Duties of the department; transmittal of standard budget and manual; return of completed exception and expanded budgets; submission to governor; disposition of excess general fund appropriations; subm

Duties of the department; transmittal of standard budget and manual; return of completed exception and expanded budgets; submission to governor; disposition of excess general fund appropriations; submission of selected budget information to joint appropriations committee. (a) The department shall transmit a standard budget and a manual of instruction for the preparation of exception and expanded budgets to entities on or before August 15 of odd numbered years. On or before September 15 of odd numbered years entities shall return the completed exception and expanded budgets. (b) The director of the department after compiling the requested budget estimates and related information collected from the several agencies of the state shall submit the overall state budget estimate and related information along with their comments and recommendations to the governor no later than November 1 of each budget period. (c) The governor may, upon examining the budget estimates and requests and after consultation with each agency, approve, disapprove, alter or revise the estimates in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. (d) The governor through the department may provide for public hearings on any and all agency estimates or requests or other fiscal matters and may require the attendance at such hearings of representatives of the agencies. (e) In preparing the overall state budget for distribution to the legislature, including any supplemental, budget shortfall or other emergency changes to the budget, the governor shall recommend to the legislature that not less than five percent (5%) of estimated general fund receipts for the next biennial budget period shall be maintained in the general fund as a reserve amount. This general fund reserve amount request shall be separate from all other requests for appropriations during the biennial budget period for which it is recommended. Subject to accrual accounting principles, any unappropriated fund balance in the general fund on June 30 in the last year of each biennial budget period in excess of the general fund reserve amount recommended under this subsection shall be transferred to the legislative stabilization reserve account. (f) In addition to subsection (b) of this section and not later than October 1 of each odd-numbered year, the director of the department shall file with the legislative service office a copy of the base budget, standard budget estimate and accompanying base budget forms required under W.S. 9-2-1011(c) for each entity. The legislative service office shall provide copies of the information filed under this subsection to the joint appropriations committee. (g) The department of administration and information shall submit to the department and the joint appropriations committee within the time periods specified in subsection (a) of this section its recommendations regarding state employee compensation. The department shall consider those recommendations in developing budgets and submitting recommendations to the governor pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. When distributing the overall state budget to the legislature, the governor shall summarize the manner in which the proposed budget addresses the recommendations of the department of administration and information. (h) If the governor exercises his authority provided by W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(VI) to create an at-will employment contract position, the governor shall seek continued authorization for that position by a budget request in the next session of the legislature. If authorization for the at-will employee contract position is not specifically approved in the general appropriations bill, the position shall terminate and shall not be reauthorized in the future without prior legislative approval. (j) At the end of fiscal year 2028 and the end of each succeeding fiscal biennium and subject to accrual accounting principles, the state auditor shall transfer the unobligated, unencumbered fund balance as defined in W.S. 9-2-1002(a)(xxii) of the general fund in excess of the amount specified in subsection (e) of this section for that fiscal biennium to the legislative stabilization reserve account.