Limit Emergency Spending And Authorize Additional Appropriation

The act establishes triannual meetings, which take place in March, August, and December, whereby members of the executive committee of the legislative council and the joint budget committee (committees) are able to receive information from the executive branch related to a disaster if the governor has declared a disaster emergency since the 1st day of the month for the last required meeting. During the meeting, the governor or his or her designee must appear before the committees to provide information of a comprehensive nature and respond to questions from the committees with respect to the disaster emergency. The governor and any state agency is also required to promptly give notice to the general assembly of the promulgation of any executive order or other order by the governor or the agency, as applicable, issued in connection with the disaster emergency.

The office of state planning and budgeting is required to provide quarterly reports to the joint budget committee about the expenditures from the disaster emergency fund (fund) and to post the reports on the office's website. The office is also required to prepare quarterly reports of federal funds that the state receives and spends.

The state auditor is required to conduct or cause to be conducted a performance audit of the fund that is completed on December 1, 2022. Thereafter, the state auditor is required to conduct a biennial financial audit of the fund for the 2 most recently completed fiscal years.

The act extends the repeal date for the authority to transfer spending authority between line items in specified circumstances from September 1, 2020, to September 1, 2025, and similarly extends the repeal date for the provision permitting overexpenditures in excess of the amount authorized by an item of appropriation in limited circumstances, including for medicaid programs.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)