposes, the anticipated appropriations requests submitted by each spending agency for the two State fiscal years immediately following the fiscal year for which the budget message is presented, as well as a statement indicating the amount of revenues anticipated from all sources applicable and available to support appropriations for the same period.

Under current law, the Governor’s budget message addresses the proposed complete financial program of the State government for only the next ensuing State fiscal year. Each department of the State Government, board, commission, officer or other State agency is required to submit to the director a request for appropriation or permission to spend, as the case may be, that specifies all expenditures proposed to be made by such spending agency during the next ensuing fiscal year.