Senate trims governor’s reprogramming authority from 100% to 50% in budget amendment

Senator Jude Hauschneider told colleagues that the Senate amended section 501 of the House bill to reduce the governor’s reprogramming authority from 100% to 50% and to delete a footnote that had supported broader executive reprogramming tied to an MPLT line of credit. The change was offered as part of the Senate’s fiscal safeguards and was adopted as part of SD1.

The chair said the 50% reprogramming authority is sufficient to address the MPLT line of credit as reflected in the current fiscal-year budget and suggested that if a greater authority is required the governor should communicate the necessity to the legislature. The amendment passed by roll call as part of the SD1 package; no executive branch representative responded during the session.