2015 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 39 - Public Finance
RS 39:51 - General Appropriation Bill; other appropriation bills

SUBPART B. OPERATING BUDGET ENACTMENT

§51. General Appropriation Bill; other appropriation bills

A.(1) The governor shall cause a General Appropriation Bill for the ordinary operating expenses of government to be introduced which shall be in conformity with the recommendations for appropriations contained in the budget estimate as provided by Article VII, Section 11(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana.

(2) The General Appropriation Bill and other appropriation bills shall not appropriate any funds, as defined in Article VII, Section 10(J) of the Constitution of Louisiana, which are not part of the official forecast except as provided for in R.S. 39:54(A)(2).

(3) In the event that the Legislative Fiscal Office reports that the budget estimate as provided by Article VII, Section 11(A) of the Constitution of Louisiana provides for appropriations out of the state general fund and dedicated funds for the ensuing fiscal year for health care as contained in Schedule 09, Department of Health and Hospitals, and for higher education as contained in Schedule 19, Higher Education and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Health Care Services Division, in amounts less than the appropriations for either purpose as contained for the same schedules in the existing operating budget for the current fiscal year as of the day the executive budget is submitted to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the governor shall cause a General Appropriation Bill to be introduced as provided by Article VII, Section 11(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana which shall provide separate recommendations for discretionary and nondiscretionary expenditures and the means of financing such expenditures which are subject to appropriation.

(4) The General Appropriation Bill and the bill appropriating funds for ancillary expenses of state government shall each be submitted for introduction no later than fourteen days after submission of the executive budget to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget as required by R.S. 39:37.

B. The General Appropriation Bill and the bill appropriating funds for ancillary expenses of state government shall include for each program, department and budget unit, comparative statements of the number of authorized positions and of the existing operating budget for a date certain to be established by the budget office for the current fiscal year and the appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year.

C. The General Appropriation Bill shall reflect specific appropriations for each agency and its programs and shall include the allocation of expenditures, itemized by category for each agency, as recommended for the ensuing fiscal year in the supporting document. The provisions of this Subsection regarding the allocation of expenditures shall not apply to any agency or program in Schedule 19, Higher Education, or Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Health Care Services Division.

D. The bill appropriating funds for the expenses of the legislature and the bill appropriating funds for the expenses of the judiciary shall be submitted by the legislature and the judiciary, respectively, for introduction no later than forty-five days prior to each regular session of the legislature, except that during the first year of each term they shall be submitted no later than thirty days prior to the regular session of the legislature. The bill appropriating funds for the expenses of the legislature and the bill appropriating funds for the expenses of the judiciary shall include a comparative statement of the existing operating budget for the current fiscal year and the appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year.

E. The Five Year Estimated Revenue Loss Chart from the most recent Tax Exemption Budget prepared by the Department of Revenue shall be an appendix to the General Appropriation Bill. The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget shall annually review and evaluate the Five Year Estimated Revenue Loss Chart.

F. Any appropriation bill in which a reduction in an appropriation is authorized shall designate the reduction by placing parenthesis around the amount.

Acts 1989, No. 836, §1, eff. July 1, 1989; Acts 1997, No. 1403, §2, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 1465, §2, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 2003, No. 1029, §1; Acts 2008, No. 735, §1; Acts 2010, No. 966, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2010, No. 969, §1; Acts 2013, No. 419, §1, eff. July 1, 2013; Acts 2013, No. 424, §2; Acts 2014, No. 797, §1, eff. July 1, 2014.