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Legislative counsel briefs JFAC on the legislature’s appropriation power and limits
Summary
Legislative legal counsel Elizabeth Bowen reviewed constitutional and statutory limits on appropriations, explained that appropriation conditions are legally binding and cannot be removed by the governor’s veto, and walked members through key code sections that govern budget procedure.
Elizabeth Bowen, legislative legal counsel in the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee the legislature’s power to appropriate arises from the state constitution and is subject to specific constitutional and statutory limits.
"Money can be withdrawn from the state treasury only pursuant to an appropriation made by law," Bowen said, citing Article 7, Section 13 of the Idaho Constitution, and later summarized the principle that "the legislature has absolute control over the finances of the state."
Bowen told members that appropriation bills are statutes of equal standing with other laws, that appropriations must…
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