MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2019 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Burton

Senate Bill 2392

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-159, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS PERTINENT TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND INVENTORYING OF PROGRAMS USED IN THE BUDGETING PROCESS; TO EXPAND THE SCOPE OF AGENCIES REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 27-103-159, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     27-103-159.  (1)  For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:

          (a)  "Evidence-based program" * * * shall means * * * a an intervention program * * * or practice that has had multiple site * * * random randomized controlled trials across heterogeneous populations demonstrating that the program * * * or practice is effective for the population and does not have an equivalent or more probative body of rigorous evaluation demonstrating its ineffectiveness.

          (b)  "Intervention program" means a discrete and systematic set of activities designed to achieve one or more specific outcomes not constituted or reliably achieved by the activities themselves.

          ( * * *bc)  "Research-based program" * * * shall means * * * a an intervention program * * *or practice that has * * * some research had at least one (1) rigorous controlled evaluation demonstrating effectiveness * * *, but that does not yet meet the standard of evidence‑based practices and does not have an equivalent or more probative body of evaluations demonstrating its ineffectiveness.

          ( * * *cd)  "Promising * * * practices program" * * * shall means * * *a practice that presents, based upon preliminary information, potential for becoming a research‑based or evidence‑based program or practice an intervention program that has had at least one (1) rigorous controlled evaluation demonstrating effectiveness.

          ( * * *de)  "Other programs * * * and activities" * * * shall means all programs * * * and activities that do not fit the definition of evidence-based, research-based or promising * * * practices programs.  This category may include nonintervention programs as well as intervention programs with rigorous evidence of ineffectiveness, mixed evidence of effectiveness, or an absence of evidence.

          ( * * *ef)  "Program inventory" * * * shall means the * * * complete list of all agency programs * * * and activities that meet any definition set out in this section which for purposes of accountability means a set of activities upon which state resources are expended.

 * * *  (f)  "Program catalogue" means a compendium of programs compiled by a reputable source that publishes information for use by the government.

(g)  "Rigorous controlled evaluation" means an evaluation for which the program received a ranking of at least three (3) on the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale, which level requires a control group.

     (2)  Beginning with the fiscal year 2016 budget cycle, the Legislative Budget Office shall require the Department of Corrections, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, and the Department of Transportation to comply with the requirements of this section respecting the inventorying of agency programs and activities for use in the budgeting process.  The aforementioned agencies shall submit all program information to the Legislative Budget Office in accordance with any policies established by that office setting out requirements for any filings required under this section.  Additional agencies shall be required to comply with the provisions of this subsection as provided in subsection (5) of this section.

     (3)  The Legislative Budget Office, the PEER Committee staff, and personnel of each of the agencies * * * set out in required to comply with this section shall review the programs of each agency and shall:

          (a)  Establish an initial inventory of agency programs * * * and activities as defined in subsection (1)(a) through (e) of this section;

          (b)  Categorize all agency programs * * * and activities as intervention or nonintervention and all intervention programs as evidence-based, research-based, promising * * * practices, or other * * * programs and activities with no evidence of effectiveness, and compile them into an agency program inventory.  In categorizing programs, the staffs may consult the Washington State Institute for Public Policy's Evidence Based Practices Institute's program catalogue or any other comparable catalogue of evidence‑based, research‑based, promising practices, or other programs and activities.  Where possible, other intervention programs should be further classified according to the subcategories in subsection (1)(e) of this section;

          (c)  Identify agency and program premises, goals, objectives, outcomes and outputs, as well as any other indicator or component the staffs consider to be appropriate, such as evidence of a program's adherence to best practices;

          (d)  Report estimated expenditures and full-time equivalent positions (FTE) for each agency program for each fiscal  year;

          (e)  Recommend new and additional budget programs that capture the work of the agency identified through the inventory process and that are reasonable in number for making appropriations;

          ( * * *df)  Establish a procedure for base-lining programs which are built around promising practices or other programs that do not meet the definition of evidence-based or research-based programs, so that further research can be conducted to gauge the program's effectiveness;

          ( * * *eg)  Describe * * * any methodologies the goals and theories used to develop any program which is neither evidence-based or research-based; * * * and

          ( * * *fh) * * *  Establish a Develop procedures for * * * determining optimizing the cost * * *‑benefit ratios for all programs effectiveness of * * * each agency programs * * *.;

(i)  Annually update each agency's inventory and related data as specified in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this subsection (3).

 * * * (4)  The Legislative Budget Office shall report to the Legislative Budget Committee the results of all activities required by subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section with recommendations as to how this information can be incorporated into budget recommendations and the appropriations process.  The Legislative Budget Committee may incorporate such recommendations into the fiscal year 2017 budget and appropriations bills, or delay such incorporation until the committee is satisfied that the information collected and inventoried under the requirements of this section will enhance accountability and performance measurement for the programs and activities of state agencies.

(5)  Beginning in the fiscal year 2017 budget cycle, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Department of Transportation may be exempted from the requirement to prepare any information required by Section 27‑103‑153 and Section 27‑103‑155, Mississippi Code of 1972, except for the strategic planning requirements of Section 27‑103‑155.

     ( * * *64)  Beginning with the fiscal year 2017 budget presentation, and each year thereafter, each state agency, general fund agency and special fund agency shall provide to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee a report of all sources of revenue, including the amounts from each source, collected by the agency in the most recent fiscal year.  Such report shall include a list of each tax, fine or fee assessed by the agency, and it shall include the following for each:

          (a)  The amount assessed;

          (b)  The amount collected;

          (c)  The code section, regulation, or other authoritative source that authorized their assessment and collection;

          (d)  The method of determining assessments, including who is assessed, how the agency determines the amount of assessment, including rates;

          (e)  The methods of collecting the amounts assessed;

          (f)  The purposes for which the funds were expended by the agency;

          (g)  The amount of funds transferred to the general fund, if applicable, and the authority by which the transfer took place;

          (h)  The amount of funds transferred to another entity, if applicable, and the authority by which the transfer took place, as well as the name of the entity to which the funds were transferred;

          (i)  The fiscal year-end balance of every fund that receives revenue generated by fines and fees; and

          (j)  Any Maintenance of Effort agreements entered into with any federal agency or subdivision thereof.

     For sums received from state sources, the agency shall list each source, including each special fund, along with the amounts received from each fund.  For sums received from federal government sources, the agency shall list each source at its most specific level, such as an office or division, not simply the federal department from which it came.  The report shall also include a detailed description of the actions or results that were promised by the agency in order to receive these funds.

     These reports shall be posted on the Legislative Budget Committee's website.

     ( * * *75) * * *  The Legislative Budget Committee shall, no later than the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature, make a recommendation to the Legislature regarding the application of the processes and requirements of this section to all agencies of state government. Upon recommendations of the PEER Committee staff, the Legislative Budget Office shall for the fiscal year 2021 budget cycle and all subsequent budget cycles, annually designate additional agencies which shall be required to comply with the provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section.  Material collected in association with the provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall be incorporated into agency appropriations bills to the extent deemed practicable by the Legislative Budget Committee.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.

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