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Legal counsel briefs committee on ‘‘power of the purse’’ and statutory constraints on appropriations
Summary
Legislative legal counsel Elizabeth Bowen told JFAC that the power to appropriate is plenary but constrained by the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions, item‑veto rules and specific Idaho Code provisions governing budget process, conditions on appropriations and account categories.
Elizabeth Bowen, legislative legal counsel for the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee that the legislature holds the constitutional power to appropriate money from the treasury but that power carries statutory and constitutional limits that members must respect when drafting appropriation bills.
Bowen traced the authority to the separation of powers and the Legislature's role under the Idaho Constitution, saying the power to appropriate is part of the legislature's plenary lawmaking power. She described an appropriation as “authority from the legislature expressly given in legal…
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