Commission reviews PD 52 draft to modernize budget statutes and remove archaic terms

Amy Susano, lead of the subcommittee, presented provisional draft PD 52 and described it as a statutory "clean-up" designed to modernize language and align statutes with current practice. "This clarifies that the director of the D.O.A. is the state treasurer," Susano said, noting the draft strips outdated references such as facsimile and loan coupons and removes archaic terms like "heretofore" and "thereof."

Susano told the commission the table she distributed maps sections of title 17 to the proposed changes so members can see which statutes are touched and how. She said the draft is not final but gives the commission a sense of the scope: multiple statutes would be edited to reflect present practice and to make statutory language more accessible to the public.

The subcommittee also raised the possibility of creating a single statutory reference or chapter listing the state's trust funds for quick reference. Susano warned that moving trust-fund language could be complicated because many individual statutes provide contextual rules and cross-references. "There could be some complications in doing that because some of these trust funds are...there's other statutes surrounding it that give it context," she said.

Commissioners asked for a fuller draft at the next meeting. Susano said the intent is to have a much more complete draft by the commission’s next session in June, though some items may remain subject to refinement. The commission did not take a formal vote; staff will continue drafting and return with updated materials.