(1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund, separate and apart from any other fund, to be designated the Capital Expense Fund.

(2) The Capital Expense Fund shall not be considered as a surplus or available funds when adopting a balanced budget as required by law. The State Treasurer shall invest all sums in the Capital Expense Fund not needed for the purposes provided for in this section in certificates of deposit, repurchase agreements and other securities as authorized in Section 27-105-33(d) or Section 7-9-103, as the State Treasurer may determine to yield the highest market rate available. Interest earned on this fund shall be deposited by the State Treasurer into the State General Fund.

(3) The Capital Expense Fund shall be used for capital expense needs, repair and renovation of state-owned properties and specific expenditures authorized by the Legislature. The Legislature shall designate those capital expense projects, repair and renovation projects and other authorized projects in an appropriation act passed by the Legislature, which shall direct the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration to administer the projects.

(4) In addition to the purposes specified in subsection (3) of this section, the Capital Expense Fund shall be used to provide funds for emergency repairs on state-owned buildings and, until July 1, 2021, for the emergency plugging of orphaned wells identified by the Oil and Gas Board, upon requisition of the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration. Whenever the director determines that funds are immediately needed for emergency repairs on state-owned buildings or the Oil and Gas Board, through the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, has requested funds for the emergency plugging of orphaned wells identified by the board, he shall requisition the funds needed from the Capital Expense Fund, which shall be subject to the limitations set forth in this subsection. At the same time he makes the requisition, the director shall notify the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the respective Chairmen of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee and the Legislative Budget Office of his determination of the need for the funds, the amount that he has requisitioned and where the funds will be used. If the amount requisitioned is available in the Capital Expense Fund, is not allocated for any specific projects as authorized in subsection (3) of this section and is within the limitations set forth below in this subsection, then the director may escalate the budget of the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management or the Oil and Gas Board to use the full amount of the requisitioned funds for the emergency repairs or plugging of orphaned wells, and transfer that amount to the bureau or board for that purpose. If the amount requisitioned is more than the amount available in the Capital Expense Fund or above the limitations set forth below in this subsection, then the director may escalate the budget of the bureau or board to use the amount that is available within the limitations for the emergency repairs or plugging of orphaned wells, and transfer that amount to the bureau or board for that purpose. The maximum amount that may be transferred from the Capital Expense Fund to the bureau or board for any single emergency shall be One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), and the maximum amount that may be transferred to the bureau or board for all emergencies during any fiscal year shall be Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00).

(5) Funds deposited in the Capital Expense Fund shall be used only for the purposes specified in this section, and as long as the provisions of this section remain in effect, no other expenditure, appropriation or transfer of funds in the Capital Expense Fund shall be made except by act of the Legislature making specific reference to the Capital Expense Fund as the source of those funds.

(6) Unexpended funds in the Capital Expense Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund but shall remain in the fund for use under this section. Any funds appropriated from the Capital Expense Fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall lapse into the Capital Expense Fund.