House Bill 1119

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 27-103-215, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IN ANY FISCAL YEAR IN WHICH THE AMOUNT OF ACTUAL GENERAL FUND REVENUE RECEIVED EXCEEDS THE OFFICIAL SINE DIE GENERAL FUND REVENUE ESTIMATE FOR THAT FISCAL YEAR, THE FIRST FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS OF THE AMOUNT OF THE SURPLUS GENERAL FUND REVENUE ABOVE THE REVENUE ESTIMATE, REDUCED BY THE RATE OF INFLATION FOR THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR, SHALL BE USED TO REDUCE THE DEBT OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; TO CREATE A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY TO BE KNOWN AS THE SURPLUS REVENUE DEBT REDUCTION FUND, WHICH SHALL BE EXPENDED, UPON APPROPRIATION OF THE LEGISLATURE, ONLY FOR PAYING MATURING BONDS AND INTEREST ON THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT BONDS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI WHEN THEY ARE DUE, AND FOR PAYING SERVICE CHARGES TO BANKS FOR ACTING AS AGENTS OF THE STATE IN PAYING MATURING BONDS AND INTEREST ON THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT BONDS OF THE STATE; TO PROVIDE THAT UPON THE PASSAGE OF THIS ACT, THE STATE FISCAL OFFICER SHALL TRANSFER THE SUM OF ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE CAPITAL EXPENSE FUND TO THE SURPLUS REVENUE DEBT REDUCTION FUND CREATED IN THIS ACT, AND THAT SUM SHALL BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE SURPLUS REVENUE DEBT REDUCTION FUND BY THE LEGISLATURE FOR THE PAYMENT OF DEBT SERVICE FOR THE 2024 FISCAL YEAR; TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 27-103-215, Mississippi Code of 1972:

27-103-215. (1) Beginning with fiscal year 2023, in any fiscal year in which the amount of actual general fund revenue received exceeds the official sine die general fund revenue estimate for that fiscal year, the first Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000.000.00) of the amount of the surplus general fund revenue above the revenue estimate, reduced by the rate of inflation for the previous calendar year, shall be used to reduce the debt of the State of Mississippi in the manner provided in this section.

(2) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the "Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund." The fund shall consist of monies transferred into the fund as provided in subsection (3) of this section and monies from any other source designated or made available for deposit into the fund. Monies in the fund shall be expended, upon appropriation of the Legislature, only for paying maturing bonds and interest on the full faith and credit bonds of the State of Mississippi when they are due, and for paying service charges to banks for acting as agents of the state in paying maturing bonds and interest on the full faith and credit bonds of the State of Mississippi. Monies remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned from the investment of monies in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

(3) At the end of fiscal year 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee shall certify to the State Fiscal Officer the amount of the surplus general fund revenue above the sine die general fund revenue estimate, reduced by the rate of inflation for the previous calendar year, and the State Fiscal Officer shall transfer the first Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00) of that amount from the State General Fund to the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund.

SECTION 2. Upon the passage of this act, the State Fiscal Officer shall transfer the sum of One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00) from the Capital Expense Fund to the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund created in Section 1 of this act, and that sum shall be appropriated from the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund by the Legislature for the payment of debt service for the 2024 fiscal year.

SECTION 3. Section 27-103-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-213. (1) The unencumbered cash balance in the General Fund in the State Treasury at the close of each fiscal year shall be distributed to the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund, the Municipal Revolving Fund, the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund and the Capital Expense Fund in the manner provided in this section.

(2) (a) At the end of each fiscal year, the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration and the State Treasurer shall determine the extent of the unencumbered cash balance existing in the General Fund in the State Treasury.

(b) As used in this section, the term "unencumbered cash balance" or "unencumbered General Fund cash balance" means the amount in the State General Fund after deducting all appropriations and other expenditures. However, if the Legislature has authorized additional or deficit appropriations or transfers from the State General Fund for that fiscal year, those amounts shall be subtracted from the unencumbered cash balance in the General Fund before determining the amount available for distribution. The unencumbered General Fund cash balance shall not be determined until after August 31 of each year, and it shall not be made until the State Treasurer has received a certificate in writing from the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, with notification to the Legislative Budget Office, showing the amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance.

(3) If any unencumbered General Fund cash balance is available for distribution under this section, the distribution of those funds shall be made by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration in the following order:

(a) To the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund, an amount equal to Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00) of the surplus general fund revenue as determined under Section 27-103-215; however, if the amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance is less than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00), then the total amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance shall be distributed to the Surplus Revenue Debt Reduction Fund.

(b) To the Municipal Revolving Fund, an amount equal to Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00); however, if the remaining amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance is less than Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00), then the total remaining amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance shall be distributed to the Municipal Revolving Fund.

( * * *bc) To the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund, fifty percent (50%) of the remaining amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance after the distributions are made under paragraphs (a) and (b), not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the General Fund appropriations for the fiscal year that the unencumbered General Fund cash balance represents. For the purposes of this paragraph ( * * *bc), the appropriations for the fiscal year shall be the total amount contained in the actual appropriation bills passed by the Legislature.

( * * *cd) To the Capital Expense Fund, any remaining amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance after the distributions are made under paragraphs (a) * * *~~and~~, (b) and (c).

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.