§29. Budget guidelines

A.(1) On or before the twentieth day of September of each year, the budget office shall furnish to each budget unit a set of specific guidelines under which the budget unit shall provide information to allow the budget office to prepare a nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget and a continuation budget.

(2) The nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget and the continuation budget shall each be prepared by the budget office and submitted to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget at the first meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget after January first of each year.

(3) These guidelines shall reflect the most recent economic statistics available in regard to inflation, employment, population, and other socioeconomic factors.

B.(1) A budget unit shall submit its nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimate for the ensuing year in accordance with annual instructions to be provided by the division of administration. The format of the instructions shall be prepared by the division of administration working in conjunction with Senate fiscal staff, House of Representatives fiscal staff, and a representative from the legislative fiscal office. The annual instructions shall contain the nondiscretionary functions in the existing operating budget for each budget unit as of December first of the current fiscal year. The division of administration shall send the instructions for the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimates at the same time as the instructions are sent to the agencies for the annual budget request submission.

(2) Each agency is directed to include in the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimate all nondiscretionary requirements.

(3) The commissioner of administration shall establish a date for submission of the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimates, which date shall afford the commissioner of administration sufficient time to prepare the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget for inclusion in the continuation budget document. The nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimates shall be on the forms and in the manner prescribed in this Section and shall be accompanied by such other data as may be required, together with such additional information as the governor may request.

(4) Upon receipt of the budget unit's nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget estimates, the division of administration shall review the estimates for reasonableness and shall combine the agency estimates with the mandatory statewide standard adjustments provided for in the continuation budget, and any means of financing substitutions that do not result in a net increase or decrease in the budget unit's total budget and are necessary to finance a budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first in the ensuing fiscal year prior to the application of any other adjustments, which shall constitute the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget for the ensuing fiscal year.

C. The nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget shall be derived and based upon the assumption that the current law and current administrative procedures will remain in effect for the forecast period.

D. The nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget and the continuation budget shall be contained in one document and shall be in a format which compares the budgets by budget unit, on the same page. For purposes of this Section, there shall be no less than four columns in this document:

(1) The first column shall represent the budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first.

(2) The second column shall represent the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget which shall be the budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first, including the cost to provide the mandatory expenditures in the ensuing fiscal year, any means of financing substitutions that do not result in a net increase or decrease in the budget unit's total budget and are necessary to finance a budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first in the ensuing fiscal year prior to the application of any other adjustments, and the growth in the mandatory statewide adjustments.

(3) The third column shall be the continuation budget as provided for in this Section.

(4) The fourth column shall represent the difference between the nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget and the continuation budget. The nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget shall be presented at the same meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget as the continuation budget as provided in Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section.

Acts 1989, No. 836, §1, eff. July 1, 1989; Acts 1997, No. 1403, §2, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 5, §1, eff. Nov. 18, 2005; Acts 2008, No. 860, §1; Acts 2017, No. 402, §1, eff. July 1, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 664, §1.