CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA

ARTICLE III. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Paragraph II. Preparation, submission, and enactments of general appropriations bill.

(a) The Governor shall submit to the General Assembly within five days after its convening in regular session each year a budget message and a budget report, accompanied by a draft of a general appropriations bill, in such form and manner as may be prescribed by statute, which shall provide for the appropriation of the funds necessary to operate all the various departments and agencies and to meet the current expenses of the state for the next fiscal year.

(b) The General Assembly shall annually appropriate those state and federal funds necessary to operate all the various departments and agencies. To the extent that federal funds received by the state for any program, project, activity, purpose, or expenditure are changed by federal authority or exceed the amount or amounts appropriated in the general appropriations Act or supplementary appropriation Act or Acts, or are not anticipated, such excess, changed or unanticipated federal funds are hereby continually appropriated for the purposes authorized and directed by the federal government in making the grant. In those instances where the conditions under which the federal funds have been made available do not provide otherwise, federal funds shall first be used to replace state funds that were appropriated to supplant federal funds in the same state fiscal year. The fiscal year of the state shall commence on the first day of July of each year and terminate on the thirtieth of June following.

(c) The General Assembly shall by general law provide for the regulation and management of the finance and fiscal administration of the state.

1976 Constitution.

- Art. III, Sec. X, Paras. III, V; Art. X, Sec. II, Para. IX.

Cross references.

- State financing and investment generally, § 50-17-20 et seq.

Law reviews.

- For article, "Judicial Review in General Assistance," see 6 J. of Pub. L. 100 (1957).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Purpose of appropriation control.

- The purpose of this and other paragraphs on appropriation control is to end the practice of allocating or earmarking particular taxes for the use by any specific department, and to require the General Assembly to appropriate from the general fund specific amounts for each fiscal year for the support of each department or agency. Gregory v. Hamilton, 215 Ga. 735, 113 S.E.2d 395 (1960).

Cited in State Ports Auth. v. Arnall, 201 Ga. 713, 41 S.E.2d 246 (1947); Brown v. Wright, 231 Ga. 686, 203 S.E.2d 487 (1974); Georgia Ass'n of Educators v. Harris, 403 F. Supp. 961 (N.D. Ga. 1975); Briarcliff Haven, Inc. v. Department of Human Resources, 403 F. Supp. 1355 (N.D. Ga. 1975); Hilton Constr. Co. v. Rockdale County Bd. of Educ., 245 Ga. 533, 266 S.E.2d 157 (1980).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

General Consideration

It is the exclusive function of the executive branch to prepare budget report. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-18.

It is the exclusive function of the legislative branch to appropriate money in the form of a general appropriations bill. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-18.

The General Assembly is responsible for appropriating federal funds, but federal funds are continually appropriated. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U97-5.

General Assembly does not have authority to amend the revenue estimate established by Governor. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-18.

Governor's acquiescence to General Assembly proposal.

- Governor may, by acquiescing in proposal by General Assembly to increase revenue estimate, effectively make that proposal the Governor's revised revenue estimate. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-18.

An appropriation's Act does no more or no less than authorize maximum amount of funds to be spent for specified objects; it does not mandate such expenditures. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-80.

The General Assembly may not consistently with this paragraph appropriate directly to an entity created as a separate corporate body, such as the Georgia Residential Finance Authority. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-40 (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. IX, Para. II).

Effect of paragraph on agency spending authorization.

- This paragraph prohibits an appropriations Act from doing anything other than authorizing a state agency to spend up to a maximum amount for a purpose or function which the agency is permitted or required by general law. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-87 (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. IX, Para. II).

Actual power of a public agency to spend public money for particular activities or purposes must be pursuant to a general law, not an appropriation's Act. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-80.

Agency not authorized to pledge credit of state.

- No agency may execute a contract with a private party for the purchase of goods or services which purports to obligate appropriations or state funds from any other source not on hand at the time of the contract or where the fiscal obligation of the agency depends for its full performance upon such future appropriations or the continued existence of any other source of state funds. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-115; 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 267.

Payment of membership dues.

- Departments, institutions, and agencies can pay dues and membership fees in state and national organizations from appropriated funds. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-110.

This paragraph directs that the general appropriations Act be passed at regular session. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 257 (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. IX, Para. II).

This paragraph excludes amendments to a general appropriations Act for a prior fiscal year. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-53 (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. IX, Para. II).

Discretion lies with the state agency to determine which fiscal year's funds were obligated by particular contract. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-163.

Donated funds received by Department of Public Safety supplement rather than replace appropriated funds. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-140.

Federal Educational Programs

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the provisions, opinions under former Ga. Const. 1976, Art. X, Sec. II, Para. IX, relating to appropriation of matching funds to obtain federal funds in aid of education, are included in the annotations for this paragraph.

Scholarship under this paragraph not burdened with employment and repayment restrictions.

- Under this paragraph, the General Assembly could appropriate money to the Department of Human Resources to be used for federal matching, and the department could make a scholarship directly to the student; scholarships made under this provision would carry no restriction as to employment or repayment. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-147 (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. IX, Para. II).

A state department or agency may implement a doctoral-level training program for employees, provided that it does so using regularly appropriated funds to obtain federal matching funds. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-154.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Funds, § 64.

C.J.S.

- 81A C.J.S., States, §§ 387, 392 et seq.

ALR.

- Validity and effect of provision of appropriation bill subjecting expenditure or payment of amounts appropriated to approval of governor or other officer not otherwise authorized, 91 A.L.R. 1511.