HB326: relative to establishing a 6-year capital budget.

CHAPTER 138

HB 326 – FINAL VERSION

12Mar2003… 0482h

01/07/04 2452s

13May2004… 1477eba

2004 SESSION

03-0010

10/09

HOUSE BILL 326

AN ACT relative to establishing a 6-year capital budget.

SPONSORS: Rep. Leber, Merr 35; Rep. Cloutier, Sull 22; Rep. E. Smith, Ches 26; Rep. Weyler, Rock 79; Rep. Rausch, Rock 77; Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Sen. Morse, Dist 22; Sen. Johnson, Dist 2; Sen. Clegg, Dist 14; Sen. Kenney, Dist 3

COMMITTEE: Public Works and Highways

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a procedure for a 6-year capital budget for state capital improvement projects.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

12mar03… 0482h

01/07/04 2452s

13May2004… 1477eba

03-0010

10/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Four

AN ACT relative to establishing a 6-year capital budget.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

138:1 Capital Budget Expenditures; Six-Year Capital Budget. Amend RSA 9:3-a to read as follows:

9:3-a Capital Expenditure Requests. Prior to the adoption of the 6-year capital budget, the requests for appropriation of funds shall be as follows:

I. All departments seeking funds for capital expenditures shall submit their requests to the commissioner of administrative services no later than the May 1 before the opening of the biennial legislative session. Requests shall be made on forms supplied by the commissioner of administrative services. Each request shall list estimates of the costs of land, construction, furnishings, and equipment and shall identify projects which are expected or planned to require funding in subsequent bienniums of the 6-year capital budget in order to be completed. In addition, each request shall include the square footage, estimates of annual operating and maintenance costs, program descriptions, and number of people involved.

II. The commissioner of administrative services shall submit a summary of the requests and any supporting detail to the governor by May 31.

III. The governor shall hold public hearings on the requests no later than June 30. [He] The governor may require officials of those departments submitting requests to attend and testify.

IV. There shall be a governor’s advisory committee on the capital budget consisting of the following, or their designees: commissioner of administrative services, commissioner of transportation, chairperson of the senate capital budget committee, and chairperson of the house public works and highway committee. Members of the advisory committee may attend the hearings on capital budget requests, question those testifying, and contribute their opinions.

V. The governor shall select those projects which the governor considers worthy of further evaluation, and send the requests for the selected projects to the commissioner of transportation no later than August 1. The governor may hold additional hearings on capital requests at the time of the operating budget hearings. If any additional hearing is held after election day, the governor shall invite the governor-elect to attend.

VI. The commissioner of transportation shall prepare schematic drawings, cost estimates, and program descriptions and present these, along with any recommendations, to the governor no later than December 1.

VII. The governor shall submit the capital budget to the general court no later than February 15 of each odd numbered year. The capital budget submitted shall identify all projects which are expected or planned to require funding in the first biennium and in subsequent bienniums of the 6-year capital budget in order to be completed.

138:2 New Section; Capital Budget; Review and Update. Amend RSA 9 by inserting after section 3-a the following new section:

9:3-b Review and Update of Capital Budget. In the first year of each biennium the legislature shall review the 6-year capital budget and update the extended projects, and may approve new projects over the next 6 years. The general court intends that once a capital budget project has been approved it shall be funded through each phase of the project unless some extreme and significant event makes further funding inappropriate.

138:3 Lapsed Appropriations; Reference Added. Amend RSA 9:18, I to read as follows:

I. Except for capital appropriations under paragraph I-a or as otherwise specially provided, all unexpended portions of special appropriations shall lapse when the object for which the appropriation was made has been accomplished and, in any event, at the end of 2 years from the date when the act creating the appropriation first took effect, unless there are obligations incurred by contract thereunder, made within said period, in which case there shall be no lapse until the satisfaction or fulfillment of such contractual obligations.

138:4 New Paragraph; Lapsed Appropriations; Six-Year Capital Budget. Amend RSA 9:18 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:

I-a. All unexpended portions of appropriations made by the 6-year capital budget shall lapse when the project for which the appropriation was made has been accomplished and, in any event, at the end of 6 years from the date when the act creating the appropriation first took effect, unless there are obligations incurred by contract thereunder, made within said period, in which case there shall be no lapse until the satisfaction or fulfillment of such contractual obligations

138:5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

(Approved: May 24, 2004)

(Effective Date: May 24, 2004)