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PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 2560, 3356
PRINTER'S NO. 3476
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1843
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY GROVE, THOMAS, FEE, ROTHMAN, BARRAR, PHILLIPS-
HILL, KAUFFMAN, LAWRENCE, BERNSTINE, McGINNIS, MILLARD,
WHEELAND, KEEFER, ZIMMERMAN, DUSH, MOUL AND RYAN,
OCTOBER 11, 2017
AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
MAY 1, 2018
AN ACT
Amending Title 72 (Taxation and Fiscal Affairs) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for budget and
for financial transparency.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 72 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding chapters to read:
CHAPTER 3
BUDGET
Sec.
301. Agency budget documents.
§ 301. Agency budget documents.
An agency submitting documentation used by the Office of the
Budget for preparation of the Governor's budget submission to
the General Assembly under section 613 of the act of April 9,
1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of
1929, shall place the original, unedited documents on the
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agency's publicly accessible Internet website and the agency
shall electronically notify members of the General Assembly. The
documents shall be available no later than the first Monday of
November 2018 and every year thereafter.
CHAPTER 5
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Sec.
501. DEFINITIONS.
501 502 . State Treasury transparency portal.
502 503 . Duties of Commonwealth agencies.
503 504 . Commonwealth checkbook.
§ 501. DEFINITIONS.
THE FOLLOWING WORDS AND PHRASES WHEN USED IN THIS CHAPTER
SHALL HAVE THE MEANINGS GIVEN TO THEM IN THIS SECTION UNLESS THE
CONTEXT CLEARLY INDICATES OTHERWISE:
"COMMONWEALTH AGENCY." ANY OFFICE, AUTHORITY, BOARD,
MULTISTATE AGENCY OR COMMISSION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, AN
INDEPENDENT AGENCY OR A STATE-AFFILIATED ENTITY. THE TERM
INCLUDES ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
(2) THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.
(3) THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL.
(4) THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
(5) AN ORGANIZATION ESTABLISHED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF
PENNSYLVANIA, A STATUTE OR AN EXECUTIVE ORDER WHICH PERFORMS
OR IS INTENDED TO PERFORM AN ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTION.
(6) A LEGISLATIVE AGENCY.
(7) A JUDICIAL AGENCY.
"INDEPENDENT AGENCY." ANY OFFICE, AUTHORITY, BOARD OR AGENCY
OF THE COMMONWEALTH THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE POLICY,
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SUPERVISION OR CONTROL OF THE GOVERNOR.
"JUDICIAL AGENCY." ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
(2) THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
(3) THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA.
(4) THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS.
"LEGISLATIVE AGENCY." AS DEFINED IN SECTION 102 OF THE ACT
OF FEBRUARY 14, 2008 (P.L.6, NO.3), KNOWN AS THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW
LAW.
"STATE-AFFILIATED AGENCY." ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) THE PENNSYLVANIA GAMING CONTROL BOARD.
(2) THE PENNSYLVANIA HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY.
(3) THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
§ 501 502 . State Treasury transparency portal.
(a) Development.--The State Treasurer shall develop and
maintain on the Treasury Department's publicly accessible
Internet website a transparency portal with information relating
to the Commonwealth's finances. The following shall apply:
(1) The transparency portal shall be made available to
the public and include figures and visual aids to demonstrate
growth or reduction in expenditures and revenue starting no
later than the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
(2) The visual aids required under paragraph (1) shall
include, but not be limited to, charts and graphs.
(3) Information provided by the Treasury Department
shall be made available to the public to download either as
an image or AND spreadsheet document.
(b) General Fund information.--The State Treasurer shall
provide on the transparency portal an analysis of the General
(B) GENERAL FUND INFORMATION.--THE FOLLOWING SHALL APPLY:
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(1) THE STATE TREASURER SHALL PROVIDE ON THE
TRANSPARENCY PORTAL AN ANALYSIS OF THE GENERAL Fund updated
to accurately reflect the General Fund at the end of the
prior day, including:
(1) Cash flow within the General Fund which shall
include a line graph showing changes in cash flow with a
range starting from the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
(2) The current General Fund balance.
(3) General fund expenditures. The following shall
apply:
(i) The public shall be able to delineate
expenditures made out of the General Fund by the
Commonwealth agency that made the expenditure.
(ii) In order to provide the information required
under this subsection, each Commonwealth agency shall
provide the data to the Treasury Department in a file
format stipulated by the Treasury Department through
interface files.
(4) General Fund revenues, including information
relating to the difference between estimated revenues for the
given fiscal year and actual revenues collected. The Treasury
Department shall also include a graph comparing changes
within the General Fund revenues and General Fund
expenditures starting with the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
(I) CASH FLOW WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND WHICH SHALL
INCLUDE A LINE GRAPH SHOWING CHANGES IN CASH FLOW WITH A
RANGE STARTING FROM THE 2014-2015 FISCAL YEAR.
(II) THE CURRENT GENERAL FUND BALANCE.
(III) GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES. THE PUBLIC SHALL BE
ABLE TO DELINEATE EXPENDITURES UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH BY
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APPROPRIATION PAID OUT OF THE GENERAL FUND BY THE
COMMONWEALTH AGENCY THAT MADE THE EXPENDITURE.
(IV) GENERAL FUND REVENUES, INCLUDING INFORMATION
RELATING TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ESTIMATED REVENUES
PROVIDED BY THE INDEPENDENT FISCAL OFFICE UNDER SECTION
605-B OF THE ACT OF APRIL 9, 1929 (P.L.177, NO.175),
KNOWN AS THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF 1929, FOR THE GIVEN
FISCAL YEAR AND ACTUAL REVENUES COLLECTED. THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT SHALL ALSO INCLUDE A GRAPH COMPARING CHANGES
WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND REVENUES AND GENERAL FUND
EXPENDITURES STARTING WITH THE 2018-2019 FISCAL YEAR.
(2) IN ORDER TO ASSIST THE STATE TREASURER IN COMPILING
THE INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION FOR THE
ANALYSIS OF THE GENERAL FUND, EACH COMMONWEALTH AGENCY SHALL
PROVIDE THE INFORMATION TO THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT IN A FILE
FORMAT SPECIFIED BY THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT THROUGH INTERFACE
FILES.
(c) Budget information.--The State Treasurer shall provide
on the transparency portal information relating to the General
Fund to accurately reflect the Commonwealth's finances at the
end of the close of business the previous day, including:
(1) Expenditures from each of the Commonwealth's special
or restricted funds ACCOUNTS , including a breakdown of
COMMONWEALTH agency expenditures from within those funds.
(2) Daily changes in revenue and expenditures for the
Commonwealth's special and restricted funds. The information
shall be made available as a line and bar graph with figures
to reflect changes in the graph.
(3) In order to implement this subsection, each
Commonwealth agency shall provide the Treasury Department
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data collected under the Pennsylvania Web Accountability and
Transparency (PennWATCH) Act, in a file format stipulated by
the Treasury Department through interface files.
(d) Commonwealth TREASURY investment information.--The State
Treasurer shall provide information on the transparency portal
relating to the Commonwealth's investments MANAGED BY THE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT . The information shall include money
invested by the Commonwealth into both short-term and long-term
investments. The following shall apply:
(1) The State Treasurer shall include from which fund
money was moved by the State Treasurer for the purposes of
short-term or long-term investment.
(2) The State Treasurer shall ensure the information is
updated to reflect changes in investment and fund balances
from the close of business the previous day. THE DAILY
BALANCES OF EACH FUND WITHIN THE INVESTMENT POOLS MANAGED BY
THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. THE STATE TREASURER SHALL ENSURE THE
INFORMATION IS UPDATED TO REFLECT CHANGES IN INVESTMENT POOLS
AND ACCOUNT BALANCES FROM THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS THE PREVIOUS
DAY.
(e) Commonwealth programs.--The State Treasurer shall
include in the transparency portal an analysis of the
appropriations for Commonwealth programs based on the
appropriations at the close of business for the prior day. The
analysis shall include each appropriation, total budgeted
appropriation, total augmenting revenue, total spent
appropriation and percentage of the total appropriation spent.
(f) Commonwealth Financial Watch.-- The State Treasurer shall
include in the transparency portal a Commonwealth Financial
Watch which includes:
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(1) The top 20 cost drivers HIGHEST EXPENDITURES AS
DESIGNATED BY APPROPRIATION within the General Fund during
the current fiscal year starting with the 2018-2019 fiscal
year.
(2) The 10 Commonwealth agencies with the highest dollar
amount of General Fund expenditures during the current fiscal
year starting with 2018-2019 fiscal year, including the
percent of the Commonwealth agency's General Fund
appropriation spent.
(g) Time period.--All information provided under this
section shall reflect changes within the Commonwealth's finances
FUNDS starting no later than the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
§ 502 503. Duties of Commonwealth agencies.
A Commonwealth agency shall provide the State Treasurer the
data required for the operation of the transparency portal under
section 501 502 (relating to State Treasury transparency portal )
in a file format stipulated by the Treasury Department through
interface files.
§ 503 504. Commonwealth checkbook.
(a) Access.--The Office of the Budget shall provide access
to the Integrated Central System under section 620.1 of the act
of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative
Code of 1929, with inquiry-only screens on its publicly
accessible Internet website to the following:
(1) Members of the General Assembly.
(2) The Independent Fiscal Office.
(3) The Department of the Auditor General.
(4) The general public.
(b) Expenses.--The Office of the Budget shall pay for any
expenses to implement this section with unencumbered funds.
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Section 2. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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