A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require additional accountability and transparency in state budgeting and to make the continuation budget the starting point for state agency budgeting.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I. REQUIRE ADDITIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN STATE BUDGETING
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143C‑5‑3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143C‑5‑3.  Accountability and transparency in budgeting.
The Current Operations Appropriations Act enacted by the General Assembly shall include the following information to ensure accountability and transparency in budgeting:
(1)	The General Fund, Highway Fund, and Highway Trust Fund availability used as basis for appropriations from those funds.
(2)	The amount of funds the Controller was required to reserve to the Savings Reserve Account on June 30 pursuant to G.S. 143C‑4‑2(a) and the amount actually reserved to the Account.
(3)	The amount of funds required to be in the Savings Reserve Account in order to meet the goal set forth in G.S. 143C‑4‑2(c) and the amount actually in the Account.
(4)	The amount of funds the Controller was required to reserve to the Repairs and Renovations Reserve on June 30 pursuant to G.S. 143C‑4‑3(a) and the amount actually reserved to the Reserve.
(5)	The (i) enrollment increases projected by the State Board of Education for the public schools, State Board of Community Colleges for the community colleges system, and the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina for The University of North Carolina system, (ii) the cost of fully funding each of them, and (iii) the amount actually appropriated for each of them.
(6)	A fiscal analysis that addresses the State's budget outlook for the upcoming five‑year period and the assumptions underlying the analysis."

PART II. MAKE CONTINUATION BUDGET THE STARTING POINT FOR STATE AGENCY BUDGETING
SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 143C‑1‑1(d)(7a) is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its repeal in Section 6.4 of S.L. 2014‑100.
SECTION 2.(b)  G.S. 143C‑1‑1(d)(7a), as reenacted by Section 2(a) of this act, reads as rewritten:
"(7a)	Continuation budget. – That part of the Recommended State Budget necessary to continue the same level of services in the next biennium as is provided in the current fiscal year, including (i) mandated Social Security rate adjustments; (ii) annualization of programs and positions; (iii) enrollment adjustments for public schools, Medicaid, universities, and community colleges; (iv) reductions to adjust for items funded with nonrecurring funds during the prior fiscal biennium; (v) increases to adjust for nonrecurring reductions during the prior fiscal biennium; and (vi) if deemed necessary by the Director, other adjustments such as inflation, building reserves, and equipment replacement."
SECTION 2.(c)  G.S. 143C‑1‑1‑(d)(1c) is repealed.
SECTION 2.(d)  G.S. 143C‑3‑5(b) reads as rewritten:
"§ 143C‑3‑5.  Budget recommendations and budget message.
…
(b)	Odd‑Numbered Years. – In odd‑numbered years the budget recommendations shall include the following components:
(1)	A Recommended State Budget setting forth goals for improving the State with recommended expenditure requirements, funding sources, and performance information for each State government program and for each proposed capital improvement. The Recommended State Budget may be presented in a format chosen by the Director, except that the Recommended State Budget shall clearly distinguish program continuation requirements, program reductions, program eliminations, program expansions, and new programs, and shall explain all proposed capital improvements in the context of the Six‑Year Capital Improvements Plan and as required by G.S. 143C‑8‑6.
(1a)	The Governor's Recommended State Budget shall include a continuation budget, which shall be presented in the budget support document pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection.
(2)	A Budget Support Document showing, for each budget code and purpose or program in State government, accounting detail corresponding to the Recommended State Budget.
a.	The Budget Support Document shall employ the North Carolina Accounting System Uniform Chart of Accounts adopted by the State Controller to show both uses and sources of funds and shall display in separate parallel columns all of the following: (i) actual expenditures and receipts for the most recent fiscal year for which actual information is available, (ii) the certified budget for the preceding fiscal year, (iii) the currently authorized budget for the preceding fiscal year, (iv) program continuation requirements for each fiscal year of the biennium, (v) proposed expenditures and receipts for each fiscal year of the biennium, and (vi) proposed increases and decreases.
…
(5)	A list of budget adjustments made during the prior fiscal year pursuant to G.S. 143C‑6‑4 that are included in the proposed continuation budget for the upcoming fiscal year."
SECTION 2.(e)  G.S. 58‑2‑215(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Moneys appropriated by the General Assembly shall be deposited in the Fund and shall become a part of the continuation budget of the Department of Insurance. Such continuation budget amount shall equal the actual expenditures drawn from the Fund during the prior fiscal year plus the official inflation rate designated by the Director of the Budget in the preparation of the State Budget for each ensuing fiscal year; provided that if interest income on the Fund exceeds the amount yielded by the application of the official inflation rate, such continuation budget amount shall be the actual expenditures drawn from the Fund. In the event the amount in the Fund exceeds two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) at the end of any fiscal year, such excess shall revert to the General Fund."
SECTION 2.(f)  G.S. 116‑30.3B(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	It is the intent of the General Assembly that appropriations to the Board of Governors on behalf of a constituent institution not be reduced as a result of the institution's realization of energy savings. Instead, the General Assembly intends that the amount of appropriations be determined as if no energy savings had been realized. The Director of the Budget shall not decrease the recommended continuation budget requirements for utilities for constituent institutions by the amount of energy savings realized from implementing energy conservation measures, including savings achieved through a guaranteed energy savings contract."
SECTION 2.(g)  G.S. 116‑30.7 reads as rewritten:
"§ 116‑30.7.  Biennial projection of enrollment growth for The University of North Carolina.
By October 15 of each even‑numbered year, the General Administration of The University of North Carolina shall provide to the Joint Education Legislative Oversight Committee and to the Office of State Budget and Management a projection of the total student enrollment in The University of North Carolina that is anticipated for the next biennium. The enrollment projection shall be divided into the following categories and shall include the projected growth for each year of the biennium in each category at each of the constituent institutions: undergraduate students, graduate students (students earning master's and doctoral degrees), first professional students, and any other categories deemed appropriate by General Administration. The projection shall also distinguish between on‑campus and distance education students. The projections shall be considered by the Director of the Budget when determining the amount the Director proposes to fund as the continuation requirement for the enrollment increase in the university system pursuant to G.S. 143C‑3‑5(b)."
SECTION 2.(h)  G.S. 121‑6(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	It shall be the duty and the responsibility for the Department of Cultural Resources to edit and publish a second or new series of the most significant records of colonial North Carolina. From records which have been compiled in the North Carolina State Archives concerning the colonial period of North Carolina, a selection of the most significant documents shall be made therefrom by a skilled and competent editor. The editor shall edit, according to acceptable scholarly standards, the selected materials which shall be published in documentary volumes not to exceed approximately 700 pages each in length until full and representative published colonial records of North Carolina shall have been achieved. The number of copies of each volume to be so printed shall be determined by the Department of Cultural Resources, and such determination shall be based on the number of copies the Department can reasonably expect to sell in a period of 10 years from the date of publication. In any year during which the Department of Cultural Resources has completed a volume and has it ready for publication, the Department may include in its continuation budget for that year sufficient funds to pay the estimated costs of publishing the volume. In the event that the volume is not published during that year, the appropriation made, or any unencumbered balance, shall revert to the general fund."

PART III. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies to Current Operations Appropriations Acts enacted on or after that date. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies beginning with the recommended State budget for the 2017‑2019 fiscal biennium.