SENATE BILL 199
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006
INTRODUCED BY
Pete Campos
FOR THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE BUDGETS; PROVIDING FOR A BIENNIAL BUDGET PILOT PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF BIENNIAL BUDGETING.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. BIENNIAL BUDGET PILOT PROJECT.--
A. For the purposes of this section:
(1) "committee" means the legislative finance committee;
(2) "department" means the department of finance and administration;
(3) "division" means the state budget division of the department;
(4) "evaluation team" means the joint biennial budget pilot project staff evaluation team; and
(5) "participating agency" means an executive agency with an annual budget of less than five million dollars ($5,000,000).
B. The "biennial budget pilot project" is created as a four-year project to determine whether biennial budgeting enhances the state's budget process. The biennial budget pilot project shall commence with preparation of the fiscal year 2008 budget and conclude at the end of fiscal year 2011. The biennium beginning July 1, 2007 shall be the 2008-2009 biennium.
C. The department shall administer the biennial budget pilot project in consultation with the committee through the evaluation team; provided, however, that before commencing the pilot project, the evaluation team shall submit a plan for administering the project to the department, the committee and the New Mexico legislative council.
D. For the duration of the biennial budget pilot project, the requirements of Sections 6-3-6, 6-3-7, 6-3-10, 6-3-11, 6-3-18, 6-3-19, 6-3-20, 6-3A-5, 6-3A-6, 6-3A-7, 6-5-10 and 6-10-4 NMSA 1978 shall be implemented for participating agencies on a biennial basis rather than an annual basis as specified in current statutory provisions. In particular, the biennial budget process shall operate as follows for participating agencies:
(1) on or before June 15 of each even-numbered year, the division shall send to each participating agency biennial budget forms that provide for the collection of the information in Sections 6-3-18 and 6-3A-7 NMSA 1978 for the biennium last completed, the current biennium and the succeeding biennium;
(2) on or before June 15 of each odd-numbered year, the division shall send to each participating agency supplemental budget forms to be submitted by participating agencies that plan to request a deficiency appropriation or supplemental appropriation for the remainder of the biennium. The division shall prescribe the information required for each deficiency appropriation or supplemental appropriation request;
(3) each participating agency shall fill out the forms provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection in the manner prescribed by the division. Complete budget forms shall be returned to the division and to the committee no later than September 1 of each year. Participating agencies shall not fill out or complete any budget forms in odd-numbered years when the agencies do not plan to request a deficiency appropriation or a supplemental appropriation for the remainder of the biennium;
(4) the governor shall include biennial budget recommendations for participating agencies in the governor's budget submission to the committee and to each member of the legislature pursuant to Section 6-3-21 NMSA 1978 in odd-numbered years and shall include supplemental and deficiency recommendations for participating agencies in the governor's budget submission to the committee and to each member of the legislature pursuant to Section 6-3-21 NMSA 1978 in even-numbered years;
(5) each participating agency shall, on or before May 1 of each odd-numbered year, submit to the division a budget for each of the ensuing two fiscal years in the form prescribed by the division and containing information as may be prescribed by law or by rule of the division. No expenditures shall be made by any participating agency for the biennium covered by the budget until the budget has been approved by the division;
(6) the division, subject to the approval of the secretary of finance and administration, may provide rules for the periodic allotment of funds that may be expended by a participating agency. The expenditures of a participating agency for the first eighteen-month period of each biennium shall be limited to three-fourths of the appropriation or approved budget, whichever is less, for that biennium; provided that this restriction does not apply to those agencies whose operations are more efficiently measured by periods other than a fiscal year and further provided that the department may also allow expenditure of more than three-fourths of the appropriation or approved budget for those agencies planning major expenditures for capital outlay; and
(7) unexpended or unencumbered balances in reverting funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year ending in an even-numbered year shall not revert, and all unreserved, undesignated fund balances in reverting funds and accounts as reflected in the central financial reporting and accounting system as of June 30 of the second year of the biennium shall revert by September 30. The department may adjust the reversion within forty-five days of release of the audit report for that biennium. The director of the financial control division of the department may modify a reversion if the reversion would violate federal law or rules pertaining to the supplanting of state funds with federal funds or other applicable federal provisions.
E. The evaluation team may exempt agencies from participation in the pilot project. After two years of the biennial budget pilot project, the evaluation team shall recommend to the New Mexico legislative council, the committee and the governor whether the biennial budget process should be expanded to include additional state agencies.
F. The department and the committee shall appoint the "joint biennial budget pilot project staff evaluation team", consisting of two staff members of the division and two staff members of the committee. Members of the evaluation team shall perform duties enumerated in this subsection in addition to their usual responsibilities with no additional compensation. The evaluation team shall:
(1) determine base-line data for each participating agency's performance measures; the number of budget analysts employed by the agency, job titles of other agency personnel who devote time to preparing annual budget proposals and the number of hours spent by each in budget preparation; the estimated cost of printing, postage, supplies and other operating expenses used in preparing annual budget proposals; the overtime or compensatory time paid to employees to prepare annual budget proposals; the number of budget hearings attended by agency personnel; the number, types and amounts of budget adjustment requests by each budget program; and the number of supplemental and deficiency requests by each budget program;
(2) develop comparisons of base-line data and comparable agency data during the biennial budget pilot project;
(3) if funding becomes available, contract with the national conference of state legislatures, the national association of state budget officers or any other external consultant or organization for an external evaluation of the biennial budget pilot project;
(4) regularly report and consult with a subcommittee of the committee appointed for the purpose of advising the evaluation team and overseeing the biennial budget pilot project; and
(5) provide an annual report on the biennial budget pilot project to the New Mexico legislative council, the committee and the governor by August 1 of each year.
G. Annual reports shall include, at a minimum, comparison of participating agencies' performance measures and budget preparation staffing and costs before and during the pilot project and changes in budget staffing; and deliberations in the department and committee. The evaluation team shall provide a final report in August 2010 with recommendations regarding continuation or expansion of biennial budgeting as well as modifications in the biennial budgeting process.
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