Committee hears bill to make state budgets automatically continue if legislature and governor fail to enact a new budget

Lawmakers opened a hearing on Senate Bill 14, a proposal that would make the most recent enacted appropriations carry forward automatically into subsequent fiscal years if the legislature and governor fail to enact a new budget by July 1.

The bill, outlined by Jill Walters, first assistant reviser in the Office of the Reviser of Statutes, would preserve existing appropriations for agencies "for the ensuing fiscal years" until they are amended, lapsed or eliminated by subsequent legislative action. Walters said the measure leaves in place existing requirements for agencies that must obtain approvals before expending funds and preserves current processes tied to agency and State Finance Council approvals.

"What Senate Bill 14 does is provides for a continuous budget for the ensuing fiscal years when the legislature and the governor do not enact a new budget bill into law," Walters told the committee. She said the…