Relates to the submission of the budget to the legislature by the governor and requires that copies of the release of agency budget requests furnished to the executive be made available to the legislature and the public; authorizes a contingency budget to take effect in certain circumstances; reduces the amount of time during which the governor may amend the executive budget without consent of the legislature from 30 to 21 days; creates a fiscal stabilization reserve fund.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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1
2005-2006 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 5, 2005
___________
Introduced by Sens. BRUNO, JOHNSON, LIBOUS, SALAND, WINNER, ALESI,
BALBONI, BONACIC, DeFRANCISCO, FARLEY, FLANAGAN, FUSCHILLO, GOLDEN,
HANNON, LARKIN, LAVALLE, LEIBELL, LITTLE, MALTESE, MARCELLINO, MARCHI,
MAZIARZ, McGEE, MEIER, MORAHAN, NOZZOLIO, PADAVAN, RATH, ROBACH,
SEWARD, SKELOS, TRUNZO, VOLKER, WRIGHT -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing amendments to articles IV and VII of the constitution, in
relation to the submission of the budget to the legislature by the
Governor
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 1 of arti-
2 cle 7 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 Section 1. For the preparation of the budget, the head of each depart-
4 ment of state government, except the legislature and judiciary, shall
5 furnish the governor such estimates and information in such form and at
6 such times as the governor may require, and, at such times, shall forth-
7 with provide copies of [which shall forthwith be furnished] such esti-
8 mates and information to the appropriate committees of the legislature
9 and make such estimates and information available to the public. The
10 governor shall hold hearings thereon at which the governor may require
11 the attendance of heads of departments and their subordinates. Desig-
12 nated representatives of such committees shall be entitled to attend the
13 hearings thereon and to make inquiry concerning any part thereof.
14 Itemized estimates of the financial needs of the legislature, certi-
15 fied by the presiding officer of each house, and of the judiciary,
16 approved by the court of appeals and certified by the chief judge of the
17 court of appeals, shall be transmitted to the governor not later than
18 the first day of December in each year for inclusion in the budget with-
19 out revision but with such recommendations as the governor may deem
20 proper. Copies of the itemized estimates of the financial needs of the
21 judiciary also shall forthwith be transmitted to the appropriate commit-
22 tees of the legislature.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89067-01-5
S. 1 2
1 § 2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 2 of article 7 of
2 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 § 2. Annually, on or before the first day of February in each year
4 following the year [fixed by the constitution for the election of gover-
5 nor and lieutenant governor] in which a governor is elected, provided
6 such governor did not hold the office of governor at the time of the
7 election, and on or before [the second Tuesday following the first day
8 of the annual meeting of the legislature] January fifteenth, in all
9 other years, the governor shall submit to the legislature a budget
10 containing a complete plan of [expenditures] disbursements proposed to
11 be made before the close of the ensuing fiscal year and all moneys [and
12 revenues estimated] available and anticipated to be available and all
13 receipts estimated to be available therefor, together with an explana-
14 tion of the basis of such estimates and recommendations as to proposed
15 legislation, if any, which the governor may deem necessary to provide
16 moneys and [revenues] receipts sufficient to meet such proposed [expend-
17 itures] disbursements. It shall also contain such other recommendations
18 and information as the governor may deem proper and such additional
19 information as may be required by law.
20 § 3. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 3 of article 7 of
21 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
22 § 3. At the time of submitting the budget to the legislature the
23 governor shall submit a bill or bills containing all the proposed appro-
24 priations and reappropriations included in the budget and the proposed
25 legislation, if any, recommended therein.
26 The governor may at any time within [thirty] twenty-one days thereaft-
27 er and, with the consent of the legislature, at any time before the
28 adjournment thereof, amend or supplement the budget and submit amend-
29 ments to any bills submitted by him or her or submit supplemental bills.
30 The governor and the heads of departments shall have the right, and it
31 shall be the duty of the heads of departments when requested by either
32 house of the legislature or an appropriate committee thereof, to appear
33 and be heard in respect to the budget during the consideration thereof,
34 and to answer inquiries relevant thereto. The procedure for such appear-
35 ances and inquiries shall be provided by law.
36 § 4. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 4 of article 7 of
37 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
38 § 4. The legislature may not alter an appropriation bill submitted by
39 the governor except to strike out or reduce items therein, but it may
40 add thereto items of appropriation provided that such additions are
41 stated separately and distinctly from the original items of the bill and
42 refer each to a single object or purpose. None of the restrictions of
43 this section, however, shall apply to appropriations for the legislature
44 or judiciary.
45 [Such an] An appropriation bill making an appropriation or appropri-
46 ations solely for the purpose of meeting the legal requirements of the
47 state's debt service and lease purchase payments or other special
48 contractual obligations shall, when passed by both houses, be [a] law
49 immediately without further action by the governor, except that separate
50 items added to the governor's bills by the legislature shall be subject
51 to the governor's approval as provided in section 7 of article IV.
52 Neither house of the legislature shall act on any other appropriation
53 bill submitted by the governor pursuant to sections 2 and 3 of this
54 article for the ensuing fiscal year after the beginning of such fiscal
55 year. Appropriation bills other than those making an appropriation or
56 appropriations solely for the purpose of meeting the legal requirements
S. 1 3
1 of the state's debt service and lease purchase payments or other special
2 contractual obligations shall, when passed by both houses, be law with-
3 out further action by the governor only at such time as all other appro-
4 priation bills submitted by the governor pursuant to sections 2 and 3 of
5 this article have been voted upon by both houses before the beginning of
6 the fiscal year; provided, however, that appropriations for the legisla-
7 ture and judiciary and separate items added to the governor's bills by
8 the legislature shall be subject to approval of the governor as provided
9 in section 7 of article IV. In a year that a contingency budget takes
10 effect, appropriation bills submitted by the governor pursuant to
11 sections 2 and 3 of this article, and passed by both houses prior to the
12 beginning of the fiscal year shall automatically become law without
13 further action by the governor upon passage of a multiple appropriation
14 bill pursuant to section 5 of this article; provided, however, that
15 appropriations for the legislature and judiciary and separate items
16 added to the governor's bills by the legislature shall be subject to
17 approval of the governor as provided in section 7 of article IV.
18 § 5. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 5 of article 7 of
19 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
20 § 5. 1. Neither house of the legislature shall consider any other bill
21 making an appropriation until all the appropriation bills submitted by
22 the governor shall have been finally acted on by both houses, except on
23 message from the governor certifying to the necessity of the immediate
24 passage of such a bill. During a contingency period, as provided for in
25 subdivision two of this section, neither house of the legislature shall
26 consider any other appropriation bill except a multiple appropriation
27 bill altering the contingency budget.
28 2. A contingency budget, as provided for in statute, shall take effect
29 without further action by the legislature or the governor on the first
30 day of the fiscal year in the event the legislature has not finally
31 acted upon all the appropriation bills submitted by the governor for
32 such fiscal year. Such contingency budget shall constitute an act of
33 the legislature and final action upon all of the appropriation bills
34 submitted by the governor as herein described. The legislature may
35 consider and adopt alterations to the contingency budget through the
36 passage by both houses of the legislature of a single multiple appropri-
37 ation bill. Those provisions in the contingency budget not altered by
38 the legislature shall remain in effect until such provisions are
39 reenacted, repealed or superseded by subsequent legislation or the
40 commencement of the next fiscal year. Passage by both houses of the
41 legislature of such multiple appropriation bill shall constitute the
42 conclusion of the contingency period. After the legislature has ended
43 the contingency period, it may propose and consider a subsequent supple-
44 mental appropriation bill or, separate individual appropriation bill or
45 bills pursuant to section 6 of this article.
46 The contingency budget, except as otherwise provided by statute, shall
47 provide the same appropriations and reappropriations as enacted for the
48 immediately preceding fiscal year and spending and revenue provisions in
49 effect for the immediately preceding fiscal year shall remain in effect
50 until the conclusion of the contingency period. Except as otherwise
51 provided in statute, aggregate disbursements authorized by appropri-
52 ations and reappropriations contained in the contingency budget for the
53 fiscal year shall not exceed aggregate disbursements made in the imme-
54 diately preceding fiscal year. No law modifying the disbursements
55 authorized by appropriations and reappropriations contained in the
56 contingency budget may become effective until three years from the date
S. 1 4
1 of its enactment. During a contingency period, spending and revenue
2 provisions in legislation previously enacted that become effective in
3 the current fiscal year shall not take effect until the legislature has
4 passed a multiple appropriation bill.
5 § 6. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 6 of article 7 of
6 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
7 § 6. [Except] No appropriations shall be made except by separate bills
8 each for a single object or purpose, except for appropriations contained
9 in the bills submitted by the governor [and], or for appropriations in a
10 supplemental appropriation bill for the support of government, [no
11 appropriations shall be made except by separate bills each for a single
12 object or purpose] or in a separate multiple appropriation bill enacted
13 during the contingency budget period. All such bills [and such supple-
14 mental appropriation bill] shall be subject to the governor's approval
15 as provided in section 7 of article IV except unaltered provisions
16 contained within the multiple appropriation bill pursuant to subdivision
17 2 of section 5 of this article that were originally included in the
18 contingency budget, which shall remain law upon passage of such multiple
19 appropriation bill.
20 No provision shall be embraced in any appropriation bill submitted by
21 the governor or in such supplemental or multiple appropriation [bill]
22 bills unless it relates specifically to some particular appropriation in
23 the bill, and any such provision shall be limited in its operation to
24 such appropriation.
25 § 7. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 7 of article 4 of
26 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
27 § 7. Every bill which shall have passed the senate and assembly shall,
28 before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; if the governor
29 approve, he or she shall sign it; but if not, he or she shall return it
30 with his or her objections to the house in which it shall have origi-
31 nated, which shall enter the objections at large on the journal, and
32 proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of
33 the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall
34 be sent together with the objections, to the other house, by which it
35 shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of the
36 members elected to that house, it shall become a law notwithstanding the
37 objections of the governor. In all such cases the votes in both houses
38 shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members
39 voting shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If
40 any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays
41 excepted) after it shall have been presented to him or her, the same
42 shall be a law in like manner as if he or she had signed it, unless the
43 legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which
44 case it shall not become a law without the approval of the governor. No
45 bill shall become a law after the final adjournment of the legislature,
46 unless approved by the governor within thirty days after such adjourn-
47 ment. If any bill presented to the governor [contain] contains several
48 items of appropriation of money, or includes alterations to the contin-
49 gency budget, the governor may object to one or more of such items while
50 approving of the other portion of the bill. In such case the governor
51 shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the
52 items to which he or she objects; and the appropriation so objected to
53 shall not take effect. If the legislature be in session, he or she shall
54 transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of such state-
55 ment, and the items objected to shall be separately reconsidered. If on
56 reconsideration one or more of such items be approved by two-thirds of
S. 1 5
1 the members elected to each house, the same shall be part of the law,
2 notwithstanding the objections of the governor. All the provisions of
3 this section, in relation to bills not approved by the governor, shall
4 apply in cases in which he or she shall withhold approval from any item
5 or items contained in a bill appropriating money.
6 § 8. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 17 of article 7
7 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
8 § 17. The legislature may establish a fund or funds to aid in the
9 stabilization of the tax revenues of the state available for expenditure
10 or distribution in the current fiscal year. Any law creating such a
11 fund shall specify the tax or taxes to which such fund relates, and
12 shall prescribe the method of determining the amount of revenue from any
13 such tax or taxes which shall constitute a norm of each fiscal year.
14 Such part as shall be prescribed by law of any revenue derived from such
15 tax or taxes during a fiscal year in excess of such norm shall be paid
16 into such fund. No moneys shall at any time be withdrawn from such fund
17 unless the revenue derived from such tax or taxes during a fiscal year
18 shall fall below the norm for such year; in which event such amount as
19 may be prescribed by law, but in no event an amount exceeding the
20 difference between such revenue and such norm, shall be paid from such
21 fund into the general fund.
22 The legislature may establish a fund or funds known as the fiscal
23 stabilization reserve fund, available for expenditure or distribution in
24 a subsequent fiscal year. Any law creating such fund shall specify the
25 tax or taxes to which such fund relates, and shall prescribe the method
26 of determining the amount of revenue from any such tax or taxes which
27 shall be reserved. Such portion as shall be prescribed by law of any
28 revenue derived from such tax or taxes during a fiscal year shall be
29 paid into such fiscal stabilization reserve fund. No moneys shall at any
30 time be withdrawn from such fund unless the revenue derived from such
31 tax or taxes during a subsequent fiscal year shall fall below the amount
32 jointly certified as necessary by the governor, the temporary president
33 of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly to implement the budget
34 of a subsequent year; in which event shall such amount as may be
35 prescribed by law, but in no event an amount exceeding the difference
36 between such revenue and such norm, be paid from such fund into the
37 general fund.
38 No law changing the method of determining a norm or method or
39 prescribing the amount to be paid into such [a fund] funds or to be paid
40 from such [a fund] funds into the general fund may become effective
41 until three years from the date of its enactment.
42 § 9. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment
43 be submitted to the people for approval at the general election to be
44 held in the year 2005 in accordance with the provisions of the election
45 law.
