§ 53 — Special emergency appropriations

§ 53. Special emergency appropriations. 1. If, for any fiscal year,\nthe legislature enacts a special emergency appropriation, no money shall\nbe paid pursuant to any such appropriation unless an amount of such\nappropriation which is equal to the amount to be paid shall have been\ntransferred as authorized by the governor who may authorize the transfer\nof all or a portion of such a special emergency appropriation only in\naccordance with the procedures and subject to the conditions and\nlimitations set forth in this section.\n 2. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such\na special emergency appropriation to the general fund or to a fund\nclassified as a special revenue or capital projects fund as defined in\nsection two of this chapter for a specific program or purpose, subject\nto the conditions and procedures described in subdivisions five, six and\nseven of this section and the following:\n a. Transfers to the general fund or the capital projects fund\nestablished under section ninety-three of this chapter shall be only for\nthe purpose and to the extent required to meet emergency and\nunanticipated expenditures of the state which shall mean:\n (1) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to the proper and\nefficient functioning of the government of the state or the rendering of\ngovernmental services by the state, in order to meet emergencies and\nunanticipated requirements arising from or which threaten to interfere\nwith the lawful exercise of one or more of the powers of government by\nthe state;\n (2) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to protect fully the\nNew York state housing finance agency, the state university construction\nfund, the state university, or the facilities development corporation\nfrom general public liability arising from their ownership or interest\nin state university facilities or mental hygiene facilities financed by\nthe New York state housing finance agency, as the case may be, or to\nrepair, restore, rebuild or replace such a facility upon damage, loss or\ndestruction thereof, or to pay the annual rentals for such a facility in\nthe event of the damage, loss or destruction thereof and of the\navailability and possession thereof by the state university construction\nfund and the occupancy thereof by the state university, or the\navailability and possession thereof by the state university, or the\navailability and possession thereof by the facilities development\ncorporation and the occupancy thereof by the department of mental\nhygiene; and\n (3) expenditures deemed necessary or essential for payment of the\nstate's liability, pursuant to a contract with a county containing a\ncity having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants or\na city having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants,\nproviding for the financing and the construction and leasing of state\noffice buildings and other public improvements in such county or city,\nto hold such county or city and its officers, agents or employees\nharmless against liability, loss, cost, damage, claims, judgments or\nexpense based on personal injury, death or damage to property, real,\npersonal or mixed, which because of the uncertainty of events are not\nclearly foreseeable or predictable at the time of passage of the budget\nand other appropriation measures during the regular session of the\nlegislature next preceding the occurrence or development thereof, and\nfor which other appropriations are not available or are insufficient.\n Transfers made pursuant to subparagraphs two and three of this\nparagraph are expressly for the purpose of applying self-insurer\nprinciples to the facilities therein described, consistent with the\nsystem of self-insurance followed by the state for real property under\nits jurisdiction and control.\n b. Transfers to a special revenue fund or capital projects fund other\nthan the capital projects fund established under section ninety-three of\nthis chapter shall be made only if the amount of moneys credited to such\nfund for such program or purpose during the then current state fiscal\nyear is in excess of such amount anticipated to be available at the time\nthe annual budget for such fiscal year was submitted to the legislature,\nin which case, any such transfer shall be limited to the amount of such\nexcess.\n 3. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such\na special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a proprietary\nfund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions\nand procedures described in subdivisions five, six and seven of this\nsection only if the revenues actually accrued to such fund during the\nthen current state fiscal year are in excess of such revenues\nanticipated at the time the annual budget for such fiscal year was\nsubmitted to the legislature, in which case, any such transfer shall be\nlimited to the amount of such excess.\n 4. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such\na special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a fiduciary\nfund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions\nand procedures described in subdivisions five and seven of this section\nonly if the moneys necessary to fund such transfer are available for\ndisbursement within such fund and only when the disbursements required\nto be made during the then current fiscal year for liabilities which are\nnot subject to statutory limitation are in excess of the amount of such\nrequired disbursements anticipated at the time the annual budget for\nsuch fiscal year was submitted to the legislature, in which case, any\nsuch transfer shall be limited to the amount of such excess.\n 5. Any transfer shall lapse, except with regard to obligations already\nincurred, on the day on which the governor submits an appropriation bill\nto the next succeeding regular session of the legislature unless such\nbill shall include a separate request for an appropriation, from the\nfund to which all or a portion of a special emergency appropriation was\ntransferred, for the transferred amount. Upon such request, such\ntransfer shall continue in effect until final action by the legislature\non such bill, after which time such transfer shall lapse and no\nadditional expenditures shall be made against such transferred\nappropriation. The same provisions of law as are applicable to the\nsegregation and expenditure of appropriations generally shall also be\napplicable to the segregation and expenditure of appropriations\ntransferred pursuant to this section.\n 6. The governor shall not have the authority to authorize, and the\ncomptroller shall so deny, an appropriations transfer and any\nexpenditures therefrom for any purpose concerning which the legislature\nhas declared its intent that such program, project or activity shall not\nbe performed. For the purpose of determining such legislative intent,\nthe governor and the comptroller shall consider legislative action on\nthe executive budget and the various appropriation bills for the support\nof government in addition to any specific act of the legislature making\nsuch a declaration.\n 7. The governor shall not authorize the transfer of all or a portion\nof a special emergency appropriation unless and until the following\nprocedure has been followed:\n a. The chief executive officer of a state agency or state affiliated\ncorporation, immediately upon determining the necessity for a special\nemergency appropriation transfer, shall notify the director of the\nbudget, the chairman of the senate finance committee and the chairman of\nthe assembly ways and means committee on forms and in a manner to be\nprescribed by the director of the budget which shall include the\nfollowing:\n (1) a statement of the amount of the requested special emergency\nappropriation transfer and a schedule of the timing of the disbursements\nand expenditures proposed to be made pursuant to the transferred\nappropriation;\n (2) a description of the purposes to be served, and the specific\nactivities and positions to be funded, if any, by the proposed\nexpenditures;\n (3) a statement as to whether such expenditures shall or could be\nutilized to offset obligations of the general fund, the time period\nduring which the moneys necessary for the proposed disbursements shall\nbe available to such fund, and a description and explanation of the\neffects the proposed expenditures may have on the state's obligation to\nmake similar expenditures in the future.\n b. The director of the budget shall review such requests, taking into\nconsideration any recommendations of the chairman of the senate finance\ncommittee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee, and\nafter making any modifications, shall formally recommend to the governor\napproval of such requests as he shall deem appropriate. He shall at the\nsame time notify the chairman of the senate finance committee and the\nchairman of the assembly ways and means committee of his recommendations\non such requests, and shall submit to such chairmen any modification of\nsuch requests and such further information and justification as he shall\ndeem appropriate or that such chairmen may require in furtherance of\ntheir review.\n c. The governor shall then issue such transfer authorization pursuant\nto this section as deemed appropriate based upon his review of such\nrecommendations, provided however, that when the request consists solely\nof moneys available for costs and damages resulting from natural\ndisasters or civil disobedience, the governor may act in accordance with\nthe immediacy of the situation.\n * 8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in\naddition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may\nauthorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or\nto a fund established to account for revenues from the federal\ngovernment only after the approval of:\n (1) the temporary president of the senate or the chair of the senate\nfinance committee (the "senate"); and\n (2) the speaker of the assembly or the chair of the assembly ways and\nmeans committee (the "assembly").\n Provided however, if either the senate or the assembly fails to\naffirmatively deny or approve such transfer within ten days from the\ndate on which the governor provides notification of such transfer, then\nthe transfer shall be deemed approved by both the senate and the\nassembly.\n * NB Effective until March 31, 2028\n *8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in\naddition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may\nauthorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or\nto a fund established to account for revenues from the federal\ngovernment only after the approval of:\n (1) the temporary president of the senate or the chairman of the\nsenate finance committee; and\n (2) the speaker of the assembly or the chairman of the assembly ways\nand means committee.\n * NB Effective March 31, 2028\n 9. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section or any\nother law to the contrary, the governor may generally authorize the\ndirector of the budget to act on his behalf in authorizing transfers of\nappropriations pursuant to this section.\n