05/04/1994 05:44 PM Senate RLS

 CHAIRMAN HALFORD brought  SJR 52  (BUDGET RESERVE FUND AMENDMENT)             
 before the committee as the final order of business.   He requested           
 that Senator Rieger explain the difference between the proposed               
 Rules CS and the Finance CS.                                                  
                                                                               
 Senator Rieger directed attention to page 1, line 7 of the Senate             
 Finance CS and the  phrase "money in the budget reserve fund shall            
 be treated as general funds", which was intended to refer to the              
 manner of appropriation of the fund.  Tam Cook, Director of the               
 Division of Legal Services, raised concern that the phrase might              
 raise questions of how it is invested, etc.  Senator Rieger                   
 suggested changing "shall be treated" to "may be appropriated" to             
 make it clear that it is only referring to the manner in which the            
 money is appropriated.                                                        
                                                                               
 Senator Rieger said there was also a sentence in the Finance CS               
 that read "For the purpose of this section money from the budget              
 reserve fund shall be considered to be the last used in a fiscal              
 year", which was an attempt to make sure that the general fund                
 monies were used before using monies from the budget reserve.  A              
 number of questions were raised that showed it is somewhat                    
 impractical, and he suggested removing that language altogether.              
                                                                               
 Senator Rieger also recommended changing "prior year's level" to              
 "prior fiscal year's level."                                                  
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked for the pleasure of the committee on the               
 proposed Rules CS.                                                            
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER moved that CSSJR 52(RLS) be adopted.  Hearing no               
 objection, the motion carried.                                                
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER moved that CSSJR 52(RLS) be passed out of committee            
 with individual recommendations.  Hearing no objection, it was so             
 ordered.                                                                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER moved and asked unanimous consent that CSSJR 52(RLS)           
 be approved for calendaring at the Chair's discretion.  Hearing no            
 objection, it was so ordered.