AB 321

DATE:		July 14, 2009
TO:		All Legislators
FROM:		Representative Bill Kramer Senator Mary Lazich
RE:		State Legislative Oversight of Budgeting Act, or SLOB Act.
We are circulating for co-sponsorship the State Legislative Oversight of Budgeting Act, LRB-2996. Just over a month ago, Wisconsin’s biennial state budget was again adjusted, or repaired, for the third time since its original passage in October of 2007. Since 2002, no budget prepared by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor has lasted more than seven months without falling out of balance. And of four budgets passed, each one was repaired at least once. Moreover, perpetual structural deficits that are being carried forward to future budgets are exacerbating future budget challenges; the deficit for the 2011-2013 biennial budget is projected at $2.2 billion. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to be proactive in overseeing state appropriations and agency management of all funds, including federal inputs. This bill will require all state agencies to provide both personal and written testimony before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on each agency’s fiscal and operational condition. As has been practice, once the state’s biennial budget passes the Legislature and is signed into law by the Governor, the legislature relegates budget oversight and adjustment to the Governor, and then we feign frustration and ignorance when the projected revenues fall short or there are cost overruns in state contracting or programs. It is our hope that through this reasonable oversight process we can better identify budget challenges before they occur and rectify them quickly and painlessly if, and once, problems do arise with revenue projections, staffing levels, caseloads, and cost overruns. Please contact either the Kramer office (6-8580) or the Lazich office (6-5400) if you would like to sign on.   Analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau   This bill requires that all executive and judicial branch state agencies submit reports on their fiscal condition and operations to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC). Under the bill, one-quarter of all the state agencies must submit the report and appear before the JLAC each quarter. The report must report on the agency’s fiscal condition and operational health, and must include agency balance sheets, an accounting of all agency expenditures exceeding $100, the number of persons employed by the agency, aggregate payroll data, and a list of all programs administered by the agency, as well as an explanation of each program and an identification of the statutory provision requiring the program. The report must further include data relating to employee salary growth and benefit costs. The report is in addition to any other reports that state agencies are currently required to prepare by law. The JLAC cochairpersons may determine which state agencies are required to submit the report and appear before JLAC in any given quarter, but no agency may be required to appear before JLAC more than once in a fiscal year. Under the bill, the JLAC cochairpersons must provide each state agency at least 15 business days notice of its scheduled appearance before JLAC and must provide a copy of the notice to the governor and to each senator and representative to the assembly. If the chief administrative officer of a state agency is unable to appear at a quarterly meeting, the chief administrative officer must notify the JLAC cochairpersons at least 72 hours before a public notice for a committee hearing is required to be published and must attend the next quarterly meeting of JLAC.