§ 9-2-1012 — 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 appropriated from the general fund to the
budget reserve account within the earmarked fund. This
appropriation shall be in addition to any fund balance within
the budget reserve account. At the end of each biennial budget
period, general fund appropriations for the biennium in excess
of expenditures including encumbrances during the biennium, as
identified by the state auditor in accordance with the
provisions of W.S. 9-2-1008 and 9-4-207, shall be transferred
into the budget reserve account. All funds in the budget reserve
account shall be invested by the state treasurer and earnings
therefrom shall be credited into the general fund.
Appropriations to the account shall not lapse at the end of any
fiscal period. Expenditures from the budget reserve account
shall be by legislative appropriation only.
Note: Effective 7/1/2026 this section will read as:
(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. [NOTE: This section
will be effective 7/1/2026.]