9-2-1002. Definitions; powers generally; duties of governor; provisions construed; cooperation with legislature and judiciary; divisions enumerated.
(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Agency" means an office, department, board, commission or operating unit of the executive branch of state government;
(ii) "Department" means the state budget department;
(iii) "Entity" means any governmental unit, special district, corporation, partnership or person which will receive a legislative appropriation, directly or indirectly, excluding the legislature, the judiciary and the Wyoming department of transportation, game and fish department, counties, municipalities and school districts;
(iv) "Exception budget" means a budget prepared by an entity containing requests for appropriations which vary from the standard budget as prepared by the department or otherwise represents additional or increased services. The agency shall justify the new or increased services and describe all new staff, support services and additional equipment which will be required. The exception budget shall also be used to describe any decreases in nongeneral fund revenues formally supporting an entity's services and for which a general fund appropriation is being requested;
(v) "Executive branch" means the executive department of state government established by article 2, section 1 of the Wyoming constitution;
(vi) Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 178, § 2.
(vii) "Legislature" means the legislative department of state government established by article 2, section 1 of the Wyoming constitution;
(viii) "Judiciary" means the judicial department of state government established by article 2, section 1 of the Wyoming constitution;
(ix) "Standard budget" means a budget enabling an entity to continue to furnish the same level of services during the ensuing biennium and shall reflect the revenue or appropriation necessary to provide the services. The budget shall include all personnel approved in the preceding biennial budget, a supportive service category and the amount of revenue generated by the entity during the preceding biennium and estimated revenue for the ensuing biennium regardless of the fund to which the monies were deposited. The standard budget shall not include any personnel other than those specifically authorized in the preceding biennial budget. The standard budget shall not include requests for any equipment, any special projects and services nor any requests for special or nonrecurring funding. The limitations regarding authorized personnel and equipment requests in this paragraph shall not apply to the University of Wyoming. The standard budget shall:
(A) Reflect and identify any reductions to expenditures made pursuant to W.S. 9-2-1014.2 in the previous fiscal biennium;
(B) Be reduced by any amount transferred from contingent appropriations pursuant to W.S. 9-2-1014.2 or an appropriation under W.S. 9-2-1014.3 to any fund or account and expended from the fund or account to support services of the standard budget in the previous fiscal biennium.
(x) "This act" means W.S. 9-2-1001.1 through 9-2-1014.2;
(xi) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(a)(vii).
(xii) "Base budget" means a budget containing all legislative appropriations as defined by W.S. 9-2-1013(d)(iv), which shall be prepared by the department for each entity containing all programs for the biennium preceding the biennium for which a standard budget is being prepared pursuant to this act. The base budget and all information accompanying the base budget as required by this act shall be of sufficient detail to parallel components of the standard budget prepared for each entity under this act;
(xiii) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(a)(viii).
(xiv) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(a)(ix).
(xv) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(a)(x).
(xvi) "Outstanding obligation legally incurred" means a financial obligation, chargeable to the current biennium's appropriation, that has been lawfully incurred and for which appropriated funds have been reserved but not paid during that biennium. An "outstanding obligation legally incurred" shall include the following:
(A) A master service agreement, master price agreement or other contract was executed or purchase order issued for goods or services but the goods were not received, or the services were not rendered, and paid for during the same biennium;
(B) Goods or services were received pursuant to a purchase order or other contract, but an invoice was not received and paid during the same biennium;
(C) Goods or services and an invoice were received, but payment could not be made during the same biennium;
(D) Salaries were earned and were payable, but were not paid as of the end of the biennium as a result of pay periods not being consistent with the end of the biennium, except that higher education institutions may encumber payrolls for the remainder of the summer session which is in progress at the end of the state's biennium if they have been budgeted and appropriated in such manner;
(E) A written agreement for a grant, loan or award to distribute funds was signed but the funds were not distributed during the same biennium;
(F) A written offer to provide a grant, loan or award to distribute funds was made and upon execution of an agreement a legally binding obligation to distribute the funds would be incurred, but the agreement was not signed by all parties during the biennium.
(xvii) "Budget shortfall" means probable receipts from taxes or other sources of revenue for any fund or account will be less than were anticipated and that those receipts, plus existing revenues in the fund or account which are available, will be less than the amount appropriated;
(xviii) "Contingent appropriation" means an appropriation of funds from the legislative stabilization reserve account which specifically identifies W.S. 9-2-1014.2 in the provision of law making the appropriation. The law providing the contingent appropriation may provide additional conditions on the expenditure of the appropriation, beyond those otherwise provided by law;
(xix) "Structural budget deficit" means that anticipated taxes and other revenues for a fiscal biennium from traditionally available revenues sources are:
(A) Less than appropriations for the general operations of state government for the corresponding fiscal biennium; or
(B) Are projected to be less than the expenses of the general operations of state government, assuming the same appropriations for general operations as made in the previous fiscal biennium from traditionally available revenue sources plus any increases for those operations required by existing law.
(xx) "Traditionally available revenue sources" means those revenues identified in W.S. 9-2-1013(d)(ii) which are estimated to be deposited or credited to a state fund or account in the two (2) year budget period, and excluding revenues excluded under W.S. 9-2-1013(d) and any balances in any account or fund existing prior to the first day of the fiscal period;
(xxi) "Consensus revenue estimating group" means one (1) or more representatives of the legislative and executive departments of state government, created by agreement of the governor and the legislature to estimate and forecast revenues available to the state for appropriation;
(xxii) "Fund balance," "unappropriated fund balance" or "unobligated, unencumbered fund balance," notwithstanding cash or fund balances reflected in the state of Wyoming's comprehensive annual financial report, means:
(A) The fund cash and petty cash balance from the comparative balance sheet by fund report which is run within five (5) business days following the close of the prior fiscal year;
(B) Less the fund balance reserved encumbrances from the comparative balance sheet by fund report which is run within five (5) days following the close of the prior fiscal year;
(C) Less the remaining unspent appropriations from that fund for previous biennia, including those unspent appropriations from the most recent legislative session that were effective immediately, as computed by the state auditor's office;
(D) Less fund reversions as computed by the state auditor's office;
(E) Less restricted cash as determined by the state auditor's office;
(F) Plus the net accounts receivable due from the federal government or other entities as of June 30 from the most recently completed fiscal year, as computed by the state auditor's office;
(G) Plus mineral severance taxes, if any, to be distributed to the fund that have been earned in the most recently completed fiscal year but have not yet been distributed, as determined by the department of revenue;
(H) Plus sales and use taxes, if any, to be distributed to the fund that have been earned in the most recently completed fiscal year but have not yet been distributed, as determined by the department of revenue;
(J) Plus federal mineral royalties, if any, to be distributed to the fund that have been earned in the most recently completed fiscal year but have not yet been distributed, as determined by the state treasurer's office.
(xxiii) "Approved budget" means:
(A) An agency's request for an appropriation for a program and for which an appropriation is made in whole or in part;
(B) The governor's recommended appropriation for an agency program developed pursuant to W.S. 9-2-1010 through 9-2-1013 and for which an appropriation is made in whole or in part;
(C) A budget for a program as developed by the state budget department and approved by the governor for appropriations for which no budgeted request was submitted.
(xxiv) "Program" means a line appropriation within a general appropriation act of the legislature as so designated;
(xxv) "Public welfare emergency" means a sudden financial calamity or other occurrence, either of which:
(A) Was not foreseeable or predictable at the time of preparation and adoption of the budget and the passage of appropriation measures during the general or budget session of the legislature immediately preceding the occurrence of the emergency;
(B) Demands immediate action to insure the proper functioning of state government or to protect the health, safety or welfare or economic well-being of the public or against the loss of essential public services; and
(C) For which other funds are not available for expenditure or insufficient to meet the needs of the emergency.
(b) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(b).
(c) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(c).
(d) Renumbered by Laws 2021, ch. 56, § 4 as W.S. 9-2-3202(d).