SENATE, No. 501

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JANUARY 22, 1996

By Senator LaROSSA

An Act concerning the disclosure of all State receipts and appropriations in the preparation and enactment of the annual State budget, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Governor's budget recommendation document transmitted to the Legislature, in addition to the information required to be set forth pursuant to section 11 of article 3 of P.L.1944, c.112 (C.52:27B-20), shall set forth in columnar form, all revenues and receipts, detailed as to each source, that may be collected by each branch, department and agency of the State government during the fiscal year covered by the budget recommendation document from fees, fines, service charges, miscellaneous charges, taxes, penalties and non-State funds required to be deposited in any account or fund within the General Treasury, without separation or division between those receipts that have been anticipated to support line-items of appropriations in prior fiscal years and those receipts considered in excess of amounts anticipated that supported appropriations authorized by language provisions in prior fiscal years.

    b. The Governor's budget recommendation document transmitted to the Legislature shall display recommended appropriations of all receipts of each branch, department and agency of the State government department during the fiscal year covered by the budget recommendation document as line-item appropriations in the appropriate State fund by program classification and further display the distribution of each line-item appropriation by major object, minor object and special purpose divisions.

    2. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the annual appropriations act shall display revenues and receipts, detailed as to each source, that may be collected by each branch, department and agency of the State government during the fiscal year from fees, fines, service charges, miscellaneous charges, taxes, penalties and non-State funds required to be deposited in any account or fund within the General Treasury, without separation or division between those receipts that have been anticipated to support line-items of appropriations in prior fiscal years and those receipts considered in excess of amounts anticipated that supported appropriations authorized by language provisions in prior fiscal years.

    b. Any act making an appropriation from any fund or account in the State general treasury to any branch, department and agency of the State government for the fiscal year shall display all appropriations and reappropriations from previous years' appropriations as line-item appropriations in the appropriate State fund by program classification and shall further display the distribution of each line-item appropriation by major object and any other special purpose, grant, aid or project divisions.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately but shall first apply to the budget recommendations of the Governor and appropriations acts for the fiscal year next commencing after enactment.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires full disclosure of the total amount of all receipts and appropriations recommended in the preparation of, and enacted in, the annual State budget. The Governor's annual budget recommendations delivered to the Legislature and the annual appropriations act will be required to display all revenues and receipts, detailed as to each source, that may be collected by each branch, department and agency of the State government during the fiscal year from fees, fines, service charges, miscellaneous charges, taxes, penalties and non-State funds required to be deposited in any account or fund within the General Treasury. The Governor's annual budget recommendations and the annual appropriations act also will be required to set out in line-item appropriations the authorized spending of all receipts of each branch, department and agency of the State government for the fiscal year and of all reappropriations from previous years' appropriations.

    This bill will require the inclusion of more than $2 billion in annual "off-budget" or "unanticipated excess receipts" that State agencies annually collect in addition to their "on-budget" or "anticipated receipts." Only the "on-budget" revenues are included as part of the annual anticipated revenues certified to support the amount of spending itemized in the State budget. The bill will also require the full disclosure through line-item display of all "off-budget" expenditures that are typically authorized by the several hundred language provisions in the annual appropriations act. It is the intent of this bill to provide the maximum disclosure of the State's annual fiscal plan reflected in the State budget.

Requires full disclosure of State receipts and appropriations in the

annual State budget.