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Senate Finance reviews bill to let governor declare emergency funding during a budget impasse
Summary
Senate Bill 488 would allow the governor to declare a 60-day emergency to maintain essential functions if the legislature cannot pass a budget or continuing resolution; senators pressed for clearer definitions of 'essential services,' duration caps and legislative oversight of emergency-period spending.
Senate Bill 488, introduced to the Finance Committee by Grant Bossie on behalf of Senate President Sharon Carson, would create a contingency mechanism for a budget impasse by empowering the governor to declare a 60-day emergency to fund and authorize essential state functions at prior-year levels.
Bossie said the measure was drafted after a recent budget negotiation that nearly produced an impasse and that the bill is designed to ensure courts remain open, roads stay safe and institutional settings such as hospitals and prisons continue operating. Under the draft, the governor could declare a 60-day emergency; the legislature could extend that period in 60-day increments by majority vote in both houses, up to a limit specified in the draft.
Committee members raised several drafting and policy concerns. Senator Waters questioned why the executive branch should receive this authority rather than relying on continuing resolutions, and she warned against ceding legislative bargaining power. Senators asked whether the bill's list of "essential services" omits important programs (several members noted Department of Education funding appeared absent from the draft) and pressed for clarity on whether agency heads could decide which services to continue during the emergency window.
Staff and proponents said prior continuing resolutions have used different bases (prior-year levels, governor's proposed budget, percentages), and that policy decisions about which services are essential are matters for legislative drafting. In executive session, senators discussed capping aggregate emergency operation time (several argued for a 180-day maximum rather than the 240 days implied by the draft) and requested additional language for oversight and for procedures if a continuing resolution is later enacted.
The committee closed public testimony and moved SB 488 to executive session for further drafting; no final committee vote was taken on the bill that day.
