House Bill No. [insert bill number] aims to establish a Government Growth Limit (referred to as the "growth limit") that restricts the amount of recurring revenue from the State General Fund (Direct) that the legislature can appropriate in any fiscal year. The bill mandates that the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) calculate and adopt this growth limit annually, with the calculation based on the previous fiscal year's appropriations and a growth factor derived from population changes and consumer price indices. If the growth factor is negative, the growth limit will equal the base amount from the prior year. Additionally, any recognized recurring revenue above the growth limit and below the expenditure limit can only be appropriated for nonrecurring expenses.

The bill also modifies existing laws regarding executive budget recommendations and gubernatorial proposals to exceed the expenditure limit. It prohibits executive budget recommendations for recurring revenue from exceeding the newly established growth limit and requires any proposal by the governor to exceed either the expenditure limit or the growth limit to be submitted separately from the executive budget. Furthermore, appropriations from the state general fund and dedicated funds must conform to the requirements set forth in the new growth limit provisions. The bill will take effect only if a proposed amendment to Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution is adopted in a statewide election.

Statutes affected:
HB824 Original: 39:34(C), 39:38(B), 39:54(C)