Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 1	Senate Author:  Heflin
Effective:  9-1-03	House Sponsor:  Bivins

            House Bill 1, the General Appropriations Act, appropriates almost $117.1 billion for the FY2004-FY2005 state fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2003.  That amount includes all funding sources, except interagency contracts, and reflects the $281.1 million reduction in spending achieved by the governor's line-item vetoes in House Bill 1 and the vetoes of House Bill 2425 and House Bill 3175.  Of the biennial appropriations, $63.3 billion, or 54 percent, is derived from general revenue, both dedicated and nondedicated, another $39.2 billion, or 33.5 percent, comes from federal funding, and $14.6 billion, or 12.5 percent, is funded from other funds.  The $117.1 billion budgetary total for FY2004-FY2005 reflects an increase of 1.3 percent over the FY2002-FY2003 budget.

            Appropriations for all government functions and services for FY2004-FY2005 compared with appropriations for the preceding fiscal biennium are as follows:  General government receives $2.7 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent.  Total funding for health and human services is $39.8 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent.  Education is funded at $50.1 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent.  The judiciary is appropriated $421.5 million, a decrease of 0.3 percent.  Total funding for public safety and criminal justice is $8 billion, a decrease of 4.0 percent.  Natural resources is funded at $2 billion, a decrease of 6.4 percent.  Business and economic development, which includes transportation, receives $14.1 billion, an increase of 1.7 percent.  Regulatory is appropriated $765 million, an increase of 7.3 percent.  The legislature is funded at $269 million, a decrease of 9.4 percent.

            The General Appropriations Act is subject to four constitutional or statutory limitations on expenditures.  The "pay-as-you-go" constitutional limit requires the comptroller to certify that certain budgeted expenditures, including appropriations from outside the General Appropriations Act, are within the amount of revenue estimated to be available for the fiscal biennium; the comptroller has certified the budget for FY2004-FY2005.  House Bill 1 also satisfies the constitutional limit on the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenue to the rate of growth of the state economy.  The other two spending limits, relating to welfare spending and debt service payable from general revenue, are also met by House Bill 1.