(a)  Any restricted or special revenue funds that are received by a state agency that is not otherwise appropriated to that state agency by the annual appropriation acts of the regular session of the general assembly are hereby appropriated for that state agency for the purpose set forth, except that no expenditure shall be made from and no obligation shall be incurred against any restricted receipts or special revenue fund that has not been previously appropriated or reappropriated or approved by the governor, the speaker of the house, and the president of the senate, until that authorization has been transmitted to the state agency to make expenditure therefrom.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 35-4-22.2

  • 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
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • 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.

(b)  State agencies desiring the governor’s approval to expend or obligate receipts not appropriated or reappropriated by the general assembly in the annual appropriation act or supplemental appropriation act shall forward a request to the state budget officer, who shall forward a copy to the speaker of the house and the president of the senate.

(c)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the budget officer is hereby authorized to create restricted receipt accounts within the budget of any state agency to account for the receipt and expenditure of a multistate settlement administered by the office of the attorney general. Expenditures from these accounts shall remain subject to the provisions of §§ 35-4-22, 35-4-22.1, 35-4-22.2, and 35-4-27.

(d)  Upon the directive of the controller, with the consent of the auditor general, the budget officer is hereby authorized to convert any escrow liability accounts that were established before July 1, 2021, to a restricted receipt account.

History of Section.
P.L. 1991, ch. 44, art. 76, § 3; P.L. 2001, ch. 180, § 71; P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 2, § 5, effective July 6, 2021.