MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Ways and Means

By: Representative Horne

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-33-702, 43-33-704, 7-7-1, 25-9-107, 25-53-5, 27-103-103, 27-103-127, 27-103-129, 27-104-1, 27-104-11 AND 31-7-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI HOME CORPORATION TO COMPLY WITH ALL STATE FISCAL, PURCHASING, BUDGETING AND PERSONNEL LAWS AND RULES AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED PURSUANT TO SUCH LAWS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 43-33-702, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-33-702. The Legislature hereby finds and declares:

(a) That there exists in the State of Mississippi a severe shortage of adequate, safe and sanitary residential and rental housing available at prices or rentals within the financial means of persons of low or moderate income; that this shortage has contributed to and will contribute to the creation and persistence of substandard living conditions and is damaging to the health, welfare and prosperity of the residents of this state;

(b) That private enterprise and investment have been unable, without assistance, to produce the needed construction or rehabilitation of adequate, safe and sanitary housing at prices or rentals which persons of low or moderate income can afford and to provide sufficient long-term mortgage financing for residential or rental housing for occupancy by such persons;

(c) That the shortage of adequate and affordable housing can best be addressed through a strong, unified organization which can develop creative approaches to housing production and assistance through active cooperation of public and private entities, including federal, state and local government, private nonprofit and for profit entities, community and citizens groups, charitable organizations, and private citizens; that this organization should stimulate private development, construction and rehabilitation, develop a wide range of state housing assistance programs, engage in comprehensive planning, study, research and statewide coordination with respect to low and moderate housing, provide technical, educational and consultative services, and promote governmental and community interest in the provision of housing for low and moderate income persons in the state; that this organization should receive appropriations of public funds, should be authorized to obtain funding for its programs by issuing its bonds and notes; and that this organization should be authorized to administer available federal, state or local programs and monies and to retain for its corporate purposes all such fees and income generated thereby;

(d) To aid in remedying these conditions and to accomplish these public purposes, effective September 1, 1989, there is created a public body corporate and politic, separate and apart from the state, constituting a governmental instrumentality, to be known as the Mississippi Home Corporation, for the performance of essential public functions. The corporation shall be constituted and shall have such powers as provided in this article, but also shall operate in compliance with all state fiscal, purchasing, budgeting and personnel laws and rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws.

SECTION 2. Section 43-33-704, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-33-704. (1) There is created by this article the Mississippi Home Corporation, which shall be a continuation of the corporate existence of the Mississippi Housing Finance Corporation and (a) all property, rights and powers of the Mississippi Housing Finance Corporation are vested in, and shall be exercised by, the corporation, subject, however, to all pledges, covenants, agreements, undertakings and trusts made or created by the Mississippi Housing Finance Corporation; (b) all references to the Mississippi Housing Finance Corporation in any other law or regulation shall be deemed to refer to and apply to the corporation; and (c) all regulations of the Mississippi Housing Finance Corporation shall continue to be in effect as the regulations of the corporation until amended, supplemented or rescinded by the corporation in accordance with law.

(2) The corporation is created with power to: raise funds from private investors in order to make such private funds available to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and improvement of residential and rental housing for persons of low or moderate income within the state; provide financing to qualified sponsors or individuals for a wide range of loans including, but not limited to, housing development, mortgage, rehabilitation or energy conservation loans; make loans to private lenders to finance any of these loans; purchase any of these loans from private lenders; refinance, insure or guarantee any of these loans; provide for temporary or partial financing for any of these purposes; develop, operate and administer housing programs which further its stated goals of improving the availability, affordability and quality of low and moderate income housing in the state; and make grants or loans to private nonprofit developers, local governments or private persons in furtherance of these goals.

(3) The corporation shall be composed of thirteen (13) members. The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the members of the corporation, who shall be residents of the state and shall not hold other public office. There shall be at least one (1) member and not more than three (3) members appointed from each of the five (5) congressional districts in existence on January 1, 1989, and, in addition, (a) from and after September 1, 1980, (i) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in the savings and loan association business, the commercial banking business or the mortgage banking business, (ii) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in the residential housing construction industry, (iii) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in the licensed residential housing brokerage business, and (iv) at least one (1) member shall be a member of the general public not engaged in any business, industry or activity described in clauses (i) through (iii) of this subparagraph. From and after September 1, 1989, (i) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in the manufactured housing business; (ii) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in nonprofit housing development in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); (iii) at least one (1) member shall have at least three (3) years' experience and background in nonprofit housing development outside a MSA; and (iv) at least (1) member shall be a low or moderate income person qualified for assistance under this article.

(4) Appointments shall be for terms of four (4) years. Each member shall hold office until his successor has been appointed and qualified. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment of the Governor, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, for the length of the unexpired term only. Any member of the corporation shall be eligible for reappointment. Any member of the corporation may be removed by the Governor for misfeasance, malfeasance or willful neglect of duty after reasonable notice and a public hearing, unless the same are expressly waived in writing. Each member of the corporation shall before entering upon his duty take an oath of office to administer the duties of his office faithfully and impartially, and a record of such oath shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The corporation shall annually elect from its membership a chairman who shall be eligible for reelection. The corporation shall annually elect from its membership a vice-chairman who shall be eligible for reelection. The corporation shall also elect or appoint, and prescribe the duties of, such other officers (who need not be members) as the corporation deems necessary or advisable, and the corporation shall fix the compensation of such officers. The corporation may delegate to one or more of its members, officers, employees or agents such powers and duties as it may deem proper, not inconsistent with this article or other provisions of law.

(5) The Executive Director of the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Director of the Veterans' Home Purchase Board and the State Treasurer shall serve as ex officio members of the corporation.

(6) In accomplishing its purposes, the corporation is acting in all respects for the benefit of the people of the state and the performance of essential public functions and is serving a vital public purpose in approving and otherwise promoting their health, welfare and prosperity, and the enactment of the provisions hereinafter set forth is for a valid public purpose and is hereby so declared to be such as a matter of express legislative determination.

(7) It is the intention of the Legislature by the enactment of this section to effect a recodification of the substance of the provisions of Section 43-33-507 as such section existed prior to its repeal by Laws, 1991, Chapter 528; and the creation of this new Section 43-33-704 shall not be construed to require that members of the corporation serving on June 30, 1991, who were appointed and confirmed under Section 43-33-507, be reappointed and reconfirmed in order to continue to serve out the remainder of their terms.

(8) Notwithstanding the language of this article creating the Mississippi Home Corporation, or the language of Section 43-33-702(d) declaring the corporation to be separate and apart from the state, or any other provision of this article, the Mississippi Home Corporation shall comply with all state fiscal, purchasing, budgeting and personnel laws and rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws.

SECTION 3. Section 7-7-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-7-1. (1) As used in this chapter, the terms "State Auditor" and "Auditor" mean the Auditor of Public Accounts.

(2) As used in this chapter, the term "State Fiscal Officer" means the official created in Section 27-104-5, acting through the Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management.

(3) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof. The term "agency" also means the Mississippi Home Corporation.

(4) For the purposes of Sections 7-7-1 through 7-7-65, the term "public funds" shall mean all funds which are received, collected by, or available for the support of or expenditure by any state department, institution or agency, whether such funds be derived from taxes or from fees collected by such state department, institution or agency or from some other source, and which should be included in the entity of the state under generally accepted accounting principles, although such funds may not be required by law to be deposited in the State Treasury.

Funds such as endowment funds and research funds, special building and plant funds, funds of a proprietary function, and the like shall be excluded from the meaning of the term, unless specifically required by law to be handled through the State Treasury or unless deemed necessary by the State Fiscal Officer to be included.

All funds of state departments, institutions and agencies within the contemplation of this section that are not required by law to be deposited in the State Treasury, or are not declared to be exempt from the provisions of Sections 7-7-1 through 7-7-65 by the State Fiscal Officer shall be reported to the State Fiscal Officer in reports of revenues, expenditures, assets, liabilities, encumbrances, fund balances and other financial statements, at such times and in the form required by the State Fiscal Officer.

It is hereby declared to be the intent of this section to provide that all "public funds" necessary to present a complete and comprehensive statement of the fiscal operations of the state government shall be handled through the State Fiscal Officer, whether through State Fiscal Officer receipt warrants and disbursement warrants, as is generally provided, or through the method of reporting, as required herein.

SECTION 4. Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-107. The following terms, when used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Board" shall mean the State Personnel Board created under the provisions of this chapter.

(b) "State service" shall mean all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined herein, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter.

(c) "Nonstate service" shall mean the following officers and employees excluded from the state service by this chapter. The following are excluded from the state service:

(i) Members of the state Legislature, their staffs and other employees of the legislative branch;

(ii) The Governor and staff members of the immediate Office of the Governor;

(iii) Justices and judges of the judicial branch or members of appeals boards on a per diem basis;

(iv) The Lieutenant Governor, staff members of the immediate Office of the Lieutenant Governor and officers and employees directly appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(v) Officers and officials elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;

(vi) Members of boards and commissioners appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or the state Legislature;

(vii) All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, and community and junior colleges;

(viii) Officers and enlisted members of the National Guard of the state;

(ix) Prisoners, inmates, student or patient help working in or about institutions;

(x) Contract personnel; provided, that any agency which employs state service employees may enter into contracts for personal and professional services only if such contracts are approved in compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board under Section 25-9-120(3). Before paying any warrant for such contractual services in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), the Auditor of Public Accounts, or the successor to those duties, shall determine whether the contract involved was for personal or professional services, and, if so, was approved by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board;

(xi) Part-time employees; provided, however, part-time employees shall only be hired into authorized employment positions classified by the board, shall meet minimum qualifications as set by the board, and shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan as certified by the board;

(xii) Persons appointed on an emergency basis for the duration of the emergency; the effective date of the emergency appointments shall not be earlier than the date approved by the State Personnel Director, and shall be limited to thirty (30) working days. Emergency appointments may be extended to sixty (60) working days by the State Personnel Board;

(xiii) Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurse practitioners and attorneys, while serving in their professional capacities in authorized employment positions who are required by statute to be licensed, registered or otherwise certified as such, provided that the State Personnel Director shall verify that the statutory qualifications are met prior to issuance of a payroll warrant by the auditor;

(xiv) Personnel who are employed and paid from funds received from a federal grant program which has been approved by the Legislature or the Department of Finance and Administration whose length of employment has been determined to be time-limited in nature. This subparagraph shall apply to personnel employed under the provisions of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended, and other special federal grant programs which are not a part of regular federally funded programs wherein appropriations and employment positions are appropriated by the Legislature. Such employees shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan and shall meet all qualifications required by federal statutes or by the Mississippi Classification Plan;

(xv) The administrative head who is in charge of any state department, agency, institution, board or commission, wherein the statute specifically authorizes the Governor, board, commission or other authority to appoint said administrative head; provided, however, that the salary of such administrative head shall be determined by the State Personnel Board in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan unless otherwise fixed by statute;

(xvi) The State Personnel Board shall exclude top level positions if the incumbents determine and publicly advocate substantive program policy and report directly to the agency head, or the incumbents are required to maintain a direct confidential working relationship with a key excluded official. Provided further, a written job classification shall be approved by the board for each such position, and positions so excluded shall be paid in conformity with the Variable Compensation Plan;

(xvii) Employees whose employment is solely in connection with an agency's contract to produce, store or transport goods, and whose compensation is derived therefrom;

(xviii) Repealed;

(xix) The associate director, deputy directors and bureau directors within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce;

(xx) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Industries for the Blind; provided, that any agency may enter into contracts for the personal services of MIB employees without the prior approval of the State Personnel Board or the State Personal Service Contract Review Board; however, any agency contracting for the personal services of an MIB employee shall provide the MIB employee with not less than the entry level compensation and benefits that the agency would provide to a full-time employee of the agency who performs the same services.

(d) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof. The term "agency" also means the Mississippi Home Corporation.

SECTION 5. Section 25-53-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-53-5. The authority shall have the following powers, duties, and responsibilities:

(a) The authority shall provide for the development of plans for the efficient acquisition and utilization of computer equipment and services by all agencies of state government, and provide for their implementation. In so doing, the authority may use the MDITS staff, at the discretion of the executive director of the authority, or the authority may contract for the services of qualified consulting firms in the field of information technology and utilize the service of such consultants as may be necessary for such purposes.

(b) The authority shall immediately institute procedures for carrying out the purposes of this chapter and supervise the efficient execution of the powers and duties of the office of executive director of the authority. In the execution of its functions under this chapter, the authority shall maintain as a paramount consideration the successful internal organization and operation of the several agencies so that efficiency existing therein shall not be adversely affected or impaired. In executing its functions in relation to the institutions of higher learning and junior colleges in the state, the authority shall take into consideration the special needs of such institutions in relation to the fields of teaching and scientific research.

(c) Title of whatever nature of all computer equipment now vested in any agency of the State of Mississippi is hereby vested in the authority, and no such equipment shall be disposed of in any manner except in accordance with the direction of the authority or under the provisions of such rules and regulations as may hereafter be adopted by the authority in relation thereto.

(d) The authority shall adopt rules, regulations, and procedures governing the acquisition of computer and telecommunications equipment and services which shall, to the fullest extent practicable, insure the maximum of competition between all manufacturers of supplies or equipment or services. In the writing of specifications, in the making of contracts relating to the acquisition of such equipment and services, and in the performance of its other duties the authority shall provide for the maximum compatibility of all information systems hereafter installed or utilized by all state agencies and may require the use of common computer languages where necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The authority may establish by regulation and charge reasonable fees on a nondiscriminatory basis for the furnishing to bidders of copies of bid specifications and other documents issued by the authority.

(e) The authority shall adopt rules and regulations governing the sharing with, or the sale or lease of information technology services to any nonstate agency or person. Such regulations shall provide that any such sharing, sale, or lease shall be restricted in that same shall be accomplished only where such services are not readily available otherwise within the state, and then only at a charge to the user not less than the prevailing rate of charge for similar services by private enterprise within this state.

(f) The authority may, in its discretion, establish a special technical advisory committee or committees to study and make recommendations on technology matters within the competence of the authority as the authority may see fit. Persons serving on the Information Resource Council, its task forces, or any such technical advisory committees shall be entitled to receive their actual and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of such duties, together with mileage as provided by law for state employees, provided the same has been authorized by a resolution duly adopted by the authority and entered on its minutes prior to the performance of such duties.

(g) The authority may provide for the development and require the adoption of standardized computer programs and may provide for the dissemination of information to and the establishment of training programs for the personnel of the various information technology centers of state agencies and personnel of the agencies utilizing the services thereof.

(h) The authority shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations requiring the reporting to the authority through the office of executive director of such information as may be required for carrying out the purposes of this chapter and may also establish such reasonable procedures to be followed in the presentation of bills for payment under the terms of all contracts for the acquisition of computer equipment and services now or hereafter in force as may be required by the authority or by the executive director in the execution of their powers and duties.

(i) The authority shall require such adequate documentation of information technology procedures utilized by the various state agencies and may require the establishment of such organizational structures within state agencies relating to information technology operations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

(j) The authority may adopt such further reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary to fully implement the purposes of this chapter. All rules and regulations adopted by the authority shall be published and disseminated in readily accessible form to all affected state agencies, and to all current suppliers of computer equipment and services to the state, and to all prospective suppliers requesting the same. Such rules and regulations shall be kept current, be periodically revised, and copies thereof shall be available at all times for inspection by the public at reasonable hours in the offices of the authority. Whenever possible no rule, regulation or any proposed amendment to such rules and regulations shall be finally adopted or enforced until copies of said proposed rules and regulations have been furnished to all interested parties for their comment and suggestions.

(k) The authority shall establish rules and regulations which shall provide for the submission of all contracts proposed to be executed by the executive director for computer equipment or services to the authority for approval before final execution, and the authority may provide that such contracts involving the expenditure of less than such specified amount as may be established by the authority may be finally executed by the executive director without first obtaining such approval by the authority.

(l) The authority is authorized to purchase, lease, or rent computer equipment or services and to operate said equipment and utilize said services in providing services to one or more state agencies when in its opinion such operation will provide maximum efficiency and economy in the functions of any such agency or agencies.

(m) The authority shall assist political subdivisions and instrumentalities in their development of plans for the efficient acquisition and utilization of computer equipment and services. An appropriate fee shall be charged the political subdivision by the authority for such assistance.

(n) The authority shall adopt rules and regulations governing the protest procedures to be followed by any actual or prospective bidder, offerer or contractor who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of a contract for the acquisition of computer equipment or services. Such rules and regulations shall prescribe the manner, time and procedure for making protests and may provide that a protest not timely filed shall be summarily denied. The authority may require the protesting party, at the time of filing the protest, to post a bond, payable to the state, in an amount that the authority determines sufficient to cover any expense or loss incurred by the state, the authority or any state agency as a result of the protest if the protest subsequently is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to have been filed without any substantial basis or reasonable expectation to believe that the protest was meritorious; however, in no event may the amount of the bond required exceed a reasonable estimate of the total project cost. The authority, in its discretion, also may prohibit any prospective bidder, offerer or contractor who is a party to any litigation involving any such contract with the state, the authority or any agency of the state to participate in any other such bid, offer or contract, or to be awarded any such contract, during the pendency of the litigation.

(o) The authority shall make a report in writing to the Legislature each year in the month of January. Such report shall contain a full and detailed account of the work of the authority for the preceding year as specified in Section 25-53-29(3).

All acquisitions of computer equipment and services involving the expenditure of funds in excess of the dollar amount established in Section 31-7-13(c), or rentals or leases in excess of the dollar amount established in Section 31-7-13(c) for the term of the contract, shall be based upon competitive and open specifications, and contracts therefor shall be entered into only after advertisements for bids are published in one or more daily newspapers having a general circulation in the state not less than fourteen (14) days prior to receiving sealed bids therefor. The authority may reserve the right to reject any or all bids, and if all bids are rejected, the authority may negotiate a contract within the limitations of the specifications so long as the terms of any such negotiated contract are equal to or better than the comparable terms submitted by the lowest and best bidder, and so long as the total cost to the State of Mississippi does not exceed the lowest bid. If the authority accepts one (1) of such bids, it shall be that which is the lowest and best.

(p) When applicable, the authority may procure equipment, systems and related services in accordance with the law or regulations, or both, which govern the Bureau of Purchasing of the Office of General Services or which govern the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services procurement of telecommunications equipment, software and services.

(q) The authority is authorized to purchase, lease, or rent information technology and services for the purpose of establishing pilot projects to investigate emerging technologies. These acquisitions shall be limited to new technologies and shall be limited to an amount set by annual appropriation of the Legislature. These acquisitions shall be exempt from the advertising and bidding requirement.

(r) All fees collected by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services shall be deposited into the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services Revolving Fund unless otherwise specified by the Legislature.

The Mississippi Home Corporation shall be subject to all regulations, procedures, plans and reports provided for in this section to the same extent as though it were a state agency.

SECTION 6. Section 27-103-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-103. (1) For the purpose of Sections 27-103-101 through 27-103-139 and 27-104-1 through 27-104-27, the term "state general-fund agency" or "general-fund agency" shall mean any agency, department, institution, board or commission of the State of Mississippi which is supported in whole or in part by appropriations from the General Fund; but such term shall not include the Legislature.

(2) For the purposes of Sections 27-103-101 through 27-103-139 and 27-104-1 through 27-104-27, the term "state special-fund agency" or "special-fund agency" shall mean any agency, department, institution, board or commission of the State of Mississippi which receives no appropriation from the General Fund, but which is supported entirely from special fund sources, by appropriation, or otherwise, but such term shall not include the Mississippi Department of Transportation; nor shall such term include the Mississippi Industries for the Blind. The term includes the Mississippi Home Corporation.

(3) For the purposes of Sections 27-103-101 through 27-103-139 and 27-104-1 through 27-104-27, the term "state agency" shall mean any general fund agency or special fund agency as defined in this section, or the Mississippi Department of Transportation, or the Office of State Aid Road Construction of the Mississippi Department of Transportation as is evident from the context wherein it is used.

(4) For the purposes of Sections 27-103-101 through 27-103-139 and 27-104-1 through 27-104-27, the term "special funds" shall mean all revenues and/or income other than appropriations from the State General Fund which are received, collected by, or available for the support of or expenditure by any state general-fund agency or special-fund agency or the Mississippi Department of Transportation or the Office of State Aid Road Construction of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, whether such funds be derived from taxes or fees collected by or for such general-fund agency or special-fund agency or the Mississippi Department of Transportation or the Office of State Aid Road Construction of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, as the case may be, or from any other types of revenue from any other source.

(5) For the purposes of Sections 27-103-101 through 27-103-139 and 27-104-1 through 27-104-27, the term "special funds" shall include revolving funds and all funds received from the United States Government by any state general-fund agency or special-fund agency, but shall not include any revolving fund established prior to July 1, 1984, for the purpose of paying or retiring any indebtedness as is authorized by statute.

SECTION 7. Section 27-103-127, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-127. To the end that the overall budget shall present in comparable terms a complete summary of all financial operations of all state agencies, Part 2 of the overall budget shall include therein the requested budget and the recommended budget for each special fund agency. The overall budget shall show for each special fund agency, in addition to such other information as may be prescribed by the Legislative Budget Office, the following:

(a) The amount by source of all special fund receipts collected or otherwise available in the current fiscal year, and an estimate by source of all special funds which will be collected or become available by the end of the then current fiscal year;

(b) The estimated amount of all expenditures to be made or obligations to be incurred payable from such special funds during the then current fiscal year;

(c) The estimated aggregate amount of special funds which will be needed by the agency for the succeeding fiscal year; beginning with the 1995 fiscal year and in the event that any services proposed to be provided by the agency in the succeeding fiscal year are Medicaid reimbursable, any state general matching funds necessary for such reimbursement shall be included in the agency's proposed budget, and the appropriation to the Division of Medicaid in the 1995 fiscal year shall be adjusted accordingly;

(d) The estimated amount by source of special funds which will be available under existing laws during the succeeding fiscal year, including any balances which will be on hand at the close of the then current fiscal year;

(e) The estimated amount which will be needed and which will require change in existing law or laws;

(f) If any new item of expense is included in the proposed budget of any special fund agency, the reason therefor shall be given; and in any case where the Legislative Budget Office shall eliminate or reduce any item or items in the proposed budget of any special fund agency, it shall note briefly the reasons therefor, together with the reasons advanced by the agency in support of the item or items eliminated or reduced;

(g) The proposed budget of each special fund agency shall show the amounts required for operating expenses separately from the amounts required for permanent improvements.

Proposed expenditures for any agency in Part 2 of the overall budget shall not exceed the amount of estimated revenues which will be available to it. Provided, that the Legislative Budget Office may recommend changes in existing law so as to decrease or increase the revenues available to any agency if in its judgment such changes are necessary or desirable.

Provided further, that expenditures approved or authorized by the Legislature for any special fund agency or special funds approved for general fund agency shall constitute a maximum to be expended or encumbered by such agency, and shall not constitute authority to expend or encumber more than the amount of revenue actually collected or otherwise received.

No special fund agency or general fund agency shall make expenditures from special funds available to such agency unless such expenditures are set forth in a budget approved by the Legislature. Such legislative approval shall be set forth in an appropriation act. Provided, however, that special funds derived from the collection of taxes for any political subdivision of the state shall be excepted from the foregoing provisions. The executive head of the state agency shall be liable on his official bond for expenditures or encumbrances which exceed the total amount of the budget or the amount received if receipts are less than the approved budget. This paragraph does not prohibit the Mississippi Home Corporation from expending funds for the retirement of bonds issued under Section 43-33-729.

Provided, however, that each university and college shall submit through the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning an annual budget to the Legislative Budget Office prior to the beginning of each fiscal year with such information and in such form, and in such detail, as may be required by the Legislative Budget Office. If the Legislative Budget Office determines that sufficient funds will be available during the fiscal year to fund the proposed budget as submitted, then and in that event the proposed budget shall be approved. However, if the Legislative Budget Office determines that, in its judgment, sufficient funds will not be available to fund the proposed budget, the affected institution or institutions and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall be promptly notified and given an opportunity to either justify the proposed budget or proposed amendments which can be mutually agreed upon. The Legislative Budget Office shall then approve the proposed budget or budgets of the several universities and colleges. The total amount approved for each institution shall constitute the maximum funds which may be expended during the fiscal year.

The municipal, county or combined municipal and county port and harbor commissions, authorities or other port or harbor agencies not owned or operated by the state, shall submit annual or amended budgets of their estimated receipts and expenditures to the governing bodies of such municipality, county or municipality and county, for their approval, and a copy of such budget as approved by such governing body or bodies shall be filed with the Legislative Budget Office. Such budget shall itemize all estimated receipts and expenditures, and the Legislative Budget Office may require particularization, explanation or audit thereof, and shall report such information to the Legislature.

To the end that the overall budget shall present in comparable terms a complete summary of all financial operations of all state agencies, Part 3 of such overall budget shall consist of an estimated preliminary annual budget of the Department of Transportation and the Division of State Aid Road Construction of the Department of Transportation and such information for the current fiscal year as is necessary to make presentation comparable to that specified for Part 2 special fund agencies.

The annual budget request of the Department of Transportation

shall be divided into the following program budgets: (a) administration and other expenses, (b) construction, (c) maintenance, and (d) debt service. In making its annual appropriation to the Department of Transportation from the State Highway Fund, the Legislature shall separate the appropriation bill into the four (4) program budget areas herein specified. For the purposes of this paragraph, "administration and other expenses" shall be construed to mean those expenses incurred due to departmental support activities which cannot be assigned to a specific construction or maintenance project, and shall be construed to include expenses incurred for office machines, furniture, fixtures, automobiles, station wagons, truck and other vehicles, road machinery, farm equipment and other working equipment, data processing and computer equipment, all other equipment, and replacements for equipment. "Construction" shall be construed to mean those expenses associated with the creation and development of the state highway system and its related facilities; "maintenance" shall be construed to mean those expenses incurred due to activities associated with preservation of safe and aesthetically acceptable highways in an attempt to maintain them in as close to the original condition as possible; and "debt service" shall be construed to mean amounts needed to pay bonds and interest coming due, bank service charges, and bond debt service.

SECTION 8. Section 27-103-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-129. To enable the Legislative Budget Office to prepare such budget, it shall have full and plenary power and authority to require all general-fund and special-fund agencies and the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Office of State Aid Road Construction of the Mississippi Department of Transportation to file a budget request with such information and in such form and in such detail as it may deem necessary and advisable, and it shall have the further power and authority to reduce or eliminate any item or items of requested appropriation by any state agency in the Legislative Budget Office's recommended budget to the Legislature. However, where any item of requested appropriation shall be so reduced or eliminated, the head of the agency involved shall have the right to appear before the appropriate legislative committee to urge a revision of the budget to restore the item reduced or eliminated. Beginning with the 1996 fiscal year, the budget requests shall include a definition of the mission of the agency, a description of the duties and responsibilities of the agency, financial data relative to the various programs operated by the agency and performance measures associated with each program of the agency. The performance measures to be contained within the agency budget request shall be developed by cooperative efforts of the Legislative Budget Office, the Department of Finance and Administration and the agency itself and shall be approved jointly by the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration prior to inclusion within the agency budget request. Beginning with the 1996 fiscal year, the budget requests shall also include in an addendum format a five-year strategic plan for the agency which shall include, but not be limited to, the following items of information: (a) a comprehensive mission statement, (b) performance effectiveness objectives for each program of the agency for each of the five (5) years covered by the plan, (c) a description of significant external factors which may affect the projected levels of performance, (d) a description of the agency's internal management system utilized to evaluate its performance achievements in relationship to the targeted performance levels, (e) an evaluation by the agency of the agency's performance achievements in relationship to the targeted performance levels for the two (2) preceding fiscal years for which accounting records have been finalized.

The Mississippi Home Corporation is not required to submit a request for funds to pay principal and interest associated with bonds issued under Section 43-33-729, and is not required to submit a request for funds to pay costs set forth in the bond indenture, but shall submit a request for all other items.

SECTION 9. Section 27-104-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-104-1. The Department of Finance and Administration shall be the Fiscal Management Board and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Fiscal Management Board. Wherever the term "Fiscal Management Board" appears in any law the same shall mean the Department of Finance and Administration. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration may assign to the appropriate division or divisions such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the department's lawful functions.

All General Fund agencies shall file a monthly report of receipts, disbursements, assets, liabilities, encumbrances, and fund balances with the Department of Finance and Administration on or before the fifteenth day of the succeeding month. The reports must contain such information and in such form as shall be required by the department. Special fund agencies may be required to file monthly operating statements or reports, or such agencies may be required to file quarterly or annual reports. The determination of the type of reports and the periods to be covered by such reports shall be determined by the Department of Finance and Administration.

The Department of Finance and Administration shall make continuous and careful study of all state agencies and departments and it may make recommendations to the State Legislature for abolition or consolidation or creation of state agencies and departments.

Except as otherwise provided by law, Sections 27-104-1 through 27-104-29 shall apply to the Mississippi Home Corporation as if it were a state agency.

SECTION 10. Section 27-104-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-104-11. No general or special funds received under state law, except those for the Legislature, or those made available for a special or particular purpose with the intention that they shall or may be expended immediately, shall be available for expenditure by the agency entitled thereto until estimates of the amount required for the agency shall have been submitted to and approved by the State Fiscal Officer, with copies of such estimates to be furnished to the Legislative Budget Office.

This section does not apply to funds used by the Mississippi Home Corporation to retire bonds issued in accordance with Section 43-33-729.

SECTION 11. Section 31-7-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

31-7-1. The following terms are defined for the purposes of this chapter to have the following meanings:

(a) "Agency" shall mean any state board, commission, committee, council, university, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, university, department, unit or the head thereof is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof. The term agency also means the Mississippi Home Corporation.

(b) "Governing authority" shall mean boards of supervisors, governing boards of all school districts, all boards of directors of public water supply districts, boards of directors of master public water supply districts, municipal public utility commissions, governing authorities of all municipalities, port authorities, commissioners and boards of trustees of any public hospitals, boards of trustees of public library systems, district attorneys, school attendance officers and any political subdivision of the state supported wholly or in part by public funds of the state or political subdivisions thereof, including commissions, boards and agencies created or operated under the authority of any county or municipality of this state. The term "governing authority" shall not include economic development authorities supported in part by private funds, or commissions appointed to hold title to and oversee the development and management of lands and buildings which are donated by private individuals to the public for the use and benefit of the community and which are supported in part by private funds.

(c) "Purchasing agent" shall mean any administrator, superintendent, purchase clerk or other chief officer so designated having general or special authority to negotiate for and make private contract for or purchase for any governing authority.

(d) "Public funds" shall mean and include any appropriated funds, special funds, fees or any other emoluments received by an agency or governing authority.

(e) "Commodities" shall mean and include the various commodities, goods, merchandise, furniture, equipment, automotive equipment of every kind, and other personal property purchased by the agencies of the state and governing authorities, but not commodities purchased for resale or raw materials converted into products for resale.

(f) "Office of General Services" shall mean the Department of Finance and Administration. Provided that when purchases are made for the Legislature or functions under its jurisdiction, it shall mean the Legislative Budget Office.

(g) "Equipment" shall be construed to include: automobiles, trucks, tractors, office appliances and all other equipment of every kind and description.

(h) "Furniture" shall be construed to include: desks, chairs, tables, seats, filing cabinets, bookcases and all other items of a similar nature as well as dormitory furniture, appliances, carpets and all other items of personal property generally referred to as home, office or school furniture.

(i) "Emergency" shall mean any circumstances caused by fire, flood, explosion, storm, earthquake, epidemic, riot, insurrection or caused by any inherent defect due to defective construction, or when the immediate preservation of order or of public health is necessary by reason of unforeseen emergency, or when the immediate restoration of a condition of usefulness of any public building, equipment, road or bridge appears advisable, or in the case of a public utility when there is a failure of any machine or other thing used and useful in the generation, production or distribution of electricity, water or natural gas, or in the transportation or treatment of sewage; or when the delay incident to obtaining competitive bids could cause adverse impact upon the governing authorities or agency, its employees or its citizens; or in the case of a public airport, when the delay incident to publishing an advertisement for competitive bids would endanger public safety in a specific (not general) manner, result in or perpetuate a specific breach of airport security, or prevent the airport from providing specific air transportation services.

SECTION 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.