New York Laws
Article 4 - Appropriations
53 - Special Emergency Appropriations.

(1) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to the proper and
efficient functioning of the government of the state or the rendering of
governmental services by the state, in order to meet emergencies and
unanticipated requirements arising from or which threaten to interfere
with the lawful exercise of one or more of the powers of government by
the state;
(2) expenditures deemed necessary or essential to protect fully the
New York state housing finance agency, the state university construction
fund, the state university, or the facilities development corporation
from general public liability arising from their ownership or interest
in state university facilities or mental hygiene facilities financed by
the New York state housing finance agency, as the case may be, or to
repair, restore, rebuild or replace such a facility upon damage, loss or
destruction thereof, or to pay the annual rentals for such a facility in
the event of the damage, loss or destruction thereof and of the
availability and possession thereof by the state university construction
fund and the occupancy thereof by the state university, or the
availability and possession thereof by the state university, or the
availability and possession thereof by the facilities development
corporation and the occupancy thereof by the department of mental
hygiene; and
(3) expenditures deemed necessary or essential for payment of the
state's liability, pursuant to a contract with a county containing a
city having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants or
a city having a population of seventy-five thousand or more inhabitants,
providing for the financing and the construction and leasing of state
office buildings and other public improvements in such county or city,
to hold such county or city and its officers, agents or employees
harmless against liability, loss, cost, damage, claims, judgments or
expense based on personal injury, death or damage to property, real,
personal or mixed, which because of the uncertainty of events are not
clearly foreseeable or predictable at the time of passage of the budget
and other appropriation measures during the regular session of the
legislature next preceding the occurrence or development thereof, and
for which other appropriations are not available or are insufficient.
Transfers made pursuant to subparagraphs two and three of this
paragraph are expressly for the purpose of applying self-insurer
principles to the facilities therein described, consistent with the
system of self-insurance followed by the state for real property under
its jurisdiction and control.

b. Transfers to a special revenue fund or capital projects fund other
than the capital projects fund established under section ninety-three of
this chapter shall be made only if the amount of moneys credited to such
fund for such program or purpose during the then current state fiscal
year is in excess of such amount anticipated to be available at the time
the annual budget for such fiscal year was submitted to the legislature,
in which case, any such transfer shall be limited to the amount of such
excess.
3. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such
a special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a proprietary
fund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions
and procedures described in subdivisions five, six and seven of this
section only if the revenues actually accrued to such fund during the
then current state fiscal year are in excess of such revenues
anticipated at the time the annual budget for such fiscal year was
submitted to the legislature, in which case, any such transfer shall be
limited to the amount of such excess.
4. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such
a special emergency appropriation to a fund classified as a fiduciary
fund as defined in section two of this chapter subject to the conditions
and procedures described in subdivisions five and seven of this section
only if the moneys necessary to fund such transfer are available for
disbursement within such fund and only when the disbursements required
to be made during the then current fiscal year for liabilities which are
not subject to statutory limitation are in excess of the amount of such
required disbursements anticipated at the time the annual budget for
such fiscal year was submitted to the legislature, in which case, any
such transfer shall be limited to the amount of such excess.
5. Any transfer shall lapse, except with regard to obligations already
incurred, on the day on which the governor submits an appropriation bill
to the next succeeding regular session of the legislature unless such
bill shall include a separate request for an appropriation, from the
fund to which all or a portion of a special emergency appropriation was
transferred, for the transferred amount. Upon such request, such
transfer shall continue in effect until final action by the legislature
on such bill, after which time such transfer shall lapse and no
additional expenditures shall be made against such transferred
appropriation. The same provisions of law as are applicable to the
segregation and expenditure of appropriations generally shall also be
applicable to the segregation and expenditure of appropriations
transferred pursuant to this section.
6. The governor shall not have the authority to authorize, and the
comptroller shall so deny, an appropriations transfer and any
expenditures therefrom for any purpose concerning which the legislature
has declared its intent that such program, project or activity shall not
be performed. For the purpose of determining such legislative intent,
the governor and the comptroller shall consider legislative action on
the executive budget and the various appropriation bills for the support
of government in addition to any specific act of the legislature making
such a declaration.
7. The governor shall not authorize the transfer of all or a portion
of a special emergency appropriation unless and until the following
procedure has been followed:
a. The chief executive officer of a state agency or state affiliated
corporation, immediately upon determining the necessity for a special
emergency appropriation transfer, shall notify the director of the
budget, the chairman of the senate finance committee and the chairman of
the assembly ways and means committee on forms and in a manner to be

prescribed by the director of the budget which shall include the
following:
(1) a statement of the amount of the requested special emergency
appropriation transfer and a schedule of the timing of the disbursements
and expenditures proposed to be made pursuant to the transferred
appropriation;
(2) a description of the purposes to be served, and the specific
activities and positions to be funded, if any, by the proposed
expenditures;
(3) a statement as to whether such expenditures shall or could be
utilized to offset obligations of the general fund, the time period
during which the moneys necessary for the proposed disbursements shall
be available to such fund, and a description and explanation of the
effects the proposed expenditures may have on the state's obligation to
make similar expenditures in the future.
b. The director of the budget shall review such requests, taking into
consideration any recommendations of the chairman of the senate finance
committee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee, and
after making any modifications, shall formally recommend to the governor
approval of such requests as he shall deem appropriate. He shall at the
same time notify the chairman of the senate finance committee and the
chairman of the assembly ways and means committee of his recommendations
on such requests, and shall submit to such chairmen any modification of
such requests and such further information and justification as he shall
deem appropriate or that such chairmen may require in furtherance of
their review.
c. The governor shall then issue such transfer authorization pursuant
to this section as deemed appropriate based upon his review of such
recommendations, provided however, that when the request consists solely
of moneys available for costs and damages resulting from natural
disasters or civil disobedience, the governor may act in accordance with
the immediacy of the situation.
* 8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in
addition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may
authorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or
to a fund established to account for revenues from the federal
government only after the approval of:
(1) the temporary president of the senate or the chair of the senate
finance committee (the "senate"); and
(2) the speaker of the assembly or the chair of the assembly ways and
means committee (the "assembly").
Provided however, if either the senate or the assembly fails to
affirmatively deny or approve such transfer within ten days from the
date on which the governor provides notification of such transfer, then
the transfer shall be deemed approved by both the senate and the
assembly.
* NB Effective until March 31, 2028
*8. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in
addition to the restrictions set forth therein, the governor may
authorize a transfer to the general fund, to a capital projects fund, or
to a fund established to account for revenues from the federal
government only after the approval of:
(1) the temporary president of the senate or the chairman of the
senate finance committee; and
(2) the speaker of the assembly or the chairman of the assembly ways
and means committee.
* NB Effective March 31, 2028

9. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section or any
other law to the contrary, the governor may generally authorize the
director of the budget to act on his behalf in authorizing transfers of
appropriations pursuant to this section.