PREFILED    JAN 08 2018

REFERENCE TITLE: state budget; estimates; notice.

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-third Legislature

Second Regular Session

2018

 

 

HB 2099

 

Introduced by

Representative Leach

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending Title 41, chapter 7, article 10, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-1275; relating to the state budget.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Title 41, chapter 7, article 10, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1275, to read:

START_STATUTE41-1275.  Truth-in-spending estimate; notice; definitions

A.  Beginning in 2019, on or before February 20 of each year, the directors of the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting and the joint legislative budget committee, or their successor agencies, shall jointly calculate and transmit a truth‑in‑spending estimate for the following fiscal year to the following:

1.  The governor, speaker of the house of representatives and president of the senate.

2.  The chairpersons of the senate and house of representatives appropriations committees, or their successor committees.

B.  Except as required by subsection C of this section, the truth‑in-spending estimate is calculated by taking the amount of general fund appropriations for the current fiscal year and multiplying that amount by one plus the sum of the following percentages:

1.  The estimated percentage change in population for the current fiscal year as compared to the population for the preceding fiscal year, as reported by the office of economic opportunity on or before FEBRUARY 15 of the current year.

2.  The percentage change in the GDP implicit price deflator for the preceding calendar year as compared to one calendar year before the preceding calendar year, as reported by the United states bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency, on or before February 15 of the current year.

C.  If the amount of general fund appropriations for the current fiscal year is less than the amount of general fund appropriations for the preceding fiscal year, the truth-in-spending estimate shall be the greater of the amount of general fund appropriations for the current fiscal year MULTIPLIED by 1.06 or the amount determined pursuant to subsection B of this section.

D.  Beginning in fiscal year 2019‑2020, if the legislature transmits to the governor an appropriations bill with total general fund appropriations that, when combined with the sum of all general fund appropriations from all previously enacted bills, exceed the truth‑in‑spending estimate, within twenty‑four hours after the vote each house of the legislature shall post in a prominent location on its official website and retain for at least six months a press release in the following form:

Notice of spending increase above

the truth-in-spending estimate

In compliance with section 41-1275, Arizona Revised Statutes, the state legislature is notifying taxpayers that a budget that exceeds the truth‑in‑spending estimate, which is defined as the amount of general fund appropriations for the current fiscal year adjusted by the growth in population and inflation, passed both houses of the legislature on ( date ).  The proposed spending increase in the amount of general fund appropriations is ( percentage ), while the truth‑in‑spending estimate projected the proposed spending increase to be ( percentage ).  This increase may include spending that is court ordered or otherwise mandated and not subject to legislative discretion.

E.  In determining the amount of general fund appropriations for the current and preceding fiscal years, the directors of the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting and the joint legislative budget committee, or their successor agencies, shall jointly consider all previously enacted appropriations that were enacted during prior legislative sessions.

F.  If the directors cannot agree on one truth-in-spending estimate pursuant to subsection A of this section on or before February 15 of the fiscal year, the transmission required pursuant to subsection A of this section shall include each director's calculation of the truth‑in‑spending estimate, and the notice required pursuant to subsection D of this section shall consider the average of the two estimates.

G.  If the governor vetoes an appropriations bill with total general fund appropriations that, when combined with the sum of all general fund appropriations from all previously enacted bills, exceed the truth‑in‑spending estimate, each house of the legislature shall promptly remove the notice required pursuant to subsection D of this section from its official website unless the bill otherwise becomes law.

H.  If the governor line‑item vetoes one or more appropriations in an appropriations bill that has total general fund appropriations that, when combined with the sum of all general fund appropriations from all previously enacted bills, exceed the truth‑in‑spending estimate and because of that line‑item veto the total amount of approved general fund appropriations does not exceed the truth‑in‑spending estimate, each house of the legislature shall promptly remove the notice required pursuant to subsection D of this section from its official website unless the appropriation that was subject to the line‑item veto otherwise becomes law.

I.  The general appropriations act shall include a provision that delineates the total amount of general fund appropriations for the next fiscal year and the truth‑in‑spending estimate for that year.

J.  For the purposes of this section:

1.  "GDP implicit price deflator" means the average of the four quarterly values for a calendar year as reported by the United States bureau of economic analysis, or its successor agency.

2.  "General fund appropriations" means the sum of all the appropriations from the state general fund that are contained in the general appropriations and capitol appropriation bills and for a particular fiscal year.  This sum does not include any onetime general fund appropriation for repayment of a deferral from a prior fiscal year, for payment of any principal owed by this state to a lender above that required by any regular debt service schedule or for deposit into the budget stabilization fund established by section 35‑144. END_STATUTE