Amendment
language
The Runaway Spending Amendment on the ballot this November will
ask you to vote yes or no on the following proposal:
FORM OF SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL
NUMBER ONE, AN AMENDMENT
Amendment to Articles IV and VII of
the Constitution, in relation to the submission of the budget to
the Legislature by the Governor. The proposed amendment to Articles
IV and VII of the Constitution would change the process for enactment
of the state budget by (a) providing for a contingency budget if
the Legislature does not act on the Governor’s appropriation
bills before the start of the fiscal year; (b) placing limits on
the amount of spending during such contingency period; (c) once
such contingency period begins, eliminating the requirement that
the Legislature act on the Governor’s proposed appropriation
bills, and instead authorizing the Legislature to end the contingency
period by adopting a multiple appropriation bill making changes
to the contingency budget, subject to line item veto by the Governor;
and (d) authorizing the Legislature, subject to veto by the Governor,
to modify the spending limits for future contingency budgets, except
that such changes cannot take effect until three years after enactment.
The proposed amendment also sets forth certain requirements for
the operation of a fiscal stabilization reserve fund, from which
money could be disbursed in a subsequent year. It would require
estimates and information provided by state departments to the Governor
for use in preparing the budget to be available to the public. It
would provide a date certain by which the Governor must submit a
budget and appropriation bills to the Legislature. It would reduce
the time the Governor has to make changes to the budget and appropriation
bills submitted to the Legislature without the Legislature’s
consent from thirty days to twenty-one days. Shall the proposed
amendment be approved?
The concurrent resolution of the senate and assembly
proposing amendments to articles IV and VII of the state constitution
can be found here.
The legislation that would implement the amendment
can be found here.
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Does this
sound like Budget Reform to you? |
 It
does not require that the Legislature pass an on-time
budget.
It gets rid of the
requirement that lawmakers lose their paychecks
when the budget is late.
And if the Legislature
fails to pass an on-time budget, the Assembly and
the Senate take control of the budget-writing process.
The Legislature has
already added $12 billion to the budget in just
10 years. More budget power for the Legislature
means more spending, which means more taxes. Is
that what New York needs? |
This November,
vote"NO"
on Proposal One - The Runaway Spending Amendment |
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