Montana Code 17-7-311. Proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation — procedure
17-7-311. Proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation — procedure. (1) A proposed supplemental appropriation to transfer appropriations between fiscal years of a biennium and all supporting documentation must be submitted to the legislative fiscal analyst. The governor may not approve a proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation until the governor receives the legislative finance committee’s written report for that proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation unless:
Terms Used In Montana Code 17-7-311
- Agency: means all offices, departments, boards, commissions, institutions, universities, colleges, and any other person or any other administrative unit of state government that spends or encumbers public money by virtue of an appropriation from the legislature under 17-8-101. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Emergency: means a catastrophe, disaster, calamity, or other serious unforeseen and unanticipated circumstance that has occurred subsequent to the time that an agency's appropriation was made, that was clearly not within the contemplation of the legislature and the governor, and that affects one or more functions of a state agency and the agency's expenditure requirements for the performance of the function or functions. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Requesting agency: means the agency of state government that has requested a specific budget amendment. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Supplemental appropriation: Budget authority provided in an appropriations act in addition to regular or continuing appropriations already provided. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies, such as disaster relief, or other needs deemed too urgent to be postponed until the enactment of next year's regular appropriations act.
(a)the report is not received within 90 calendar days from the date the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation and supporting documentation were forwarded to the legislative finance committee, in which case the governor may approve the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation; or
(b)there has been a waiver of the review and report requirements, as provided in subsection (4).
(2)The legislative fiscal analyst shall review each proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation submitted by the governor for compliance with statutory requirements and standards and to determine the expenditures that will be reduced in order to contain spending within legislative appropriations. The legislative fiscal analyst shall present a written report of this review to the legislative finance committee. Within 10 days after the legislative finance committee’s consideration of the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation, the legislative fiscal analyst shall submit the legislative finance committee’s report to the governor.
(3)Upon receipt of the legislative finance committee’s written report, the governor may approve or deny the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation or may return the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation to the requesting agency for further information. If the governor has returned the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation to the requesting agency and the requesting agency resubmits the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation to the governor, all procedures provided in this section apply to the resubmitted proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation.
(4)(a) If an emergency occurs that poses a serious threat to the life, health, or safety of the public, the legislative fiscal analyst may waive the written review and the legislative finance committee’s written report required by this section. After a waiver, the legislative fiscal analyst may complete the written review.
(b)Upon receipt of the waiver, the governor may approve the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation.
(c)A waiver affects only the legislative fiscal analyst’s written review and the legislative finance committee’s written report on the proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation. All other proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation requirements and standards remain in effect.
(5)Nothing in this part confers on the legislative finance committee authority to approve or deny a proposed fiscal year transfer supplemental appropriation.