N.Y. State Finance Law § 53: Special emergency appropriations

§ 53. Special emergency appropriations. 1. If, for any fiscal year,

the legislature enacts a special emergency appropriation, no money shall

be paid pursuant to any such appropriation unless an amount of such

appropriation which is equal to the amount to be paid shall have been

transferred as authorized by the governor who may authorize the transfer

of all or a portion of such a special emergency appropriation only in

accordance with the procedures and subject to the conditions and

limitations set forth in this section.

2. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such

a special emergency appropriation to the general fund or to a fund

classified as a special revenue or capital projects fund as defined in

section two of this chapter for a specific program or purpose, subject

to the conditions and procedures described in subdivisions five, six and

seven of this section and the following:

a. Transfers to the general fund or the capital projects fund

established under section ninety-three of this chapter shall be only for

the purpose and to the extent required to meet emergency and

unanticipated expenditures of the state which shall mean:

(1) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to the proper and

efficient functioning of the government of the state or the rendering of

governmental services by the state, in order to meet emergencies and

unanticipated requirements arising from or which threaten to interfere

with the lawful exercise of one or more of the powers of government by

the state;

(2) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to protect fully the

New York state housing finance agency, the state university construction

fund, the state university, or the facilities development corporation

from general public liability arising from their ownership or interest

in state university facilities or mental hygiene facilities financed by

the New York state housing finance agency, as the case may be, or to

repair, restore, rebuild or replace such a facility upon damage, loss or

destruction thereof, or to pay the annual rentals for such a facility in

the event of the damage, loss or destruction thereof and of the

availability and possession thereof by the state university construction

fund and the occupancy thereof by the state university, or the

availability and possession thereof by the state university, or the

availability and possession thereof by the facilities development

corporation and the occupancy thereof by the department of mental

hygiene; and

(3) expenditures deemed necessary or essential for payment of the

state's liability, pursuant to a contract with a county containing a

city having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants or

a city having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants,

providing for the financing and the construction and leasing of state

office buildings and other public improvements in such county or city,

to hold such county or city and its officers, agents or employees

harmless against liability, loss, cost, damage, claims, judgments or

expense based on personal injury, death or damage to property, real,

personal or mixed, which because of the uncertainty of events are not

clearly foreseeable or predictable at the time of passage of the budget

and other appropriation measures during the regular session of the

legislature next preceding the occurrence or development thereof, and

for which other appropriations are not available or are insufficient.

Transfers made pursuant to subparagraphs two and three of this

paragraph are expressly for the purpose of applying self-insurer

principles to the facilities therein described, consistent with the

system of self-insurance followed by the state for real property under

its jurisdiction and control.

b. Transfers to a special revenue fund or capital projects fund other

than the capital projects fund established under section ninety-three of

this chapter shall be made only if the amount of moneys credited to such

fund for such program or purpose during the then current state fiscal

year is in excess of such amount anticipated to be available at the time

the annual budget for such fiscal year was submitted to the legislature,

in which case, any such transfer shall be limited to the amount of such

excess.

3. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such

a special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a proprietary

fund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions

and procedures described in subdivisions five, six and seven of this

section only if the revenues actually accrued to such fund during the

then current state fiscal year are in excess of such revenues

anticipated at the time the annual budget for such fiscal year was

submitted to the legislature, in which case, any such transfer shall be

limited to the amount of such excess.

4. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such

a special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a fiduciary

fund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions

and procedures described in subdivisions five and seven of this section

only if the moneys necessary to fund such transfer are available for

disbursement within such fund and only when the disbursements required

to be made during the then current fiscal year for liabilities which are

not subject to statutory limitation are in excess of the amount of such

required disbursements anticipated at the time the annual budget for

such fiscal year was submitted to the legislature, in which case, any

such transfer shall be limited to the amount of such excess.

5. Any transfer shall lapse, except with regard to obligations already

incurred, on the day on which the governor submits an appropriation bill

to the next succeeding regular session of the legislature unless such

bill shall include a separate request for an appropriation, from the

fund to which all or a portion of a special emergency appropriation was

transferred, for the transferred amount. Upon such request, such

transfer shall continue in effect until final action by the legislature

on such bill, after which time such transfer shall lapse and no

additional expenditures shall be made against such transferred

appropriation. The same provisions of law as are applicable to the

segregation and expenditure of appropriations generally shall also be

applicable to the segregation and expenditure of appropriations

transferred pursuant to this section.

6. The governor shall not have the authority to authorize, and the

comptroller shall so deny, an appropriations transfer and any

expenditures therefrom for any purpose concerning which the legislature

has declared its intent that such program, project or activity shall not

be performed. For the purpose of determining such legislative intent,

the governor and the comptroller shall consider legislative action on

the executive budget and the various appropriation bills for the support

of government in addition to any specific act of the legislature making

such a declaration.

7. The governor shall not authorize the transfer of all or a portion

of a special emergency appropriation unless and until the following

procedure has been followed:

a. The chief executive officer of a state agency or state affiliated

corporation, immediately upon determining the necessity for a special

emergency appropriation transfer, shall notify the director of the

budget, the chairman of the senate finance committee and the chairman of

the assembly ways and means committee on forms and in a manner to be

prescribed by the director of the budget which shall include the

following:

(1) a statement of the amount of the requested special emergency

appropriation transfer and a schedule of the timing of the disbursements

and expenditures proposed to be made pursuant to the transferred

appropriation;

(2) a description of the purposes to be served, and the specific

activities and positions to be funded, if any, by the proposed

expenditures;

(3) a statement as to whether such expenditures shall or could be

utilized to offset obligations of the general fund, the time period

during which the moneys necessary for the proposed disbursements shall

be available to such fund, and a description and explanation of the

effects the proposed expenditures may have on the state's obligation to

make similar expenditures in the future.

b. The director of the budget shall review such requests, taking into

consideration any recommendations of the chairman of the senate finance

committee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee, and

after making any modifications, shall formally recommend to the governor

approval of such requests as he shall deem appropriate. He shall at the

same time notify the chairman of the senate finance committee and the

chairman of the assembly ways and means committee of his recommendations

on such requests, and shall submit to such chairmen any modification of

such requests and such further information and justification as he shall

deem appropriate or that such chairmen may require in furtherance of

their review.

c. The governor shall then issue such transfer authorization pursuant

to this section as deemed appropriate based upon his review of such

recommendations, provided however, that when the request consists solely

of moneys available for costs and damages resulting from natural

disasters or civil disobedience, the governor may act in accordance with

the immediacy of the situation.

* 8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in

addition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may

authorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or

to a fund established to account for revenues from the federal

government only after the approval of:

(1) the temporary president of the senate or the chair of the senate

finance committee (the "senate"); and

(2) the speaker of the assembly or the chair of the assembly ways and

means committee (the "assembly").

Provided however, if either the senate or the assembly fails to

affirmatively deny or approve such transfer within ten days from the

date on which the governor provides notification of such transfer, then

the transfer shall be deemed approved by both the senate and the

assembly.

* NB Effective until March 31, 2028

*8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in

addition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may

authorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or

to a fund established to account for revenues from the federal

government only after the approval of:

(1) the temporary president of the senate or the chairman of the

senate finance committee; and

(2) the speaker of the assembly or the chairman of the assembly ways

and means committee.

* NB Effective March 31, 2028

9. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section or any

other law to the contrary, the governor may generally authorize the

director of the budget to act on his behalf in authorizing transfers of

appropriations pursuant to this section.