HB257

ENGROSSED

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

To create the permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability; to provide for membership of the committee; to provide for the compensation of members; to provide for the powers and duties of the committee; to specify time frames for meetings held by the committee; to allow the committee to request audits of certain state agencies and other entities under certain conditions; to authorize the committee to hold public hearings under certain conditions; to amend Section 41-19-10, Code of Alabama 1975, to authorize the Department of Finance to modify the planned expenditure of funds upon advice and consent of the committee; and to prohibit certain interagency agreements unless certain notice is provided to the committee.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. (a) There is created a permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability.

(b) The committee shall consist of the following members:

(1) The Chair of the House Education Ways and Means Committee.

(2) The Chair of the House General Fund Ways and Means Committee.

(3) The Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee.

(4) The Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee.

(5) Four members of the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(6) Four members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(c)(1) Initial committee members shall be appointed within 30 days of the effective date of this act. Successor committee members shall be appointed at the 2019 regular legislative session and each four years thereafter.

(2) Members of the committee may serve on the committee during the term in which appointed and, if reappointed to the same house without a break in service to that house, during the succeeding legislative term until his or her successor is appointed.

(d) Each member of the committee shall receive compensation and an expense allowance pursuant to Amendment 871 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.

(e) Upon the initial appointment of committee members and at the first regular session of each quadrennium of the Legislature thereafter, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select a Senate member of the committee and a House member of the committee, respectively, to serve as co-chairs of the committee. The co-chairs shall alternate acting as chair and vice-chair of the committee every two years, with the co-chair from the House of Representatives acting as chair during the first two years of a quadrennium, and the co-chair from the Senate acting as chair during the last two years of the quadrennium.

(f)(1) The appointments by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be made so that each political party is represented in approximately the same proportion as the party is represented in both the House and the Senate.

(2) The membership of the committee shall be inclusive and reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state.

(g)(1) The committee may meet, act, and conduct its business during the sessions of the Legislature or any recess thereof, and in the interim period between sessions.

(2) The committee shall meet at the call of the chair and shall meet monthly at a time that coincides with meetings called by the Contract Review Oversight Committee.

(3) The last meeting of the committee for a fiscal year shall be a public hearing in which the actions of the committee during the fiscal year are reviewed.

(h) Action by the committee must be approved by a majority of the members of the House and a majority of the members of the Senate.

Section 2. (a) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall each provide a staff member to provide administrative and clerical support to the committee.

(b) The Director of the Legislative Reference Service, the Director of the Legislative Fiscal Office, the Director of the Alabama Law Institute, and the Chief Examiner of Public Accounts shall provide assistance as necessary at the committee's request.

(c) All state agencies, departments, boards, commissions, authorities, or other entities that receive any type of appropriation from the Legislature shall cooperate fully with the committee and shall produce any documents or other information requested by the committee.

Section 3. The committee shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To provide continuous legislative oversight of all state government operations.

(2) To review expenditures by state agencies, departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, authorities, or other entities and investigate, in detail, whether funds are expended for the programs or purposes for which they were appropriated by the Legislature.

(3) To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of operations and programs of state agencies, departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, authorities, or other entities.

(4) To ensure that laws are implemented and carried out as the Legislature intended.

(5) To report important and relevant information discovered by the committee through the course of its review and investigation to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(6) To offer formal suggestions to state agencies, departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, authorities, or other entities to correct operational deficiencies identified by the committee. A state agency, department, bureau, board, commission, authority, or other entity shall respond to the committee's recommendations within a reasonable time and may propose suitable alternatives if the entity disagrees with the committee's recommendations.

(7) To direct the Chief Examiner of Public Accounts to conduct an audit, review, or examination of any state agency, department, bureau, board, commission, authority, or other entity or any program administered by a state or other entity, when necessary.

(8) To hold public hearings on any matter deemed necessary by the committee upon the call of the chair or a majority of committee members.

(9) To take other action as may be necessary or convenient to accomplish its purposes and perform its duties effectively and efficiently under this act.Section 4. Section 41-19-10, Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows:

§41-19-10.

"(a) Except as limited by policy decisions of the Governor, appropriations by the Legislature and other provisions of law, the several state agencies/departments shall have full authority for administering their program assignments and appropriations and shall be responsible for their proper management.

"(b) Each state agency/department shall prepare an annual plan for the operation of each of its assigned programs. The operations plan shall be prepared in the form and content and be transmitted on the date prescribed to the Department of Finance.

"(c) The Department of Finance shall:

"(1) Review each operations plan to determine that it is consistent with the policy decisions of the Governor and appropriations by the Legislature, that it reflects proper planning and efficient management methods and that appropriations have been made for the planned purpose and will not be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year;

"(2) Approve the operations plan if satisfied that it meets the requirements under subdivision (1) of this subsection; otherwise, the Department of Finance shall require revision of the operations plan in whole or in part; and

"(3) Modify or withhold the planned expenditures at any time during the appropriation period if the Department of Finance finds that such expenditures are greater than those necessary to execute the programs at the level authorized by the Governor and the Legislature or that the revenues and resources will be insufficient to meet the authorized expenditure levels. The department, after 30 days' upon notice to the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability, may approve, modify, or withhold the planned expenditure of funds if the department finds that the expenditures are greater than necessary to execute the programs at the level authorized by the Governor and the Legislature.

"(d) No state agency/department may increase salaries of its employees, employ additional employees or expend money or incur any obligations except in accordance with law and with a properly approved operations plan by the Director of Finance.

"(e) Appropriation transfers or changes as between objects of expenditures within a program may be made only by the Director of Finance. Appropriation transfers or changes between programs within an agency/department may be made only by the Governor and shall be reported to the Legislature quarterly. No transfers shall be made between agencies/departments except pursuant to interagency agreements executed for purposes of accomplishing objectives for which the funds involved were appropriated. An agency or department may not enter into an interagency agreement transferring employees, programs, professional contracts, personal property, or equipment, unless the Governor provides 30 days' notice to the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability prior to execution of the interagency agreement. Interagency agreements may not be used to effectuate policy changes, including, but not limited to, the creation of new programs unless the Governor provides 30 days' notice to the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability.

"(f) The Department of Finance shall report quarterly to the Governor and the Legislature on the operations of each state agency/department, relating actual accomplishments to those planned and modifying, if necessary, the operations plan of any agency/department for the balance of the fiscal year."

Section 5. This act shall become effective immediately following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Legislature

Legislative Committees

State Agencies

Appropriations

Examiners of Public Accounts Department