(1) The salaries and expenses of the Public Counsel and his or her employees shall be allocated by the committee only from moneys appropriated to the Public Counsel by the Legislature.
(2) The Legislature declares and determines that the Public Counsel is under the legislative branch of government within the intention of the legislation as expressed in chapter 216, and no power shall be in the Executive Office of the Governor or its successor to release or withhold funds appropriated to it, but the same shall be available for expenditure as provided by law.
(3) Neither the Executive Office of the Governor nor the Department of Management Services or its successor shall have power to determine the number, or fix the compensation, of the employees of the Public Counsel or to exercise any manner of control over them.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the operating budget, as approved jointly by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the moneys appropriated to the Public Counsel by the Legislature, constitutes the allocation under which the Public Counsel will manage the duties of his or her office. The Public Counsel:(a) Shall submit an annual budget request to the Legislature in the format, detail, and schedule determined by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(b) May employ technical and clerical personnel and retain additional counsel and experts, including expert witnesses. In employing such personnel, retaining additional counsel and experts, and exercising all other administrative duties of the office, the Public Counsel must follow applicable provisions of the most recent version of the Joint Policies and Procedures of the Presiding Officers. Any guidance for administrative issues not addressed by the Joint Policies and Procedures of the Presiding Officers requires consultation and joint agreement of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
This subsection expires July 1, 2024.
