The bill, Substitute House Bill No. 7267, amends the requirements for the annual fiscal accountability reports submitted by the Office of Policy and Management and the Office of Fiscal Analysis. It mandates that these reports include estimates of material and likely changes to nonfixed costs, in addition to the existing requirement for spending changes due to fixed cost drivers. Furthermore, the bill introduces an analysis of the state's preparedness for plausible recession scenarios, which encompasses estimating potential multiyear budget deficits resulting from revenue declines and assessing the adequacy of the Budget Reserve Fund and other state resources to address these deficits.

In contrast, the bill removes certain existing requirements from the reports, specifically the need to include the total spending change necessary to accommodate fixed cost drivers without exceeding current revenue estimates, as well as an analysis of possible uses of surplus funds, such as contributions to the Budget Reserve Fund, debt retirement, and pension funding. The revised reports will still cover essential elements like the estimated level of spending change allowed by consensus revenue estimates, necessary changes to current year spending due to fixed cost drivers, and projections for the Budget Reserve Fund balance. The bill is effective upon passage.

Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: 2-36b
FIN Joint Favorable Substitute: 2-36b
File No. 866: 2-36b