STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7907
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 23, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FARRELL -- (at request of the State Comptroller)
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing amendments to article 7 of the constitution, in relation to
authorization of debt in times of public emergency, a limit on the
total amount of state-funded debt, the refunding of state debts,
providing for the use of conference committees, consensus forecasting
and the submission of a capital program and financing plan
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 10 of article
2 7 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 § 10. In addition to the above limited power to contract debts, the
4 state may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, [or]
5 defend the state in war, [or] to suppress forest fires or to respond to
6 any other emergency stemming from a disaster including, but not limited
7 to, a disaster caused by an act of terrorism; but the money arising from
8 the contracting of such debts shall be applied for the purpose for which
9 it was raised, or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose whatever.
10 No debt shall be contracted pursuant to this section without the concur-
11 rence of the governor, the comptroller, and a majority of the members
12 elected to each branch of the legislature; and the governor shall have
13 power to summon the comptroller and convene the legislature in extraor-
14 dinary session for the purpose of considering such emergency debt. At
15 the time, date and place appointed by the governor, no other subject
16 shall be acted upon until each, in the following order, has given their
17 approval or any one thereof has given their disapproval of the debt
18 proposed by the governor to enable the state to respond to such emergen-
19 cy: the governor, the comptroller, the senate and the assembly. The
20 proposal of such emergency debt shall be in the form of a resolution
21 prepared and submitted by the governor to the comptroller, the senate
22 and the assembly, who shall approve or disapprove such resolution with-
23 out any changes thereto; and if such resolution is approved by the
24 governor, the comptroller, and a majority of the members elected to each
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89124-02-1
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1 branch of the legislature, then such law or laws shall be enacted as may
2 be necessary or advisable to implement such approval.
3 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 11 of article 7 of
4 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
5 § 11. 1. Except the debts or refunding debts specified in sections 9,
6 10 and 13 of this article, no debt shall be hereafter contracted by or
7 [in] on behalf of the state, unless such debt shall be authorized by law
8 pursuant to this section, for some single work or purpose, to be
9 distinctly specified therein. [No such] Debt subject to the provisions
10 of this section shall include any debt or obligation, other than debt or
11 refunding debt incurred pursuant to sections 9, 10 and 13 of this arti-
12 cle, supported in whole or in part by any financing arrangement whereby
13 the state agrees, whether by law, contract, or otherwise, to make
14 payments which are to be used, directly or indirectly, for the payment
15 of principal, interest, or related payments on indebtedness incurred or
16 contracted by the state itself for any purpose, or by any state agency,
17 municipality, individual, public authority or other public or private
18 corporation or any other entity for state capital or operating purposes
19 or to finance grants, loans or other assistance payments made or to be
20 made by or on behalf of the state for any purpose. If the state agrees
21 or has agreed on or after April first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven to
22 make future revenues from a specific state source available for the
23 purpose of supporting debt of any municipality, individual, public or
24 private corporation or any other entity, or, if on or after such date, a
25 program of debt is authorized to be issued where state aid is intended
26 to be the sole source of payment of debt service, such debt shall be
27 considered to be a debt for the purpose of financing a state grant, loan
28 or other assistance payment and shall be subject to the provisions of
29 this section. The provisions of this section shall apply (i) whether or
30 not the obligation of the state to make payments is subject to appropri-
31 ation, or (ii) whether or not debt service is to be paid from a revenue
32 stream transferred by the state to another party that is responsible for
33 making such payments.
34 2. The legislature may, by law, authorize the state to contract debt
35 secured by a pledge of specific state revenues authorized by such law to
36 be deposited in a dedicated trust fund or funds created for a single
37 capital work or purpose. The legislature shall, by law, identify the
38 capital work or purpose to be financed with such debt. Revenues in
39 excess of the required payments of debt service and related payments on
40 such debt shall be available for other purposes, as provided by law.
41 3. Except as provided in subdivision 5 of this section, no law author-
42 izing debt to be created by the state pursuant to subdivisions 1 and 2
43 of this section shall take effect until it shall, at a general election,
44 have been submitted to the people, and have received a majority of all
45 the votes cast for and against it at such election nor shall it be
46 submitted to be voted on within three months after its passage [nor at
47 any general election when any other law or any bill shall be submitted
48 to be voted for or against] by the legislature.
49 The legislature may, at any time after the approval of such law by the
50 people, if no debt shall have been contracted in pursuance thereof,
51 repeal the same; and may at any time, by law, forbid the contracting of
52 any further debt or liability under such law.
53 4. During the fiscal year beginning April first, two thousand twenty-
54 one and in every fiscal year thereafter, no debt authorized pursuant to
55 this section shall be incurred unless the total principal amount of debt
56 to be incurred pursuant to such law, together with the total principal
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1 amount of debt already outstanding, shall be equal to or less than five
2 percent of the total personal income of the state as determined by law.
3 Debt subject to the limit imposed by this section shall include all
4 debt, whenever issued, described in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this section
5 but shall not include the debts specified in sections 9, 10 and 13 of
6 this article.
7 5. During any fiscal year, debt in the combined aggregate amount of
8 two hundred fifty million dollars may be incurred pursuant to a law or
9 laws that are not submitted for approval by the people. Such debt shall
10 be incurred only for critical capital needs. However, in no event shall
11 debt incurred in fiscal years beginning in two thousand twenty-one and
12 thereafter pursuant to such law or laws result in a total principal
13 amount of debt in excess of the limit determined pursuant to subdivision
14 4 of this section.
15 6. (i) All debt subject to the provisions of this section shall,
16 except for refunding debt, be incurred only for a capital purpose
17 authorized by law, and (ii) all debt subject to the provisions of this
18 section and all debt and refunding debt specified in sections 9, 10 and
19 13 of this article shall, if incurred on or after the first day of the
20 first fiscal year beginning at least one year after the date this subdi-
21 vision shall have taken effect, be in the form of obligations issued by
22 the comptroller.
23 7. Nothing contained in this section shall invalidate debt obligations
24 outstanding on the date this subdivision shall have taken effect that
25 would be subject to the provisions of this section if incurred after the
26 date this subdivision shall have taken effect, and the state may contin-
27 ue to provide for payments related to such debt on the same terms under
28 which such debt was incurred; provided, however, that no such debt shall
29 be refunded unless such refunding complies in all respects with the
30 requirements of section 13 of this article. The provisions of section 16
31 of this article shall not apply to state payments with respect to any
32 such outstanding obligations unless such provisions would have applied
33 prior to the date this subdivision shall have taken effect.
34 8. Debt obligations issued to refund outstanding state debt, regard-
35 less of whether such outstanding debt was incurred prior to the date
36 this subdivision shall have taken effect, shall not be counted for the
37 purposes of the limit imposed by subdivision 3 of this section if such
38 refunding complies in all respects with section 13 of this article. For
39 purposes of this subdivision and subdivision 7 of this section, any
40 refunding debt that does not extend beyond the final maturity of the
41 debt being refunded shall be deemed to comply with the provisions of
42 subdivision 6 of section 13 of this article, provided that there is an
43 actual debt service savings in every year to maturity as a result of the
44 issuance of the refunding debt.
45 9. After the date this section shall have taken effect, the state
46 shall not, except as specifically authorized in another section of this
47 constitution, agree to make payments, directly or indirectly, whether or
48 not subject to appropriation, that are to be available to pay debt
49 service on any debt incurred by a municipality, individual, public
50 authority or other public or private corporation or any other entity,
51 for any purpose, if such payments are expected to be used to pay debt
52 service only if other sources available for the payment of debt service
53 are inadequate. Any provision requiring the state to replace monies used
54 to pay debt service shall be included in the prohibition set forth in
55 this subdivision. Outstanding debt that would be prohibited by this
56 subdivision if such debt had been incurred after the date this subdivi-
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1 sion shall have taken effect may be refunded by the entity that incurred
2 the outstanding debt provided that the provisions of subdivisions 7 and
3 8 of this section are complied with except the requirement that such
4 refunding debt obligations be issued by the comptroller.
5 10. The legislature may, at any time after the enactment or approval
6 of law authorizing the state to contract debt pursuant to this section,
7 if no debt shall have been contracted in pursuance thereof, repeal the
8 same; and may at any time, by law, forbid the contracting of any further
9 debt or liability under such law.
10 § 3. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 16 of article 7 of
11 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
12 § 16. The legislature shall annually provide by appropriation for the
13 payment of the interest upon and installments of principal of all debts
14 or refunding debts created on behalf of the state except those
15 contracted under section 9 of this article, as the same shall fall due,
16 and for the contribution to all of the sinking funds created by law, of
17 the amounts annually to be contributed under the provisions of section
18 12, 13 or 15 of this article. [If] With respect to debt contracted other
19 than pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 11 of this article, if at any
20 time the legislature shall fail to make any such appropriation, the
21 comptroller shall set apart from the first revenues thereafter received,
22 applicable to the general fund of the state, a sum sufficient to pay
23 such interest, installments of principal, or contributions to such sink-
24 ing fund, as the case may be, and shall so apply the moneys thus set
25 apart. If at any time the legislature shall fail to make an appropri-
26 ation for the payment of interest or installments of principal or sink-
27 ing fund payments or related payments on any debt contracted pursuant to
28 subdivision 2 of section 11 of this article, the comptroller shall set
29 apart from the first revenues received and pledged to such payments, a
30 sum sufficient to pay such interest or installment of principal or
31 contributions to such sinking fund payments or related payments, and
32 shall so apply the moneys thus set apart, provided however that such
33 revenues must be set aside and applied in a manner which ensures that
34 pledged revenues are applied only to payments on debt for which such
35 revenues were pledged pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 11 of this
36 article. The comptroller may be required to set aside and apply such
37 revenues as aforesaid, at the suit of any holder of such bonds.
38 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the comp-
39 troller may covenant with the purchasers of any state obligations that
40 they shall have no further rights against the state for payment of such
41 obligations or any interest thereon after an amount or amounts deter-
42 mined in accordance with the provisions of such covenant is deposited in
43 a described fund or with a named or described agency or trustee. In such
44 case, this section shall have no further application with respect to
45 payment of such obligations or any interest thereon after the comp-
46 troller has complied with the prescribed conditions of such covenant.
47 § 4. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That article 7 of the constitu-
48 tion be amended by adding a new section 1-a to read as follows:
49 § 1-a. Within ten days following the submission of the budget by the
50 governor pursuant to this article, such bills shall be referred to a
51 joint budget conference committee to consider and reconcile such budget
52 resolution or budget bills as may be passed by each house. The temporary
53 president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly shall jointly
54 convene such joint budget conference committee. Such conference commit-
55 tee meetings shall be required to meet and shall be open to the public.
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1 § 5. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That article 7 of the constitu-
2 tion be amended by adding a new section 1-b to read as follows:
3 § 1-b. 1. By the end of February in each year, prior to the report
4 required by subdivision 2 of this section, the chairperson and ranking
5 minority member of the senate finance committee, the chairperson and
6 ranking minority member of the assembly ways and means committee and the
7 director of the budget shall jointly convene a consensus economic and
8 revenue forecasting conference in the form of a joint legislative-execu-
9 tive hearing, for the purpose of assisting the governor and the legisla-
10 ture in reaching the consensus revenue forecast required by subdivision
11 2 of this section. The conveners of the conference shall invite the
12 state comptroller and such other participants to the conference as
13 shall, in their judgment, provide guidance on the current conditions in,
14 and probable outlook for the performance of, the economy of the state,
15 as well as the effect of such conditions and such performance on state
16 receipts.
17 2. On or before March first in each year, the director of the budget
18 and the secretary of the senate finance committee and the secretary of
19 the assembly ways and means committee shall issue a joint report
20 containing a consensus forecast of the economy and specific binding
21 estimates of receipts and any and all other available resources used to
22 support disbursement for the current and the ensuing state fiscal year.
23 Such estimates shall include, but not be limited to: expected tax
24 receipts on an all-funds basis, projected lottery receipts, anticipated
25 miscellaneous receipts and other financing sources including, but not
26 limited to, re-estimates that would lower current projected disburse-
27 ments as well as other resources that would be used to support disburse-
28 ments. The estimate of receipts for the ensuing fiscal year contained in
29 the report shall be all receipts from such sources described in this
30 subdivision available to make disbursements authorized by the the appro-
31 priation bills submitted by the governor pursuant to section 3 of this
32 article for the ensuing fiscal year. The comptroller shall comment on
33 the reasonableness and reliability of the consensus forecast.
34 3. On a failure of the director of the budget, the secretary of the
35 senate finance committee and the secretary of the assembly ways and
36 means committee to issue a joint report containing a consensus forecast
37 as provided in subdivision 2 of this section, or if the state comp-
38 troller rejects such forecast, the state comptroller shall, on or before
39 March fifth, provide binding estimates of receipts and other resources
40 for the current and the ensuing state fiscal year. Such estimates shall
41 include, but not be limited to, expected tax receipts on an all-funds
42 basis, projected lottery receipts, miscellaneous receipts, anticipated
43 miscellaneous receipts and other financing sources including re-esti-
44 mates that would lower current projected disbursements as well as other
45 resources that would be used to support disbursements. In rendering his
46 or her estimate, as required in this subdivision, the comptroller shall
47 give due consideration to the inherent risks in economic and revenue
48 forecasting and the interest of the state to maintain budget balance
49 throughout the fiscal year. The estimate of receipts for the ensuing
50 fiscal year provided by the state comptroller shall be all receipts and
51 other resources from such sources available to make disbursements
52 authorized by the appropriation bills submitted by the governor pursuant
53 to section 3 of this article for the ensuing fiscal year.
54 § 6. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 2 of article 7 of
55 the constitution be amended to read as follows:
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1 § 2. Annually, on or before the first day of February in each year
2 following the year fixed by the constitution for the election of gover-
3 nor and lieutenant governor, and on or before the second Tuesday follow-
4 ing the first day of the annual meeting of the legislature, in all other
5 years, the governor shall submit to the legislature a budget containing
6 a complete plan of expenditures proposed to be made before the close of
7 the ensuing fiscal year and all moneys and revenues estimated to be
8 available therefor, together with an explanation of the basis of such
9 estimates and recommendations as to proposed legislation, if any, which
10 the governor may deem necessary to provide moneys and revenues suffi-
11 cient to meet such proposed expenditures. It shall also contain such
12 other recommendations and information as the governor may deem proper
13 and such additional information as may be required by law.
14 Annually, as provided by law, the governor shall submit to the legis-
15 lature a detailed long-term capital program and financing plan concur-
16 rent with the executive budget.
17 § 7. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing amendments be
18 referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
19 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
20 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
21 published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
