Bill Text: MS SB2471 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Standards for the award of grants and subsidies by the state; prescribe.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2018-01-30 - Died In Committee [SB2471 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2018-SB2471-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Hill
Senate Bill 2471
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-129, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PRESCRIBE STANDARDS FOR THE AWARD OF GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES FUNDED BY THE STATE GENERAL FUND OR A STATE SPECIAL FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-103-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-103-129. (1) To enable the Legislative Budget Office to prepare such budget, it shall have full and plenary power and authority to require all general-fund and special-fund agencies and the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Division of State Aid Road Construction of the Mississippi Department of Transportation to file a budget request with such information and in such form and in such detail as it may deem necessary and advisable, and it shall have the further power and authority to reduce or eliminate any item or items of requested appropriation by any state agency in the Legislative Budget Office's recommended budget to the Legislature. However, where any item of requested appropriation shall be so reduced or eliminated, the head of the agency involved shall have the right to appear before the appropriate legislative committee to urge a revision of the budget to restore the item reduced or eliminated. The budget requests shall include a definition of the mission of the agency, a description of the duties and responsibilities of the agency, financial data relative to the various programs operated by the agency and performance measures associated with each program of the agency. The performance measures to be contained within the agency budget request shall be developed by cooperative efforts of the Legislative Budget Office, the Department of Finance and Administration and the agency itself and shall be approved jointly by the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration prior to inclusion within the agency budget request. The budget requests shall also include in an addendum format a five-year strategic plan for the agency which shall include, but not be limited to, the following items of information:
(a) A comprehensive mission statement,
(b) Performance effectiveness objectives for each program of the agency for each of the five (5) years covered by the plan,
(c) A description of significant external factors which may affect the projected levels of performance,
(d) A description of the agency's internal management system utilized to evaluate its performance achievements in relationship to the targeted performance levels,
(e) An evaluation by the agency of the agency's performance achievements in relationship to the targeted performance levels for the two (2) preceding fiscal years for which accounting records have been finalized.
(2) All agencies enumerated in subsection (1) of this section shall include in their budget requests the following information regarding contract workers for the most recently completed fiscal year:
(a) The name of each worker;
(b) The specific type of services provided;
(c) Hourly rate of compensation, or the basis for compensation if a rate other than the hourly rate is used;
(d) Total gross salary or wages paid; and
(e) Whether the worker is a retired member of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
(3) (a) In addition to any other information required by law, each state agency, general-fund agency and special-fund agency, as defined in Section 27-103-103, desiring to purchase any vehicle as defined by this section shall submit as part of its budget request to the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration a detailed justification for the proposed purchase. The Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration shall jointly prescribe the forms and formats to be used by agencies making the requests. Such forms shall require, at minimum, the following information:
(i) The kind of vehicle to be purchased;
(ii) The person to whom the vehicle will be assigned and the employment responsibilities of that person which necessitate a state-owned vehicle;
(iii) Whether the vehicle is a work vehicle or passenger vehicle; and
(iv) If the vehicle is assigned to a pool and not an individual, the purposes for which the pool vehicle is assigned and the names of the anticipated users of the pool vehicle.
(b) The Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration shall offer a recommendation to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on all agency requests for vehicles. In making the recommendation, the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration may consider break-even analyses for the kind of vehicle requested, the travel patterns of the person for whom the vehicle shall be acquired, and shall determine if there exists surplus vehicles in the possession of other agencies that could be used as a substitute for a new vehicle and why such vehicle should not be used. The purchase of vehicles by an agency shall be a specific line item in the agency's appropriation bill.
(c) If an agency determines that an urgent need exists for a vehicle when it is not feasible to obtain prior legislative approval, the agency may make an emergency request to the Bureau of Fleet Management. Any emergency determination shall be made only upon the existence of extraordinary circumstances. The Bureau of Fleet Management shall make a recommendation to the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration and shall give notification of such recommendation to the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations Committees. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall have the final authority to approve or disapprove the emergency request. The executive director must set forth specific reasons for approval which shall be a public record. If approved and if adequate funding is available, the agency may purchase a specific vehicle to meet its specific emergency needs. The Bureau of Fleet Management shall report any emergency purchase to the Legislative Budget Office. Any such vehicle shall be subject to the same rules and regulations as provided for nonemergency vehicles.
(d) For purposes of subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the term "passenger vehicle" shall mean a vehicle used primarily in transporting agency personnel and the agency's equipment from one location to another. This term shall include only those vehicles for which a license plate or tag is required under Chapter 19, Title 27, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(e) For purposes of subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the term "work vehicle" shall mean a vehicle used primarily to perform a work assignment or task while incidentally transporting agency personnel and agency equipment from one location to another. This term shall include only those vehicles for which a license plate or tag is required under Chapter 19, Title 27, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(4) All state agencies, special-fund agencies and general-fund agencies making budget requests under the authority of this section shall include with their budget requests a report of all passenger and work vehicles in their possession. Such report shall detail the persons to whom the vehicles are assigned and the purposes for the vehicles.
(5) Subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall not apply to any vehicle assigned to a sworn officer of the Department of Public Safety and used in undercover operations.
(6) The provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall not apply to any state institution of higher learning.
(7) The purchase of wireless communication devices as defined in Section 25-53-191 by any state agency, special-fund agency or general-fund agency making budget requests under the authority of this section shall be a specific line item in the agency's appropriation bill.
(8) (a) Beginning with the fiscal year 2017 budget submission, the Legislative Budget Office shall annually publish on its website all budget requests submitted under the authority of this section by state agencies, special-fund agencies and general-fund agencies and shall include all budget units for which budget requests are submitted.
(b) Beginning with the fiscal year 2017 budget submission, any state agency, special-fund agency and general-fund agency making a budget request under the authority of this section shall annually publish on its agency website a copy of the budget request that it submitted.
(9) Beginning with the fiscal year 2019 budget submission, all general-fund and special-fund agencies and the Mississippi Department of Transportation shall be required to meet the following standards for grants and subsidies funded by appropriation by the Legislature: Grants and subsidies shall be awarded only to individuals who, and organizations that
(a) Are licensed or accredited, in accordance with federal, state, or county statutes, rules, or ordinances, to conduct the activities or provide the services for which a grant or subsidy is awarded;
(b) Comply with all applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, age, or disability; and
(c) Agree not to use state funds for entertainment or lobbying activities.
(d) In addition, a grant or subsidy may be made to an organization only if the organization:
(i) Is incorporated under the laws of the State; and
(ii) Has bylaws or policies that describe the manner in which the activities or services for which a grant or subsidy is awarded shall be conducted or provided.
(iii) Has been determined and designated to be a nonprofit organization by the Internal Revenue Service; and
(iv) Has a governing board whose members have no material conflict of interest and serve without compensation.
(e) If a grant is used by an organization for the acquisition of land, when the organization discontinues the activities or services on the land acquired for which the grant or subsidy was awarded and disposes of the land in fee simple or by lease, the organization shall negotiate with the expending agency for a lump-sum or installment repayment to the state of the amount of the grant or subsidy used for the acquisition of the land. This restriction shall be registered, recorded, and indexed in the Office of the Secretary of State and land records of the Chancery Clerk's Office as an encumbrance on the property. Amounts received from the repayment of a grant or subsidy under this subsection shall be deposited into the State General Fund.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.
