Senate Bill No. 583
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Buckalew
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 18, 1998; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty, article two, chapter
five-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the
amount of money that can be borrowed from the revenue
shortfall reserve fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty, article two, chapter five-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§5A-2-20. Reduction of appropriations; powers of governor;
revenue shortfall reserve fund and permissible expenditures therefrom.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the
governor may reduce appropriations according to any of the methods set forth in sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this
article. The governor may, in lieu of imposing a reduction in
appropriations, request an appropriation by the Legislature from
the revenue shortfall reserve fund established in this section.
(b) A revenue shortfall reserve fund is hereby continued
within the state treasury. The revenue shortfall reserve fund
shall be funded as set forth in this subsection from surplus
revenues, if any, in the state fund, general revenue, as the
surplus revenues may accrue from time to time. Within sixty
days of the end of each fiscal year, the secretary shall cause to
be deposited into the revenue shortfall reserve fund the first
fifty percent of all surplus revenues, if any, determined to have
accrued during the fiscal year just ended. The revenue shortfall
reserve fund shall be funded continuously and on a revolving
basis in accordance with this subsection up to an aggregate
amount not to exceed five percent of the total appropriations
from the state fund, general revenue, for the fiscal year just
ended. If at the end of any fiscal year the revenue shortfall
reserve fund is funded at an amount equal to or exceeding five
percent of the state's general revenue fund budget for the fiscal
year just ended, then there shall be no further obligation of the
secretary under the provisions of this section to apply any
surplus revenues as set forth in this subsection until such time
as the revenue shortfall reserve fund balance is less than five percent of the total appropriations from the state fund, general
revenue.
(c) Not earlier than the first day of November of each
calendar year, if the state's fiscal circumstances are such as to
otherwise trigger the authority of the governor to reduce
appropriations under section twenty, twenty-one or twenty-two of
this article, then in that event the governor may notify the
presiding officers of both houses of the Legislature in writing
of his or her intention to convene the Legislature pursuant to
section 19, article VI of the West Virginia Constitution for the
purpose of requesting the introduction of a supplementary
appropriation bill or to request a supplementary appropriation
bill at the next preceding regular session of the Legislature to
draw money from the surplus revenue shortfall reserve fund to
meet any anticipated revenue shortfall. If the Legislature fails
to enact a supplementary appropriation from the revenue shortfall
reserve fund during any special legislative session called for
the purposes set forth in this section or during the next
preceding regular session of the Legislature, then the governor
may proceed with a reduction of appropriations pursuant to
sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this article. Should any
amount drawn from the revenue shortfall reserve fund pursuant to
an appropriation made by the Legislature prove insufficient to
address any anticipated shortfall, then the governor may also proceed with a reduction of appropriations pursuant to sections
twenty-one and twenty-two of this article.
(d) Upon the creation of the fund, the Legislature is
authorized and may make an appropriation from the revenue
shortfall reserve fund for revenue shortfalls, for emergency
revenue needs caused by acts of God or natural disasters or for
other fiscal needs as determined solely by the Legislature.
(e) Prior to the thirty-first day of October, in any fiscal
year in which revenues are inadequate to make timely payments of
the state's obligations, the governor may by executive order,
after first notifying the presiding officers of both houses of
the Legislature in writing, borrow funds from the revenue
shortfall reserve fund. The amount of funds borrowed under this
subsection shall not exceed one and one-half percent of the
general revenue estimate for the fiscal year in which the funds
are to be borrowed, or the amount the governor determines is
necessary to make timely payment of the state's obligations,
whichever is less. Any funds borrowed pursuant to this
subsection shall be repaid, without interest, and redeposited to
the credit of the revenue shortfall reserve fund within ninety
days of their withdrawal.
NOTE: This bill increases the amount of funds that can be
borrowed from the revenue shortfall reserve fund from one percent
to one and one-half percent of the estimated general revenue for the fiscal year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.