Bill Text: WV HB3051 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Appropriation Supremacy Act of 2017
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-10 - To House Judiciary [HB3051 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB3051-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.
A BILL to amend the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, by adding thereto a new article, designated §4-4-1, §4-4-2,
§4-4-3, §4-4-4, §4-4-5 and §4-4-6, all relating to the Appropriation Supremacy
Act of 2017; providing title; defining appropriation; stating findings and
purpose; establishing that appropriations by the Legislature take precedence
over contrary directives in statute or rules; providing for liberal
construction of article; and recognizing Constitutional restrictions on
appropriations.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article,
designated §4-4-1, §4-4-2, §4-4-3, §4-4-4, §4-4-5 and §4-4-6, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4. Appropriation Supremecy Act.
§4-4-1. Short Title.
This article may be
cited as the “Appropriation Supremacy Act of 2017”.
§4-4-2. “Appropriation”
defined.
When used herein, “appropriation”
means an appropriation enacted by the Legislature as contemplated by Article
VI, Section 51 of the West Virginia Constitution and by Article X, Section 3 of
the West Virginia Constitution. The term “appropriation” includes both a budget
bill and a supplementary appropriation bill, and any and all individual appropriations
contained in either.
§4-4-3. Legislative
findings and purpose.
The Legislature hereby
finds that among the Legislature’s most solemn and important duties is its duty
under Article VI of the West Virginia Constitution to enact a budget each year,
thereby providing the legal authority for the expenditures for the operation of
the government of West Virginia.
Over the course of many
years, many statutes have been enacted, the effect of which is to shield moneys
which are paid to the state from appropriations as general revenue. The various
methods used over time for the insulation of such moneys from appropriation as
general revenue include, but are not limited to, the creation and utilization
of special revenue accounts, statutory directives on how moneys are to be expended,
and other mechanisms which have been enacted to create ongoing, continuing, or
automatically recurring expenditures of designated streams of revenue.
The purpose of this
article is to make clear that an appropriation by the Legislature in a budget
bill or supplementary appropriation bill enacted at any time after the
enactment of this article shall take precedence over any and all contrary
directives for expenditures established by law for that budget year, and that
no repeal or amendment of any statute, rule, or other law that would direct the
use or expenditure of money otherwise than as directed by the appropriation is
required.
§4-4-4. Legislative
authority to appropriate.
Notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, every statute or rule that directs the
expenditure of money in any fashion or for any purpose, whether appropriated or
not, including, but not limited to, statutes directing the expenditure,
payment, or utilization of moneys or streams of money that are not
appropriated, is subject to the provisions of this article, and the Legislature
may appropriate such sums, or such portions thereof, as the Legislature shall
deem necessary. The enactment by the Legislature of an appropriation of any
such money or moneys shall take precedence and priority for the budget year in
or for which the appropriation is made over any and all contrary directives
contained in any statute or rule as to how such money shall be expended or
utilized to the extent of the appropriation.
§4-4-5. Construction
of article.
This article is to be
liberally construed in favor of the Legislature’s authority to appropriate
funds. Where there is a conflict between an appropriation and any other law,
the appropriation shall prevail and be given priority, unless a statute in
conflict with an appropriation expressly provides that the directive for an
expenditure contained therein supersedes and takes priority over the provisions
of this article, which such statute may accomplish only by making a specific
reference to this article. This rule of construction is enacted to negate any
possibility that a statute enacted or reenacted after the enactment of this article
may be construed as to superseding this article, as a subsequent enactment of
the Legislature, without a provision therein expressly providing that its
directive supersedes the provisions of this article.
§4-4-6. Constitutional
constraints upon appropriations recognized.
In enacting this
article, the Legislature recognizes that, as to some moneys collected by the
state, the Constitution of West Virginia imposes upon the Legislature certain
restrictions on the authority of the Legislature to appropriate such funds for
general purposes, such as the restrictions which are found in sections 52 and
55 of Article VI of the Constitution of West Virginia. The Legislature
recognizes the Constitutional restrictions which apply to the Legislature’s
authority to appropriate moneys, and no provision of this article should be
interpreted so as to ascribe to the provisions of this article any intention on
the part of the Legislature to thwart or contravene any Constitutional prohibitions
or mandates.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to make more flexible the ability of the Legislature to craft a budget to
address the needs of the state without the need to amend general law.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.
