PRINTER'S NO. 2331
No. 1543 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY PICCOLA, RAFFERTY, BROWNE, EICHELBERGER, EARLL AND
BRUBAKER, AUGUST 20, 2008
REFERRED TO APPROPRIATIONS, AUGUST 20, 2008
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled
2 "An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the
3 executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the
4 Executive Department thereof and the administrative
5 departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
6 including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
7 Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
8 authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
9 departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
11 officers, and of the several administrative departments,
12 boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
13 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
14 and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
15 certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
16 other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
17 and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
18 number and compensation of the deputies and all other
19 assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
20 commissions shall be determined," in Commonwealth budget
21 procedures, providing for general appropriation procedure;
22 and further providing for transmission of budget information
23 to General Assembly.
24 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
25 hereby enacts as follows:
26 Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known
27 as The Administrative Code of 1929, is amended by adding a
28 section to read:
1 Section 613.1. General Appropriation Procedure.--(a) Upon
2 presentation of the budget under section 619(b), the Majority
3 Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House of
4 Representatives must introduce the general appropriations bill.
5 The following apply to that bill:
6 (1) The House of Representatives must pass the bill by June
7 1.
8 (2) The Senate must pass the bill by June 15.
9 (3) The bill must be presented to the Governor for approval
10 by June 30.
11 (b) If a chamber of the General Assembly fails to meet a
12 time requirement under subsection (a), no member of that chamber
13 may receive compensation until appropriate action is taken to
14 accomplish the result required by subsection (a).
15 Section 2. Section 619 of the act, added September 27, 1978
16 (P.L.775, No.149), is amended to read:
17 Section 619. Transmission of Budget Information to the
18 General Assembly.--(a) In December of each year, the Governor
19 shall meet with the Majority and Minority Chairmen of the
20 Appropriations Committees and the officers of the General
21 Assembly to brief the legislative leadership on the issues he
22 can foresee as being imminent in the budget for the next fiscal
23 year and exchange views with them on issues on the budget before
24 it is formally submitted to the General Assembly. The Governor's
25 briefing shall include:
26 (1) Major anticipated increases or decreases in programs.
27 (2) The results or anticipated results of employee union
28 negotiations for salaries, wages and other benefits.
29 (3) The statistics involved in preliminary forecasts of the
30 major programs mandated by statute such as education subsidies,
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1 all public assistance programs, debt service and forecasts of
2 revenue.
3 (4) Other appropriate budget information.
4 The legislative officers shall also inform the Governor of
5 financial matters which should be considered in the budget.
6 (b) In the year the Governor is inaugurated, the Governor
7 shall present the budget to the General Assembly no later than
8 the first full week in March and in other years, no later than
9 the first full week in February. Upon presentation, section
10 613.1 applies.
11 (c) The budget shall include the results of any program
12 evaluation report completed by the Budget Office in the fiscal
13 year preceding the year in which the budget request is made. The
14 results of the evaluation report and its recommendations shall
15 be summarized and included in the budget documentation.
16 (d) The Governor and each department or agency of the
17 Commonwealth, upon request of the Chairman of the Appropriations
18 Committees of either the Senate or the House of Representatives,
19 shall provide documentation of any budget request, including
20 revenue estimates upon which the Governor's budget estimate is
21 based.
22 Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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