Montana Code 17-7-301. Authorization to expend during first year of biennium from appropriation for second year — proposed supplemental appropriation defined — limit on second-year expenditures
17-7-301. Authorization to expend during first year of biennium from appropriation for second year — proposed supplemental appropriation defined — limit on second-year expenditures. (1) An agency may make expenditures during the first fiscal year of the biennium from appropriations for the second fiscal year of the biennium if authorized by the general appropriations act. An agency that is not authorized in the general appropriations act to make first-year expenditures may be granted spending authorization by the approving authority upon submission and approval of a proposed supplemental appropriation to the approving authority. The proposal submitted to the approving authority must include a plan for reducing expenditures in the second year of the biennium that allows the agency to contain expenditures within appropriations. If the approving authority finds that, due to an unforeseen and unanticipated emergency, the amount actually appropriated for the first fiscal year of the biennium with all other income will be insufficient for the operation and maintenance of the agency during the year for which the appropriation was made, the approving authority shall, after careful study and examination of the request and upon review of the recommendation for executive branch proposals by the budget director, submit the proposed supplemental appropriation to the legislative fiscal analyst.
Terms Used In Montana Code 17-7-301
- 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
- Approving authority: means :
(a)the governor or the governor's designated representative for executive branch agencies;
(b)the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designated representative for judicial branch agencies;
(c)the speaker for the house of representatives;
(d)the president for the senate;
(e)appropriate legislative committees or a designated representative for legislative branch agencies; or
(f)the board of regents of higher education or its designated representative for the university system. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- 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.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Necessary: means essential to the public welfare and of a nature that cannot wait until the next legislative session for legislative consideration. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- proposed supplemental appropriation: means an application for authorization to make expenditures during the first fiscal year of the biennium from appropriations for the second fiscal year of the biennium. See Montana Code 17-7-301
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- 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.
(2)The plan for reducing expenditures required by subsection (1) is not required if the proposed supplemental appropriation is:
(a)due to an unforeseen and unanticipated emergency for fire suppression;
(b)requested by the superintendent of public instruction, in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-351, and is to complete the state‘s funding of guaranteed tax base aid, transportation aid, or equalization aid to elementary and secondary schools for the current biennium; or
(c)requested by the attorney general and:
(i)is to pay the costs associated with litigation in which the department of justice is required to provide representation to the state of Montana; or
(ii)in accordance with the provisions of 7-32-2242, is to pay costs for which the department of justice is responsible for confinement of an arrested person in a detention center.
(3)Upon receipt of the recommendation of the legislative finance committee pursuant to 17-7-311, the approving authority may authorize an expenditure during the first fiscal year of the biennium to be made from the appropriation for the second fiscal year of the biennium. Except as provided in subsection (2), the approving authority shall require the agency to implement the plan for reducing expenditures in the second year of the biennium that contains agency expenditures within appropriations.
(4)The agency may expend the amount authorized by the approving authority only for the purposes specified in the authorization.
(5)The approving authority shall report to the next legislature in a special section of the budget the amounts expended as a result of all authorizations granted by the approving authority and shall request that any necessary supplemental appropriation bills be passed.
(6)As used in this part, “proposed supplemental appropriation” means an application for authorization to make expenditures during the first fiscal year of the biennium from appropriations for the second fiscal year of the biennium.
(7)(a) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (7)(b), an agency may not make expenditures in the second year of the biennium that, if carried on for the full year, will require a deficiency appropriation, commonly referred to as a “supplemental appropriation”.
(b)An agency shall prepare and, to the extent feasible, implement a plan for reducing expenditures in the second year of the biennium that contains agency expenditures within appropriations. The approving authority is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the plan. If, in the second year of a biennium, mandated expenditures that are required by state or federal law will cause an agency to exceed appropriations or available funds, the agency shall reduce all nonmandated expenditures pursuant to the plan in order to reduce to the greatest extent possible the expenditures in excess of appropriations or funding. An agency may not transfer funds between fund types in order to implement a plan.