§ 19-5-1020 - Department of Human Services Renovation Fund. - Arkansas Statutes

19-5-1020. Department of Human Services Renovation Fund.

(a) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a fund to be known as the "Department of Human Services Renovation Fund".

(b) This fund shall be used for constructing, acquiring, renovating, maintaining, repairing, and equipping facilities of the Department of Human Services and for paying disallowances by the federal government.

(c) The fund shall consist of:

(1) Federal reimbursement received by the department and deposited in the various fund accounts of the department;

(2) (A) General revenues transferred from the Division of Youth Services, the Division of Behavioral Health, and the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services for the purposes of repairing, renovating, equipping, acquiring, and constructing department facilities with an annual maximum of five million dollars ($5,000,000); and

(B) The projects for which these transfers are authorized must be projects which were unanticipated during the preceding regular session of the General Assembly and must be projects which, if not carried out in the interim period between regular sessions of the General Assembly, would cause greater harm to the facilities, clients, or programs of the department than if carried out during the next regular session; and

(3) Other nongeneral revenue funds as may be available within the department that can be used for the purposes of this fund.

(d) (1) At the request of the Director of the Department of Human Services and upon certification of the availability of such funds, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall initiate the necessary transfer documents to reflect the transfer on the books of record of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and the department.

(2) The director shall submit any transfer plan to and must receive approval of the plan from the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, the Governor, and the Legislative Council prior to the effective date of the transfer.

(e) Provided, that any nongeneral revenue funding that may remain in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried over into the next fiscal year, and all obligated general revenue funding that may remain in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried over into the next fiscal year to satisfy such legal and contractual obligations that have been entered into prior to the end of the fiscal year.

(f) Determining the amount of funds appropriated to a state agency is the prerogative of the General Assembly and is usually accomplished by delineating specific line items and by identifying the appropriation and funding attached to that line item. The General Assembly has determined that the department could be operated more efficiently if some flexibility is given to that agency. That flexibility is being accomplished by providing transfer authority in subsection (d) of this section, and since the General Assembly has granted the agency broad powers under the transfer authority concept, it is both necessary and appropriate that the General Assembly maintain oversight of the utilization of the transfer authority by requiring prior approval of the Legislative Council in the utilization of this transfer authority. Therefore, the requirement of approval by the Legislative Council is not a severable part of this section. If the requirement of approval by the Legislative Council is ruled unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, this entire section is void.