Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 244 (2017GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Ivory, K.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/29/2017

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• authorizes the Legislature to appropriate money from the General Fund Budget Reserve Account to finance an existing federally funded program or activity in certain circumstances; and
• makes technical corrections.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

GENERAL FUND BUDGET RESERVE ACCOUNT
AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Ken Ivory
Senate Sponsor: 
 Lincoln Fillmore
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill modifies provisions relating to the General Fund Budget Reserve Account.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ authorizes the Legislature to appropriate money from the General Fund Budget
Reserve Account to finance an existing federally funded program or activity in
certain circumstances; and
▸ makes technical corrections.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63J-1-312
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapter 214
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
63J-1-312
 is amended to read:
63J-1-312.
Establishing a General Fund Budget Reserve Account -- Providing for
deposits and expenditures from the account -- Providing for interest generated by the
account.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Education Fund budget deficit" means a situation where appropriations made by
the Legislature from the Education Fund for a fiscal year exceed the estimated revenues
adopted by the Executive Appropriations Committee of the Legislature for the Education Fund
in that fiscal year.
(b) "General Fund appropriations" means the sum of the spending authority for a fiscal
year that is:
(i) granted by the Legislature in all appropriation acts and bills; and
(ii) identified as coming from the General Fund.
(c) "General Fund budget deficit" means a situation where General Fund appropriations
made by the Legislature for a fiscal year exceed the estimated revenues adopted by the
Executive Appropriations Committee of the Legislature for the General Fund in that fiscal year.
(d) "General Fund revenue surplus" means a situation where actual General Fund
revenues collected in a completed fiscal year exceed the estimated revenues for the General
Fund for that fiscal year that were adopted by the Executive Appropriations Committee of the
Legislature.
(e) "Operating deficit" means that, at the end of the fiscal year, the unassigned fund
balance in the General Fund is less than zero.
(2) There is created within the General Fund a restricted account to be known as the
General Fund Budget Reserve Account, which is designated to receive the legislative
appropriations and the surplus revenue required to be deposited into the account by this section.
(3) (a) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(a)(ii), at the end of any fiscal year in
which the Division of Finance, in consultation with the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and in
conjunction with the completion of the annual audit by the state auditor, determines that there
is a General Fund revenue surplus, the Division of Finance shall transfer 25% of the General
Fund revenue surplus to the General Fund Budget Reserve Account.
(ii) If the transfer of 25% of the General Fund revenue surplus to the General Fund
Budget Reserve Account would cause the balance in the account to exceed 9% of General Fund
appropriations for the fiscal year in which the revenue surplus occurred, the Division of
Finance shall transfer only those funds necessary to ensure that the balance in the account
equals 9% of General Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the General Fund
revenue surplus occurred.
(iii) The Division of Finance shall calculate the amount to be transferred under this
Subsection (3)(a):
(A) after making the transfer of General Fund revenue surplus to the Medicaid Growth
Reduction and Budget Stabilization Account, as provided in Section 
63J-1-315
;
(B) before transferring from the General Fund revenue surplus any other year-end
contingency appropriations, year-end set-asides, or other year-end transfers required by law;
and
(C) excluding any direct legislative appropriation made to the General Fund Budget
Reserve Account for the fiscal year.
(b) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(b)(ii), in addition to Subsection (3)(a)(i), if
a General Fund revenue surplus exists and if, within the last 10 years, the Legislature has
appropriated any money from the General Fund Budget Reserve Account that has not been
replaced by appropriation or as provided in this Subsection (3)(b), the Division of Finance shall
transfer up to 25% more of the General Fund revenue surplus to the General Fund Budget
Reserve Account to replace the amounts appropriated, until direct legislative appropriations, if
any, and transfers from the General Fund revenue surplus under this Subsection (3)(b) have
replaced the appropriations from the account.
(ii) If the transfer under Subsection (3)(b)(i) would cause the balance in the account to
exceed 9% of General Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the revenue surplus
occurred, the Division of Finance shall transfer only those funds necessary to ensure that the
balance in the account equals 9% of General Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which
the revenue surplus occurred.
(iii) The Division of Finance shall calculate the amount to be transferred under this
Subsection (3)(b):
(A) after making the transfer of General Fund revenue surplus to the Medicaid Growth
Reduction and Budget Stabilization Account, as provided in Section 
63J-1-315
;
(B) before transferring from the General Fund revenue surplus any other year-end
contingency appropriations, year-end set-asides, or other year-end transfers required by law;
and
(C) excluding any direct legislative appropriation made to the General Fund Budget
Reserve Account for the fiscal year.
(c) For appropriations made by the Legislature to the General Fund Budget Reserve
Account, the Division of Finance shall treat those appropriations, unless otherwise specified in
the appropriation, as replacement funds for appropriations made from the account if funds were
appropriated from the General Fund Budget Reserve Account within the past 10 years and have
not yet been replaced.
(4) The Legislature may appropriate money from the General Fund Budget Reserve
Account only to:
(a) resolve a General Fund budget deficit, for the fiscal year in which the General Fund
budget deficit occurs;
(b) pay some or all of state settlement agreements approved under Title 63G, Chapter
10, State Settlement Agreements Act;
(c) pay retroactive tax refunds; [
or
]
(d) resolve an Education Fund budget deficit[
.
]
; or
(e) finance an existing federally funded program or activity when:
(i) the federal funds expected to fund the federal program or activity are not available
to fund the program or activity; and
(ii) the Legislature and governor concurrently determine that the program or activity is
essential.
(5) Interest generated from investments of money in the General Fund Budget Reserve
Account shall be deposited into the General Fund.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel