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Legislative legal counsel outlines the legislature’s 'power of the purse' and statutory limits on appropriations
Summary
Elizabeth Bowen, legislative legal counsel, reviewed constitutional origins of legislative appropriations, limits such as the balanced‑budget requirement and the item veto, statutory duties of JFAC, and how conditions and restrictions attached to appropriations must be observed.
Elizabeth Bowen, legislative legal counsel with the Legislative Services Office, provided JFAC members a legal primer on the legislature’s authority to appropriate public monies and the constitutional and statutory constraints that govern appropriation bills.
Bowen traced the power of appropriation to the legislature’s plenary authority under the state constitution and described legal limits that matter to appropriation drafting and oversight. She emphasized Article 7, Section 13 of the Idaho Constitution — “money can be withdrawn from the state treasury only…
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