House Bill No. 259
Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________
A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act implementing the unified budget request required of the state board of education by Article X, section 9, of the Montana Constitution; clarifying the content of a unified budget; clarifying the content of the operating budget for each university system unit; clarifying the responsibility for preparing the unified budget; amending sections 2-15-1511, 17-7-102, 17-7-111, 17-7-112, 17-7-138, 20-2-101, 20-2-121, 20-3-105, and 20-25-301, MCA; and providing an immediate effective date."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:
Section 1. Section 2-15-1511, MCA, is amended to read:
"2-15-1511. Agencies allocated to state board of education. The state historical society, the Montana arts council, and
the state library commission are allocated to the state board of education for purposes of planning and coordination. Budget
requests to the state for these agencies shall must be included with submitted separately from the budget requests of the
state board of education; however, the. The governance, management, and control of the respective agencies shall be are
vested respectively in the board of trustees of the state historical society, the Montana arts council, and the state library
commission."
Section 2. Section 17-7-102, MCA, is amended to read:
"17-7-102. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Additional services" means different services or more of the same services.
(2) "Agency" means each state office, department, division, board, commission, council, committee, institution, university unit, or other entity or instrumentality of the executive branch, office of the judicial branch, or office of the legislative branch of state government, except for purposes of capital projects administered by the department of administration, for which institutions are treated as one department and university units as one system.
(3) "Approved long-range building program budget amendment" means approval by the budget director of a request submitted through the architecture and engineering division of the department of administration to transfer excess funds appropriated to a capital project within an agency to increase the appropriation of another capital project within that agency or to obtain financing to expand a project with funds that were not available for consideration by the legislature.
(4) "Approving authority" means:
(a) the governor or the governor's designated representative for executive branch agencies;
(b) the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designated representative for judicial branch agencies;
(c) the speaker for the house of representatives;
(d) the president for the senate;
(e) appropriate legislative committees or a designated representative for legislative branch agencies; or
(f) the board of regents of higher education or its designated representative for the university system.
(5) "Base budget" means that level of funding authorized by the previous legislature.
(6) "Budget amendment" means a legislative appropriation to increase spending authority for the special revenue fund, proprietary funds, or unrestricted subfund, contingent on total compliance with all budget amendment procedures.
(7) "Effectiveness measure" means a criterion for measuring the degree to which the objective sought is attained.
(8) "Emergency" means a catastrophe, disaster, calamity, or other serious unforeseen and unanticipated circumstance that has occurred subsequent to the time that an agency's appropriation was made, that was clearly not within the contemplation of the legislature and the governor, and that affects one or more functions of a state agency and the agency's expenditure requirements for the performance of the function or functions.
(9) "Necessary" means essential to the public welfare and of a nature that cannot wait until the next legislative session for legislative consideration.
(10) "New proposals" means requests to provide new nonmandated services, to change program services, to eliminate existing services, or to change sources of funding. For purposes of establishing the present law base, the distinction between new proposals and the adjustments to the base budget to develop the present law base is to be determined by the existence of constitutional or statutory requirements for the proposed expenditure. Any proposed increase or decrease that is not based on those requirements is considered a new proposal.
(11) "Present law base" means that additional level of funding needed under present law to maintain operations and services at the level authorized by the previous legislature, including but not limited to:
(a) changes resulting from legally mandated workload, caseload, or enrollment increases or decreases;
(b) changes in funding requirements resulting from constitutional or statutory schedules or formulas;
(c) inflationary or deflationary adjustments; and
(d) elimination of nonrecurring appropriations.
(12) "Priority listing" means a ranking of proposed expenditures in order of importance.
(13) "Program" means a combination of resources and activities designed to achieve an objective or objectives.
(14) "Program size" means the magnitude of a program, such as the size of clientele served or the volume of service in relation to the population or area.
(15) "Program size indicator" means a measure to indicate the magnitude of a program.
(16) "Requesting agency" means the agency of state government that has requested a specific budget amendment.
(17) "Unified budget" means an integrated, consolidated, single budget for K-12 education and the university system that is submitted by the state board of education.
(17)(18) "University system unit" means the board of regents of higher education; office of the commissioner of higher
education; university of Montana, with campuses at Missoula, Butte, Dillon, and Helena; Montana state university, with
campuses at Bozeman, Billings, Havre, and Great Falls; the agricultural experiment station, with central offices at
Bozeman; the forest and conservation experiment station, with central offices at Missoula; the cooperative extension
service, with central offices at Bozeman; the bureau of mines and geology, with central offices at Butte; the fire services
training school at Great Falls; and the community colleges at Miles City, Glendive, and Kalispell."
Section 3. Section 17-7-111, MCA, is amended to read:
"17-7-111. Agency program budgets -- form distribution and contents. (1) In the preparation of a state budget, the budget director shall, not later than July 1 in the year preceding the convening of the legislature, distribute to all state offices and departments, including the judicial branch and the legislative branch, the proper forms necessary for the preparation of budget estimates. These forms must be prescribed by the budget director to procure the information required by subsection (2).
(2) The agency budget requests, when completed by the budget office, must set forth a balanced financial plan for the agency completing the forms for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium. The plan must consist of:
(a) a consolidated agency budget summary for the current base budget expenditures and for each modification request
setting forth the aggregate figures of the full-time equivalent personnel positions (FTE) and the budget, showing a balance
between the total proposed disbursements and the total anticipated receipts, together with the other means of financing the
budget for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium, contrasted with the corresponding figures for the last completed last-completed fiscal year and the fiscal year in progress. The consolidated budget summary must be supported by schedules
classifying receipts and disbursements contained in the summary by fund and, when applicable, organizational unit.
(b) a schedule of the actual and projected receipts, disbursements, and solvency of each accounting entity within each fund for the current and subsequent biennium;
(c) a detailed schedule of receipts, by accounting entity within each fund, indicating classification and source of funds;
(d) an agency schedule summarizing past and proposed spending plans and the means of financing the proposed plan. Information presented must include the following:
(i) a statement of agency goals and objectives and a statement of goals and objectives for each program of the agency. The goals and objectives must include, in a concise form, sufficient specific information and quantifiable information to enable the legislature to formulate an appropriations policy regarding the agency and its programs and to allow a determination, at some future date, on whether the agency has succeeded in attaining its goals and objectives. The goals and objectives must contain a list of duties prioritized by the department director to reflect the director's opinion concerning the importance of the duties assigned to the agency by law.
(ii) actual FTE and disbursements for the completed fiscal year of the current biennium, estimated FTE and disbursements for the current fiscal year, and the agency's request for the ensuing biennium, by program; and
(iii) actual disbursements for the completed fiscal year of the current biennium, estimated disbursements for the current fiscal year, and the agency's recommendations for the ensuing biennium, by disbursement category.
(e) a reference, for each program included in the agency budget request, identifying whether the program may be operated
at the discretion of the agency or whether the agency is required by federal or state law to operate, administer, or manage
the program.;
(f) other information that the budget director feels is necessary for the preparation of a budget.
(3) The budget director shall prepare and submit to the legislative fiscal analyst in accordance with 17-7-112:
(a) detailed recommendations for the state long-range building program. Each recommendation must be presented by department, institution, agency, or branch by funding source, with a description of each proposed project.
(b) the proposed pay plan schedule for all executive branch employees, with the specific cost and funding recommendations for each agency. Submission of a pay plan schedule under this subsection is not an unfair labor practice under 39-31-401.
(4) The state board of education shall submit a unified budget request as provided in Article X, section 9, of the Montana
constitution. The unified budget request must include The board of regents shall submit, with its budget request for each
university unit in accordance with 17-7-112, a report on the university system bonded indebtedness and related finances as
provided in this subsection (4). The report must include the following information for each year of the biennium, contrasted
with the same information for the last completed last-completed fiscal year and the fiscal year in progress:
(a) a schedule of estimated total bonded indebtedness for each university unit by bond indenture;
(b) a schedule of estimated revenue, expenditures, and fund balances by fiscal year for each outstanding bond indenture, clearly delineating the accounts relating to each indenture and the minimum legal funding requirements for each bond indenture; and
(c) a schedule showing the total funds available from each bond indenture and its associated accounts, with a list of
commitments and planned expenditures from such the accounts, itemized by revenue source and project for each year of the
current and ensuing bienniums.
(5) The budget director may not obtain copies of individual income tax records protected under 15-30-303. The department of revenue shall make individual income tax data available by removing names, addresses, occupations, social security numbers, and taxpayer identification numbers. The department of revenue may not alter the data in any other way. The data is subject to the same restrictions on disclosure as are individual income tax returns."
Section 4. Section 17-7-112, MCA, is amended to read:
"17-7-112. Submission deadline. (1) It is the duty of each department, agency, and office, including the Montana
university system state board of education, to submit the information required under 17-7-111 to the budget director on or
before September 1 in the even year preceding the convening of the legislature. The department of justice shall submit
information received from counties concerning the state's share of county attorney salaries.
(2) Between August 15 and September 30 in the year preceding the convening of the legislature, the director must shall
submit each state agency's budget request required under 17-7-111(2) to the legislative fiscal analyst. The transfer of budget
information must be done on a schedule mutually agreed to by the budget director and the legislative fiscal analyst in a
manner that facilitates an even transfer of budget information during the month of September and that allows each office to
maintain a reasonable staff workflow. Each entity subject to the unified budget request submitted by the state board of
education shall provide information required by the board at the time specified by the board in order to allow the board to
comply with this section.
(3) If any department, institution, university unit board, or agency fails to present the information within the time specified
in this section, the budget director shall note that fact in the budget submitted to the governor and the budget director shall
prepare and submit to the legislative fiscal analyst and the governor by October 30 a budget request on behalf of the
department, institution, university unit board, or agency, based upon the budget director's studies of the operations, plans,
and needs of the department, institution, university unit board, or agency.
(4) The proposed pay plan schedule required by 17-7-111(3) must be submitted to the legislative fiscal analyst no later than November 15 in the year preceding the convening of the legislature."
Section 5. Section 17-7-138, MCA, is amended to read:
"17-7-138. Operating budget. (1) Expenditures by a state agency must be made in substantial compliance with an operating budget approved by an approving authority. Substantial compliance means that a first-level category in the operating budget may not be exceeded by more than 5%. Except as provided in subsection (2), the expenditure of money appropriated in the general appropriations act is contingent upon approval of an operating budget by August 1 of each fiscal year. An approved original operating budget must comply with state law and any statement of intent adopted as part of a bill.
(2) The expenditure of money appropriated in the general appropriations act as part of the unified budget to the university system units, as defined in 17-7-102, is contingent upon approval of an operating budget by October 1 of each fiscal year. All other requirements in this section apply to the university system. The operating budget for each university system unit must either implement or reject each condition contained in the general appropriations act. When appropriate, the board of regents shall specify the acceptance or rejection of the condition and any funding associated with the condition.
(3) The operating budget for money appropriated by the general appropriations act must be separate from the operating budget for money appropriated by another law except a law appropriating money for the state pay plan or any portion of the state pay plan. Each operating budget must include expenditures for each agency program, detailed at least by first-level categories as provided in 17-1-102(3). Each agency shall record its operating budget and any approved changes on the statewide budget and accounting system. Forms used for changing an operating budget must reference the current, complete, and approved operating budget, show the proposed changes to the operating budget, and reference any other pending documents to change the operating budget."
Section 6. Section 20-2-101, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-2-101. Combined boards as state board -- budget review -- officers -- meetings -- quorum. (1) The board of
public education and the board of regents meeting together as the state board of education shall be are responsible for
long-range planning and for coordinating and evaluating policies and programs for the public educational systems of the
state. The state board of education shall review and unify the budget requests of educational entities assigned by law to the
board of public education, the board of regents, or the state board of education and shall submit a unified budget request
with recommendations to the appropriate state agency as required by 17-7-111.
(2) The governor is the president of, the superintendent of public instruction is the secretary to, and the commissioner shall
be is a nonvoting participant at all meetings of the state board of education.
(3) The state board of education may select a member to chair its meetings in the absence of the governor.
(4) A tie vote at any meeting may be broken by the governor.
(5) A majority of members appointed to the board of public education and the board of regents shall constitute a quorum
for transaction of business as the state board of education.
(6) The board of public education and the board of regents shall meet at least twice yearly as the state board of education.
(7) Other meetings of the state board of education may be called by the governor, by both the secretary to the board of
public education and the secretary to the board of regents, or by joint action of eight appointed members, four each from the
board of public education and the board of regents. All meetings of the state board of education shall must be for the
purposes set forth in subsection (1) above or for the purpose of considering other matters of common concern to the board
of public education and the board of regents, but the state board of education may not exercise the powers and duties
assigned by the 1972 Montana constitution and by law to the board of public education and the board of regents.
(8) The legislature may not consider a budget request from the board of public education or the board of regents unless the request has been submitted as part of the unified budget provided for in 17-7-111."
Section 7. Section 20-2-121, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-2-121. Board of public education -- powers and duties. The board of public education shall:
(1) effect an orderly and uniform system for teacher certification and specialist certification and for the issuance of an emergency authorization of employment by adopting the policies prescribed by 20-4-102 and 20-4-111;
(2) consider the suspension or revocation of teacher or specialist certificates and appeals from the denial of teacher or specialist certification in accordance with the provisions of 20-4-110;
(3) administer and order the distribution of BASE aid in accordance with the provisions of 20-9-344;
(4) adopt and enforce policies to provide uniform standards and regulations for the design, construction, and operation of school buses in accordance with the provisions of 20-10-111;
(5) approve or disapprove a reduction of the number of hours in a district's school day in accordance with the provisions of 20-1-302;
(6) adopt policies prescribing the conditions when school may be conducted on Saturday and the types of
pupil-instruction-related days and approval procedure for such those days in accordance with the provisions of 20-1-303
and 20-1-304;
(7) adopt standards of accreditation and establish the accreditation status of every school in accordance with the provisions of 20-7-101 and 20-7-102;
(8) approve or disapprove educational media selected by the superintendent of public instruction for the educational media library in accordance with the provisions of 20-7-201;
(9) adopt policies for the conduct of special education in accordance with the provisions of 20-7-402;
(10) adopt rules for issuance of documents certifying equivalency of completion of secondary education in accordance with 20-7-131;
(11) adopt policies for the conduct of programs for gifted and talented children in accordance with the provisions of 20-7-903 and 20-7-904;
(12) adopt rules for student assessment in the public schools; and
(13) assist the state board of education in preparing the unified budget as provided for in 17-7-111; and
(13)(14) perform any other duty prescribed from time to time by this title or any other act of the legislature."
Section 8. Section 20-3-105, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-3-105. Administrative powers and duties. In administering the affairs of his the office, the superintendent of public
instruction shall have the power and it shall be his duty to:
(1) keep a record of his official acts and all documents applicable to the administration of the office, preserve all official
reports submitted to him for the period required by law, and surrender them to his the successor at the expiration of his the
term;
(2) preserve all books, educational media, instructional equipment, and any other articles of educational interest and value
which that come into his the superintendent's possession and surrender them to his the successor at the expiration of his the
term;
(3) cause the printing and distribution of all reports and forms necessary for the proper conduct of business by a district or school in the manner prescribed by the provisions of this title;
(4) provide and keep an official seal of the superintendent of public instruction by which his official acts shall must be
authenticated;
(5) if he deems the superintendent considers it necessary, cause the printing of a complete and updated volume of the
school laws of the state, which shall must be offered and sold at cost of the printing and shipping to any school official or
other person;
(6) whenever a replacement volume is not printed under the provisions of subsection (5), cause the printing of a cumulative
supplement to the most recent volume of school laws immediately after the conclusion of any session of the legislature at
which new school laws or amendments to the school laws were adopted. It shall The supplement must be offered and sold
at cost of the printing and shipping to any school official or other person.
(7) if deemed considered necessary, publish a biennial report of the superintendent of public instruction;
(8) counsel with and advise county superintendents on matters involving the welfare of the schools and, when requested, give a county superintendent a written answer to any question concerning school law;
(9) call an annual meeting of the county superintendents when he deems it considered advisable;
(10) as far as he shall find it practicable, address public assemblies on subjects pertaining to education in Montana; and
(11) faithfully work in all practical and possible ways for the welfare of the public schools of the state; and
(12) assist the state board of education in preparing the unified budget required by 17-7-111."
Section 9. Section 20-25-301, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-25-301. Regents' powers and duties. The board of regents of higher education shall serve as regents of the Montana university system, shall use and adopt this style in all its dealings with the university system, and:
(1) must have general control and supervision of the units of the Montana university system, which is considered for all purposes one university;
(2) shall adopt rules for its own government that are consistent with the constitution and the laws of the state and that are proper and necessary for the execution of the powers and duties conferred upon it by law;
(3) shall provide, subject to the laws of the state, rules for the government of the system;
(4) shall grant diplomas and degrees to the graduates of the system upon the recommendation of the faculties and must have discretion to confer honorary degrees upon persons other than graduates upon the recommendation of the faculty of the institutions;
(5) shall keep a record of its proceedings;
(6) must have, when not otherwise provided by law, control of all books, records, buildings, grounds, and other property of the system;
(7) must receive from the board of land commissioners, from other boards or persons, or from the government of the United States all funds, incomes, and other property that the system may be entitled to and shall use and appropriate the property for the specific purpose of the grant or donation;
(8) must have general control of all receipts and disbursements of the system;
(9) shall appoint a president or chancellor and faculty for each of the institutions of the system, appoint any other necessary officers, agents, and employees, and fix their compensation;
(10) shall confer upon the executive board of each of the units of the system authority that may be considered expedient relating to immediate control and management, other than authority relating to financial matters or the selection of the teachers, employees, and faculty;
(11) shall confer, at the regents' discretion, upon the president and faculty of each of the units of the system for the best interest of the unit authority relating to the immediate control and management, other than financial, and the selection of teachers and employees;
(12) shall prevent unnecessary duplication of courses at the units of the system;
(13) shall appoint a certified professional geologist or registered mining engineer as the director of the Montana state
bureau of mines and geology, who is the state geologist, and appoint any other necessary assistants and employees and fix
their compensation.;
(14) shall supervise and control the agricultural experiment station, along with any executive or subordinate board or authority that may be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the regents;
(15) shall adopt a seal bearing on its face the words "Montana university system", which must be affixed to all diplomas and all other papers, instruments, or documents that may require it;
(16) shall ensure an adequate level of security for data and information technology resources, as defined in 2-15-102, within the state university system. In carrying out this responsibility, the board of regents shall, at a minimum, address the responsibilities prescribed in 2-15-114.
(17) shall offer courses in vocational-technical education of a type and in a manner considered necessary or practical by the regents; and
(18) shall assist the state board of education in preparing the unified budget as required by 17-7-111."
NEW SECTION. Section 10. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
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