SB1927

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that transparency and accountability is crucial to the success of democracy, by allowing citizens to watch over their elected leaders and government agencies.

The legislature also finds that the budget is one of the most important documents of government, as it allocates public resources and expresses the priorities and values of the State. Although the process of creating the state budget receives a great deal of attention during the legislative session, there is considerably less attention paid to ensuring that the budget is executed as planned.

The purpose of this Act is to provide greater transparency, thereby helping to ensure accountability, improve public confidence, and promote informed debate about fiscal matters, by requiring reporting of information on appropriated funds through:

(1) Quarterly updates for program appropriations covering the current biennium; and

(2) Semi-annual updates for capital improvement appropriations covering the current and previous biennium, as well as an extended period for projects with federal funding.

SECTION 2. Chapter 37, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§37- Budget and financial plan updates. (a) Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the governor shall submit updates to the two-year budget to the legislature pursuant to sections (b) and (c).

(b) For program appropriations, quarterly updates shall be reported no later than fifteen days after the close of each allotment period. Reports shall cover the two fiscal years in the current biennium and include:

(1) The amounts appropriated for each program;

(2) The actual expenditures for each program for the most recent allotment periods; provided that an estimate of the expenditures may be substituted if the actual expenditures are not available at the time of the report;

(3) Identification of the programs for which the actual expenditures for each fiscal year are anticipated to be less than fifty per cent of the budgeted amount; provided that a narrative explanation regarding the reason for the deviation shall be included in the report; and

(4) Any changes made to figures or explanations in previous reports.

(c) For capital improvement project appropriations, updates shall be reported semi-annually no later than April 15 and October 15. The April 15 report shall cover capital improvement project appropriations in the previous two biennia and in the current biennium through March 31 of that fiscal year. The October 15 report shall cover capital improvement projects appropriations in the previous two biennia and in the current biennium through September 30 of that fiscal year. The reports shall include the following for each project:

(1) The program ID, item number, and project title;

(2) The amount of the appropriation and means of finance;

(3) The amounts requested for allotment and the date requested; provided that if no request has been submitted, a narrative explanation regarding the reason shall be included in the report;

(4) The amounts allotted, expended, and encumbered; provided that if allotment requests were denied or only a partial allotment was made, a narrative explanation regarding the reason shall be included in the report; and

(5) Any changes made to figures or explanations in previous reports.

(d) The reports shall be printed with a reasonable number of copies for public distribution, and shall be made available on the website of the ."

SECTION 3. Section 37-69, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The governor shall prepare a state six-year program and financial plan encompassing all state programs. Not fewer than thirty days before the legislature convenes in every odd-numbered year, the governor shall submit to the legislature and to each member thereof the six-year program and financial plan. The program and financial plan shall be annually and continually updated and maintained. Quarterly updates of the financial plan shall be submitted to the legislature. The program and financial plan, in general, shall contain:

(1) The state program structure;

(2) Statements of statewide objectives and program objectives;

(3) Program plans that describe the programs recommended to implement the statewide and program objectives and the manner in which the recommended programs are proposed to be implemented over the next six fiscal years; and

(4) A financial plan that shows the fiscal implications of the recommended programs for the next six fiscal years."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1927
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII