Sec. X-1. 5 MRSA §1511, as amended by PL 2001, c. 559, Pt. V, §1, is further amended to read:
§1511. Reserve for General Fund operating capital
The State Controller may shall, at the close of each fiscal year, transfer from the 16% of the Unappropriated Surplus of the General Fund to the Reserve for General Fund Operating Capital such amounts as may be available from time to time up to an amount of $1,000,000 a year until a maximum of $50,000,000 is achieved. The State Controller is further authorized, at the close of each fiscal year, to transfer from the Unappropriated Surplus of the General Fund to the Loan Insurance Reserve amounts as may be available from time to time, up to an amount of $1,000,000 per year after the transfers have been made pursuant to section 1507. The balance of this reserve must be paid to the Finance Authority of Maine if such payment does not cause the balance in the reserve fund maintained by the authority, when added to amounts held in the Finance Authority of Maine Mortgage Insurance Fund that are not committed or encumbered for another purpose, to exceed $35,000,000. Any balance in the Loan Insurance Reserve is appropriated for this purpose.
Sec. X-2. 5 MRSA §1513, sub-§1, as corrected by RR 1999, c. 2, §1, is amended to read:
1. Maine Budget Stabilization Fund. As the first priority before any other transfer, the State Controller shall at the close of each fiscal year reserve from transfer 32% of the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund an amount equal to 1/2 the excess of total General Fund revenues received over accepted estimates in that fiscal year and transfer that amount to the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund at the beginning of the next fiscal year. Accepted revenue estimates may not be increased after adjournment of each First Regular Session of the Legislature except as provided. For the first year of the biennium, revenue estimates for the 2nd year of the biennium may be adjusted once during the Second Regular Session of the Legislature. Accepted revenue estimates may be increased for other fiscal periods only if an amount not to exceed 1/2 of the increase is transferred by the State Controller to the Rainy Day Fund at the same time from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund. The fund may not exceed 6% 10% of the total General Fund revenues received in the immediately preceding fiscal year and may not lapse, but remains in a continuing carrying account to carry out the purposes of this section. A reduction in the fund is not necessary in the event the total General Fund revenues received in the immediately preceding fiscal year are less than the total General Fund revenues received in the fiscal year 2 years previous and if the fund is at its 6% 10% limit. The limit at the close of a fiscal year is based on the total General Fund revenues received in the fiscal year being closed.
Sec. X-3. 5 MRSA §1513, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 749, §2 and affected by §3, is amended to read:
3-A. Investment proceeds; exception. At the close of every month during which the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund is at the 6% 10% limitation described in subsection 1, the State Controller shall transfer from the General Fund to the Retirement Allowance Fund established in section 17251 an amount equivalent to the investment earnings that otherwise would have been credited to the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund.
Sec. X-4. 5 MRSA §1513, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. CCCCC, §1, is amended to read:
5. Death benefits. The Governor shall allocate funds from the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund as needed to pay benefits due pursuant to Title 25, chapter 195-A. Allocations may be made upon written request of the Chief of the State Police, State Fire Marshal or Director of Maine Emergency Medical Services, and after consultation with the State Budget Officer.
Sec. X-5. 5 MRSA §1513-A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. T, §2, is repealed.
Sec. X-6. 5 MRSA §1517, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 464, §4, is amended to read:
§1517. Transfer to Retirement Allowance Fund
At the close of each fiscal year, the State Controller shall transfer from 32% of the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to the Retirement Allowance Fund established in section 17251 an amount equal to 1/2 of the balance remaining after all other required transfers from the excess of total General Fund revenues received over accepted estimates in that fiscal year and all required deductions of appropriations, financial commitments, designated funds, transfers from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund or transfers from the available balance remaining in the General Fund have been made.
General Fund revenue estimates may be made once during the First Regular Session of the Legislature and adjustments to these accepted revenue estimates may be made once during the Second Regular Session of the Legislature without mandatory transfer of funds to the Retirement Allowance Fund. If adjustments are made to those initial estimates presented to each regular session of the Legislature, an amount not to exceed 1/2 of the excess of the estimated revenue over the amounts required by law to be set aside for other purposes must be appropriated to the Retirement Allowance Fund.
Sec. X-7. 5 MRSA §1519, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. DD, §1 and affected by §2, is repealed.
Sec. X-8. 5 MRSA §1664, as amended by PL 2001, c. 559, Pt. AA, §2 and c. 702, §4 is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
The total General Fund appropriation for each fiscal year of the biennium in the Governor's budget submission to the Legislature may not exceed the General Fund appropriation of the previous fiscal year multiplied by one plus the average real personal income growth rate, as defined in section 1665, subsection 1, plus the average forecasted inflation rate. For purposes of this paragraph, "average forecasted inflation rate" means the average forecasted change in the Consumer Price Index underlying the revenue projections developed by the Revenue Forecasting Committee pursuant to chapter 151-B. This appropriation limitation may be exceeded only by the amount of the additional costs or the lost federal revenue from the following exceptional circumstances: unfunded or under-funded new federal mandates; losses in federal revenues or other revenue sources; citizens' initiatives or referenda that require increased state spending; court orders or decrees that require additional state resources to comply with the orders or decrees; and sudden or significant increases in demand for existing state services that are not the result of legislative changes that increased eligibility or increased benefits. The Governor may designate exceptional circumstances that are not explicitly defined in this paragraph but meet the intent of this paragraph. For purposes of this paragraph, "exceptional circumstances" means an unforeseen condition or conditions over which the Governor and the Legislature have little or no control. Exceptional circumstances do not apply to new programs or program expansions that go beyond existing program criteria and operation.
Sec. X-9. 5 MRSA §1665, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 501, Pt. P, §13, is amended to read:
1. Expenditure and appropriation requirements. On or before September 1st of the even-numbered years, all departments and other agencies of the State Government and corporations and associations receiving or desiring to receive state funds under the provisions of law shall prepare, in the manner prescribed by and on blanks furnished them by the State Budget Officer, and submit to the officer estimates of their expenditure and appropriation requirements for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium contrasted with the corresponding figures of the last completed fiscal year and the estimated figures for the current fiscal year. The total General Fund appropriation requests submitted by each department and agency for each fiscal year may not exceed the General Fund appropriation of the previous fiscal year multiplied by one plus the average real personal income growth rate. For purposes of this subsection, "average real personal income growth rate" means the average for the prior 10 calendar years, ending with the most recent calendar year for which data is available, of the percent change in personal income in this State for a calendar year, as estimated by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, less the percent change in the Consumer Price Index for that calendar year. For purposes of this subsection, "Consumer Price Index" has the same meaning as in Title 36, section 5402, subsection 1. The expenditure estimates shall be classified to set forth the data by funds, organization units, character and objects of expenditure. The organization units may be subclassified by functions and activities, or in any other manner, at the discretion of the State Budget Officer.
Sec. X-10. 5 MRSA §13063-C, sub-§4, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 680, §1, is amended to read:
B. Notwithstanding section 1585, any balance remaining in the program after July 31, 2007 must be transferred to the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund as established in section 1513.
Sec. X-11. 10 MRSA §1023-L, sub-§2, ¶D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 356, §6, is further amended to read:
D. Money transferred from the available balance in the Underground Oil Storage Replacement Fund, pursuant to Public Law 1999, chapter 505, Part A, section 15; and
Sec. X-12. 10 MRSA §1023-L, sub-§2, ¶E, as corrected by RR 1999, c. 1, §12, is repealed.
Sec. X-13. 25 MRSA §1612, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. CCCCC, §4, is amended to read:
7. Payment from the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund. Benefits are payable from the Maine Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund as provided in Title 5, section 1513.
Sec. X-14. Special purpose funds. The Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs shall review the need for and funding of special purpose funds, including, but not limited to, a capital improvement fund. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations, including legislation, to the Second Regular Session of the 121st Legislature.
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