PRINTER'S NO. 2463
No. 1988 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY MELUSKEY, DECEMBER 14, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 14, 1977
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 4, 1959 (P.L.587, No.195), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act creating and establishing the Legislative
3 Budget and Finance Committee; providing for its membership;
4 prescribing its powers, functions and duties; providing for
5 the appointment of an executive director and other personnel,
6 and making an appropriation," amending the name of the
7 committee and making certain organizational changes.
8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
9 hereby enacts as follows:
10 Section 1. The title and sections 1, 2, 3 and 4, act of
11 August 4, 1959 (P.L.587, No.195), entitled, as amended, "An act
12 creating and establishing the Legislative Budget and Finance
13 Committee; providing for its membership; prescribing its powers,
14 functions and duties; providing for the appointment of an
15 executive director and other personnel, and making an
16 appropriation," clause (8) of section 3 and section 4 amended
17 September 20, 1961 (P.L.1521, No.645), are amended to read:
18 AN ACT
1 Creating and establishing the Legislative [Budget and Finance]
2 Audit and Review Committee; providing for its membership;
3 prescribing its powers, functions and duties; providing for
1 the appointment of an executive director and other personnel,
2 and making an appropriation.
3 Section 1. There is hereby created the Legislative [Budget
4 and Finance] Audit and Review Committee which shall consist of
5 the President pro tempore of the Senate and five other members
6 of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
7 five other members of the House. The President pro tempore of
8 the Senate shall appoint the Majority Leader of the Senate, the
9 Minority Leader of the Senate and three additional members of
10 the Senate. Two of the three additional members shall be members
11 of the Minority party. The President pro tempore of the Senate,
12 the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader may designate other
13 members of the Senate to be appointed in their stead. The
14 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint the
15 Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Minority
16 Leader of the House of Representatives and three additional
17 members of the House. Two of the three additional members shall
18 be members of the Minority Party. The Speaker of the House, the
19 Majority Leader and the Minority Leader may designate other
20 members of the House to be appointed in their stead. Members of
21 the committee shall be appointed or reappointed during each
22 regular session of the General Assembly, and shall continue as
23 members until the first Tuesday in January of the next odd-
24 numbered year and until their respective successors shall be
25 appointed, provided they continue to be members of the Senate or
26 the House of Representatives. The term of office of such
27 committee members as shall not continue to be members of the
28 Senate or the House of Representatives shall cease upon the
29 convening of the next regular session of the Legislature after
30 their appointment. The committee has a continuing existence and
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1 may meet and conduct its business at any place within the
2 Commonwealth during the sessions of Legislature or any recess
3 thereof and in the interim between sessions.
4 Section 2. The committee shall have the power and duty to
5 appoint its own chairman, vice-chairman and other officers, to
6 make rules and regulations governing its proceedings and to
7 perform either through the Legislative [Budget and Finance]
8 Audit and Review Committee, or through subcommittees of the
9 Legislative [Budget and Finance] Audit and Review Committee, all
10 duties and functions relating to the study of the revenues,
11 expenditures and fiscal problems of the Commonwealth, its
12 officers, boards, committees, commissions, institutions and
13 other State agencies.
14 Section 3. The committee shall have the following powers and
15 duties:
16 (1) The committee shall have power to request, receive,
17 review, examine, study, ascertain and compare fiscal information
18 concerning the budget, the revenues and expenditures of the
19 Commonwealth and to make recommendations to the Legislature,
20 when found advisable, directed to the elimination of unnecessary
21 expenditures and to the promotion of economy in the government
22 of the Commonwealth.
23 (2) To make current examination and, when pertinent, reports
24 concerning the current condition of all State funds,
25 appropriations and other moneys, whether or not such
26 appropriations are being currently expended for the purposes and
27 within the statutory restrictions provided by the Legislature,
28 and concerning the current availability of revenue to meet
29 expenditures under appropriations.
30 (3) The committee shall report to the General Assembly when
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1 they are in session, the Governor and the Auditor General, when
2 it appears that any appropriation is being expended for purposes
3 other than the purposes for which the appropriation was
4 intended, or if it appears that any statutory restrictions or
5 provisions are being violated.
6 (4) The committee shall make reports, from time to time, to
7 the members of the Legislature and, upon request, to the
8 standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives
9 [with respect to any of its findings or recommendations of a
10 fiscal nature] solely concerning the results of performance
11 audits and program evaluations of the various departments,
12 boards, commissions and agencies of the Commonwealth. It shall
13 keep complete minutes of its meetings. The committee shall make
14 and distribute its final report to the members of the ensuing
15 Legislature not later than ten days after the convening of the
16 regular session of the Legislature.
17 (5) The committee may issue subpoenas, under the hand and
18 seal of the chairman, to compel the attendance of witnesses and
19 the production of any papers, books, accounts, documents and
20 testimony touching matters of a fiscal nature properly being
21 inquired into by the committee, to administer oaths, and to
22 cause the deposition of witnesses, either residing within or
23 without the State, to be taken in the manner prescribed by laws
24 for taking depositions in civil actions.
25 (6) Any person who wilfully neglects or refuses to comply
26 with any subpoena issued in behalf of the committee, or refuses
27 to testify to any matters regarding which he may be lawfully
28 interrogated, shall be subject to the penalties provided by the
29 laws of the Commonwealth in such cases.
30 (7) Each witness who appears before the committee by its
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1 order, other than an officer or employe of the Commonwealth,
2 shall receive for his attendance the fees and mileage provided
3 for witnesses in civil cases in courts of record, which shall be
4 audited and paid out of the funds of the committee upon the
5 presentation of proper vouchers signed by such witness and
6 approved by the chairman or vice-chairman of the committee.
7 (8) The Legislative [Budget and Finance] Audit and Review
8 Committee is authorized to appoint an executive director, and to
9 fix his compensation, who shall be the chief executive officer
10 of the committee and assist in its duties, and shall compile
11 information for the committee. The committee is authorized to
12 [select and employ other personnel that it may deem necessary in
13 the performance of its duties, and the compensation and salaries
14 shall be fixed by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee]
15 create such employe positions and establish the salary thereof,
16 as are necessary to carry out this act. All positions as
17 committee employes now existing or hereafter created shall be in
18 the classified service in conformity with the act of August 5,
19 1941 (P.L.752, No.286), known as the "Civil Service Act":
20 Provided, That persons occupying positions as committee employes
21 on the day before the effective date of this amending act shall
22 serve the maximum probationary period authorized by section 603
23 of the "Civil Service Act," beginning on the effective date of
24 this amendatory act.
25 Section 4. The duties of the executive director shall be as
26 follows:
27 (1) By continuous review of State expenditures, revenues and
28 analysis of budget to ascertain the facts, compare cost,
29 workload and other data, and make recommendations concerning the
30 State's budget and revenue of the departments, boards,
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1 commissions and agencies of the Commonwealth.
2 (2) Such other duties as shall be assigned to him by the
3 Legislative [Budget and Finance] Audit and Review Committee.
4 (3) To recommend to the committee the creation or abolition
5 of employe positions.
6 (4) To appoint employes of the committee in conformity with
7 the "Civil Service Act."
8 Section 2. This act shall take effect in six months.
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