Senate Bill 2398

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-1-77, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE AN OFFICE OF FLEET MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND TO PRESCRIBE ITS POWERS AND DUTIES; TO AMEND SECTION 25-1-79, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE ADVANCE FUNDS FOR WORK-RELATED TRAVEL EXPENSES INCURRED WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; TO AMEND SECTION 25-1-81, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-129, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE AGENCIES TO SUBMIT A DETAILED JUSTIFICATION FOR VEHICLE PURCHASES AS PART OF THEIR BUDGET REQUESTS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET OFFICE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25-1-77, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-1-77. (1) There is hereby created the Office of Fleet Management within the Department of Finance and Administration for the purposes of coordinating and promoting efficiency and economy in the purchase, lease, rental, acquisition, use, maintenance and disposal of vehicles by state agencies. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration may employ a Fleet Management Officer to manage the office and carry out its purposes. The office may employ other suitable and competent personnel as necessary.

(2) The Office of Fleet Management shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To hold title in the name of the State of Mississippi to all vehicles currently in possession of state agencies as defined in Section 25-9-107(d) and to assign vehicles to such agencies for use;

(b) To establish rules and regulations for state agency use of vehicles;

(d) To acquire fleet management software and require agencies to provide necessary information for the office to properly monitor the size, use, maintenance and disposal of the state's fleet of vehicles; the office shall communicate regularly with the fleet managers of each state agency to determine strengths and weaknesses of the various fleet operations; the office shall disseminate information to the agencies so that each can take advantage of any beneficial practices being incorporated at other entities; the office shall provide guidance concerning the mileage reimbursement practices of each state agency;

(e) To carry out responsibilities relative to budget recommendations as provided in Section 4 of Senate Bill No. 2398, 2006 Regular Session;

(f) To reassign vehicles in the possession of any state agency if the office believes that another state agency can make more efficient use of a vehicle;

(g) To investigate at any time the vehicle usage practices of any state agency; and

(h) To require each agency to submit to the office a vehicle acquisition/use/disposal plan on an annual basis. From the plans received, the office shall evaluate the proposed plans and shall submit a recommendation to the Legislature prior to January 1 of each year.

(3) No state department, institution or agency shall purchase, rent, lease or acquire any motor vehicle, regardless of the source of funds from which the motor vehicle is to be purchased, except under authority granted by the Department of Finance and Administration. The Office of Fleet Management, Department of Finance and Administration, shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the purchase, rental, lease or acquisition of any motor vehicle by a state department, institution or agency with regard to the appropriateness of the vehicle to its intended use. The Office of Fleet Management, Department of Finance and Administration, shall not grant authority to purchase, rent, lease or acquire a motor vehicle which is not the most appropriate vehicle type for its intended use unless specifically approved by the Legislature.

(4) * * * The department, institution or agency shall maintain proper documentation * * * which provides the intended use of the vehicle and the basis for choosing the vehicle. Such documentation shall show that the department, institution or agency made reasonable efforts to purchase, rent, lease or acquire a vehicle that is economical and appropriate for its intended use. Such documentation shall be updated as needed when the intended use of the vehicle or any other facts concerning the vehicle are changed. All such documentation shall be approved by the State Fleet Officer prior to purchase, rental, lease or acquisition or change in use of any vehicle and shall be maintained and made available for review by the State Auditor and any other reviewing agency.

(5) The State Auditor shall make on-site visits and conduct audits necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section and all rules and regulations adopted hereunder. On or before September 1 of each year, the State Auditor shall prepare and deliver to the Senate and House Fees, Salaries and Administration Committees and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee a report containing any irregularities that he finds concerning purchases of state-owned vehicles.

SECTION 2. Section 25-1-79, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-1-79. It shall be unlawful for any officer, employee or other person whatsoever to use or permit or authorize the use of any automobile or any other motor vehicle owned by the State of Mississippi or any department, agency or institution thereof for any purpose other than upon the official business of the State of Mississippi or any agency, department or institution thereof. Further, it shall be unlawful for any such officer or employee to be paid or to receive any sums whatsoever for travel expense until the expenses for which payment is made, and each item thereof, have been actually incurred by such officer or employee, and then only upon the presentation of an itemized expense account which shall be approved in writing by the head of the department, agency, or institution on whose behalf such travel is performed. However, it is expressly provided that any such officer or employee traveling * * * on business for and in behalf of the State of Mississippi may, strictly in the discretion of an agency, institution or department head, receive in advance from state funds for the purpose of such travel expense a sum to be specified by such aforementioned superior. Further, strict account of any sum so advanced must be kept in accord with Section 25-1-81.

SECTION 3. Section 25-1-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-1-81. The Department of Finance and Administration shall refuse to issue warrants upon requisitions drawn in violation of the provisions hereof, and where any expense account is allowed and paid in violation of the provisions of Sections 25-1-77 through 25-1-93, it shall be the duty of the Department of Finance and Administration to withhold the payment of any further expense accounts for the department, agency or institution involved until the amount of the account or accounts illegally paid shall be refunded and repaid to the State of Mississippi by the person receiving or approving same. It is further provided that the Department of Finance and Administration shall prescribe and deliver to each agency, department or institution a uniform system of expense accounts herein allowed, including a uniform system of depreciation allowance. All expense accounts for lodging shall be supported by receipted bills showing the payment thereof by such officer or employee. It is incumbent upon each agency, department or institution to abide by and utilize the method of uniform system of expense accounts so prescribed and delivered by the Department of Finance and Administration. Each agency, department or institution, in rendering its annual report to the Office of Fleet Management and the Legislature, shall show the number of state-owned automobiles purchased and operated during the year, the number purchased and operated out of funds appropriated by the Legislature, the number purchased and operated out of any other public funds, the miles traveled per automobile, the total miles traveled, the average cost per mile, and depreciation estimate on each automobile. The report shall also show the cost per mile and total number of miles traveled in privately-owned automobiles for which reimbursement is made out of state funds and any other information requested by the Office of Fleet Management.

SECTION 4. Section 27-103-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-129. (1) 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 Division 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.

(2) (a) In addition to any other information required by law, each state agency, general-fund agency and special-fund agency as defined in Section 27-103-103 that wishes to purchase passenger vehicles or work vehicles as defined by this section shall submit as part of its budget request to the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration a detailed justification for the proposed purchase. The Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration shall jointly prescribe the forms and formats to be used by agencies making the requests. Such forms shall require, at minimum, the following information:

(i) The type of vehicle to be purchased;

(ii) The person to whom the vehicle is assigned and the working responsibilities of that person which necessitates a vehicle;

(iii) Whether the vehicle is a work vehicle or passenger vehicle; and

(iv) If the vehicle is assigned to a pool and not an individual, the purposes for which the pool vehicle is assigned and the anticipated users of the pool vehicle.

(b) The Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration shall offer a recommendation to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on all agency requests for vehicles. In making the recommendations, the Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and Administration may consider break-even analysis for the type of vehicle requested, the travel patterns of the person for whom the vehicle is to be acquired, and the possibility that surplus vehicles in the possession of other agencies could be used as a substitute for a new vehicle.

(c) If an agency determines an urgent need for a vehicle when it is not feasible to obtain legislative approval, the agency may make an emergency request to the Office of Fleet Management. The emergency may be caused by the loss of a vehicle from an accident or other extraordinary circumstances. The Office of Fleet Management shall make a recommendation to the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration who shall then have the authority to approve or disapprove the request. If approved and if adequate funding is available, the agency may purchase a specific vehicle to meet its specific needs. The Office of Fleet Management shall report any emergency purchase to the Legislative Budget Office.

(d) No agency shall have the authority to acquire a sport utility vehicle (SUV) as a passenger vehicle, except when specifically used for law enforcement or emergency response purposes or when acquired for use by the Governor.

(e) For purposes of this subsection, the term "passenger vehicle" shall mean a vehicle used primarily in transporting individuals and their equipment from one location to another. "Passenger vehicles" shall include, but not be limited to, buses.

(f) For purposes of this subsection, the term "work vehicle" shall mean a vehicle used primarily to perform a work assignment or task while incidentally transporting individuals and their equipment from one location to another. Any person whose duties require the transportation of persons as a primary or incidental task or assignment of work shall not be entitled to use or possess a work vehicle.

(3) All state agencies, special-fund agencies and general-fund agencies making budget requests under the authority of this section shall include with their budget requests a report of all passenger and work vehicles in their possession. Such report shall detail the persons to whom the vehicles are assigned and the purposes for the vehicles.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.