(a) There is established as a separate fund in the state treasury the budget reserve fund. The budget reserve fund consists of appropriations to the fund. Money received by the state that is subject to the appropriation limit under (b) of this section and that exceeds that limit, may be appropriated to the budget reserve fund.

(b) Except for appropriations to the permanent fund or for Alaska permanent fund dividends, appropriations to the budget reserve fund, appropriations of revenue bond proceeds, appropriations required to pay the principal and interest on general obligation bonds, and appropriations of money received from a nonstate source in trust for a specific purpose, including revenue of a public enterprise or public corporation of the state that issues revenue bonds, appropriations from the mental health trust settlement income account (AS 37.14.036), and appropriations made to the mental health trust fund (AS 37.14.031), appropriations from the treasury made in a fiscal year may not exceed appropriations made in the preceding fiscal year by more than five percent plus the change in population and inflation since the beginning of the preceding fiscal year. For purposes of applying this limit an appropriation is considered to be made in the fiscal year in which it is enacted and a reappropriation remains attributed to the fiscal year in which the original appropriation is enacted. The determination of the change in population for purposes of this subsection shall be based on an annual estimate of population by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The determination of the change in inflation for purposes of this subsection shall be based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for Anchorage prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The amount of money received by the state that is subject to the appropriation limit includes the balance in the general fund carried forward from the preceding fiscal year.

(c) If the legislature determines that the money subject to the appropriation limit received by the state in a fiscal year is less than the maximum permitted to be appropriated under (b) of this section, up to 25 percent of the balance of the budget reserve fund may be appropriated to the general fund.

(d) The Department of Revenue shall manage and invest assets of the budget reserve fund in the manner set out for the management and investment of the assets of the general fund under AS 37.10.070. Income from investment of the budget reserve fund may be appropriated to the fund each year by law.

(e) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, appropriations may be made from the budget reserve fund needed by the governor to meet a disaster. In this subsection, “disaster” has the meaning given in AS 26.23.900.