Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 11 (2021GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Thurston, N.  (Thurston’s own bill)

Final action

Governor Signed 3/11/2021

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• allows the executive director of the Department of Human Services to:
• designate up to three priority programs within the department to receive funds from other department programs that the department determines have unexpended funds from the fiscal year in which the funds were appropriated; and
• reallocate those unexpended funds to one or more of the designated priority programs;
• prohibits the department from allocating unexpended funds for personnel costs, with an exception; and
• requires the department to provide an annual report on the department's designation of priority programs to receive unexpended funds and on the department's use of reallocated unexpended funds.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUDGETARY
PROCEDURES AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Norman K. Thurston
Senate Sponsor: 
Daniel W. Thatcher
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill modifies provisions relating to the funding of Department of Human Services
programs.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ allows the executive director of the Department of Human Services to:
• designate up to three priority programs within the department to receive funds
from other department programs that the department determines have
unexpended funds from the fiscal year in which the funds were appropriated;
and
• reallocate those unexpended funds to one or more of the designated priority
programs;
▸ prohibits the department from allocating unexpended funds for personnel costs,
with an exception; and
▸ requires the department to provide an annual report on the department's designation
of priority programs to receive unexpended funds and on the department's use of
reallocated unexpended funds.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
62A-1-111
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 303
63J-1-206
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapters 152, 231, 402 and last
amended by Coordination Clause, Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 231
ENACTS:
62A-1-111.6
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
62A-1-111
 is amended to read:
62A-1-111.
Department authority.
The department may, in addition to all other authority and responsibility granted to the
department by law:
(1) adopt rules, not inconsistent with law, as the department may consider necessary or
desirable for providing social services to the people of this state;
(2) establish and manage client trust accounts in the department's institutions and
community programs, at the request of the client or the client's legal guardian or representative,
or in accordance with federal law;
(3) purchase, as authorized or required by law, services that the department is
responsible to provide for legally eligible persons;
(4) conduct adjudicative proceedings for clients and providers in accordance with the
procedures of Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act;
(5) establish eligibility standards for its programs, not inconsistent with state or federal
law or regulations;
(6) take necessary steps, including legal action, to recover money or the monetary value
of services provided to a recipient who was not eligible;
(7) set and collect fees for the department's services;
(8) license agencies, facilities, and programs, except as otherwise allowed, prohibited,
or limited by law;
(9) acquire, manage, and dispose of any real or personal property needed or owned by
the department, not inconsistent with state law;
(10) receive gifts, grants, devises, and donations; gifts, grants, devises, donations, or
the proceeds thereof, may be credited to the program designated by the donor, and may be used
for the purposes requested by the donor, as long as the request conforms to state and federal
policy; all donated funds shall be considered private, nonlapsing funds and may be invested
under guidelines established by the state treasurer;
(11) accept and employ volunteer labor or services; the department is authorized to
reimburse volunteers for necessary expenses, when the department considers that
reimbursement to be appropriate;
(12) carry out the responsibility assigned in the workforce services plan by the State
Workforce Development Board;
(13) carry out the responsibility assigned by Section 
35A-8-602
 with respect to
coordination of services for the homeless;
(14) carry out the responsibility assigned by Section 
62A-5a-105
 with respect to
coordination of services for students with a disability;
(15) provide training and educational opportunities for the department's staff;
(16) collect child support payments and any other money due to the department;
(17) apply the provisions of Title 78B, Chapter 12, Utah Child Support Act, to parents
whose child lives out of the home in a department licensed or certified setting;
(18) establish policy and procedures, within appropriations authorized by the
Legislature, in cases where the department is given custody of a minor by the juvenile court
under Section 
78A-6-117
 or ordered to prepare an attainment plan for a minor found not
competent to proceed under Section 
78A-6-1301
; any policy and procedures shall include:
(a) designation of interagency teams for each juvenile court district in the state;
(b) delineation of assessment criteria and procedures;
(c) minimum requirements, and timeframes, for the development and implementation
of a collaborative service plan for each minor placed in department custody; and
(d) provisions for submittal of the plan and periodic progress reports to the court;
(19) carry out the responsibilities assigned to the department by statute;
(20) examine and audit the expenditures of any public funds provided to local
substance abuse authorities, local mental health authorities, local area agencies on aging, and
any person, agency, or organization that contracts with or receives funds from those authorities
or agencies. Those local authorities, area agencies, and any person or entity that contracts with
or receives funds from those authorities or area agencies, shall provide the department with any
information the department considers necessary. The department is further authorized to issue
directives resulting from any examination or audit to local authorities, area agencies, and
persons or entities that contract with or receive funds from those authorities with regard to any
public funds. If the department determines that it is necessary to withhold funds from a local
mental health authority or local substance abuse authority based on failure to comply with state
or federal law, policy, or contract provisions, it may take steps necessary to ensure continuity of
services. For purposes of this Subsection (20) "public funds" means the same as that term is
defined in Section 
62A-15-102
;
(21) pursuant to Subsection 
62A-2-106
(1)(d), accredit one or more agencies and
persons to provide intercountry adoption services;
(22) within appropriations authorized by the Legislature, promote and develop a
system of care and stabilization services:
(a) in compliance with Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code; and
(b) that encompasses the department, department contractors, and the divisions,
offices, or institutions within the department, to:
(i) navigate services, funding resources, and relationships to the benefit of the children
and families whom the department serves;
(ii) centralize department operations, including procurement and contracting;
(iii) develop policies that govern business operations and that facilitate a system of care
approach to service delivery;
(iv) allocate resources that may be used for the children and families served by the
department or the divisions, offices, or institutions within the department, subject to the
restrictions in Section 
63J-1-206
;
(v) create performance-based measures for the provision of services; and
(vi) centralize other business operations, including data matching and sharing among
the department's divisions, offices, and institutions; [
and
]
(23) ensure that any training or certification required of a public official or public
employee, as those terms are defined in Section 
63G-22-102
, complies with Title 63G, Chapter
22, State Training and Certification Requirements, if the training or certification is required:
(a) under this title;
(b) by the department; or
(c) by an agency or division within the department[
.
]
; and
(24) reallocate unexpended funds as provided in Section 
62A-1-111.6
.
Section 2. Section 
62A-1-111.6
 is enacted to read:
 62A-1-111.6.
Reallocating unexpended money to designated priority programs --
Reporting -- Limitation.
(1) (a) Beginning fiscal year 2022, the department may:
(i) designate up to three existing programs, as defined in Section 
63J-1-102
, within the
department as priority programs to receive unrestricted General Fund money that is reallocated
under Subsection (1)(a)(ii); and
(ii) reallocate unexpended, unrestricted General Fund money from a program in one
line item within the department to one or more of the designated priority programs in another
line item within the department.
(b) The department shall make any reallocation of unexpended money under
Subsection (1)(a) before the end of the fiscal year in which the money was appropriated.
(c) The department may not make a reallocation under this section if the reallocation:
(i) results in the creation of a new program, benefit, or service;
(ii) results in a significant expansion of:
(A) a program; or
(B) the scope or type of benefit or service already provided; or
(iii) provides funding for a budget request that the Legislature previously declined.
(2) On or before December 1 of each year, the department shall report to the Social
Services Appropriations Subcommittee:
(a) on the department's designation of priority programs to receive the unexpended
money under Subsection (1)(a); and
(b) if applicable, on the department's use, during the prior fiscal year, of unexpended
money reallocated under Subsection (1).
(3) Except in accordance with pay plans developed and adopted as described in
Subsection 
67-19-12
(4)(a), the department may not allocate unexpended money under
Subsection (1) for a priority program's personnel costs.
Section 3. Section 
63J-1-206
 is amended to read:
63J-1-206.
Appropriations governed by chapter -- Restrictions on expenditures --
Transfer of funds -- Exclusion.
(1) (a) Except as provided in Subsections (1)(b) and (2)(e), or where expressly
exempted in the appropriating act:
(i) all money appropriated by the Legislature is appropriated upon the terms and
conditions set forth in this chapter; and
(ii) any department, agency, or institution that accepts money appropriated by the
Legislature does so subject to the requirements of this chapter.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(i) the Legislature and its committees; and
(ii) the Investigation Account of the Water Resources Construction Fund, which is
governed by Section 
73-10-8
.
(2) (a) Each item of appropriation is to be expended subject to any schedule of
programs and any restriction attached to the item of appropriation, as designated by the
Legislature.
(b) Each schedule of programs or restriction attached to an appropriation item:
(i) is a restriction or limitation upon the expenditure of the respective appropriation
made;
(ii) does not itself appropriate any money; and
(iii) is not itself an item of appropriation.
(c) (i) An appropriation or any surplus of any appropriation may not be diverted from
any department, agency, institution, division, or line item to any other department, agency,
institution, division, or line item.
(ii) If the money appropriated to an agency to pay lease payments under the program
established in Section 
63A-5b-703
 exceeds the amount required for the agency's lease
payments to the Division of Facilities Construction and Management, the agency may:
(A) transfer money from the lease payments line item to other line items within the
agency; and
(B) retain and use the excess money for other purposes.
(iii) The executive director of the Department of Human Services may transfer
unrestricted General Fund money appropriated to the department between line items within the
department in accordance with Section 
62A-1-111.6
.
(d) The money appropriated subject to a schedule of programs or restriction may be
used only for the purposes authorized.
(e) In order for a department, agency, or institution to transfer money appropriated to it
from one program to another program [
within a line item
], the department, agency, or
institution shall revise its budget execution plan as provided in Section 
63J-1-209
.
(f) (i) The procedures for transferring money between programs within a line item as
provided by Subsection (2)(e) do not apply to money appropriated to the State Board of
Education for the Minimum School Program or capital outlay programs created in Title 53F,
Chapter 3, State Funding -- Capital Outlay Programs.
(ii) The state superintendent may transfer money appropriated for the programs
specified in Subsection (2)(f)(i) only as provided by Section 
53F-2-205
.
(3) Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(c)(i):
(a) the state superintendent may transfer money appropriated for the Minimum School
Program between line items in accordance with Section 
53F-2-205
;
(b) the Department of Administrative Services may transfer money appropriated for the
purpose of paying the costs of paid employee postpartum recovery leave under Section
67-19-14.7
 to another department, agency, institution, or division; and
(c) the Department of Administrative Services may transfer or divert money to another
department, agency, institution, or division only for the purposes of coordinating and providing
a state response to the coronavirus.