Summary
This Nebraska Attorney General opinion addresses whether LB 522A, an appropriation bill intended to fund the transfer of county welfare functions to the Nebraska Department of Public Welfare, would require a three-fifths legislative vote. It concludes that a three-fifths vote would not be required under the Nebraska Constitution, but that the bill would be nonbinding and premature because it appropriated funds for a fiscal year beyond the applicable budget period.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether LB 522A required approval by a three-fifths vote of the Legislature.
- Whether an appropriation bill funding legislation effective July 1, 1983, could be binding on the Legislature when it appropriated funds for a future fiscal year.
- Whether LB 522A would be legally effective or would instead be premature and non-binding.
Holdings
- A three-fifths vote was not required to pass LB 522A because the appropriation was not an increase over an amount contained in the Governor's budget and concerned a matter not contemplated or anticipated in that budget.
- LB 522A would be non-binding and premature because it addressed appropriations for a fiscal period beginning after the effective date of the proposed substantive legislation and beyond the period for which the Legislature was then required to make appropriations.
Key quotations
“We therefore conclude that a three-fifths vote on LB 522A would not be required, but that its passage would not be binding.”
“Therefore, it is our opinion that LB 522A would be non-binding and thus premature.”
Factual background
LB 522A proposed to appropriate money necessary to fund LB 522, whose transfer of county welfare functions and fiscal responsibilities to the Nebraska Department of Public Welfare would take effect July 1, 1983. The request asked whether LB 522A required a three-fifths legislative vote and whether an appropriation bill could validly address a fiscal year beyond the ensuing fiscal year. The Attorney General relied on amendments to Article III, sections 6 and 22, and on the Governor's 1982 budget submissions, which did not include appropriations for fiscal year 1983-84.
Procedural history
State Senator Vard Johnson requested an Attorney General's opinion by letter dated March 23, 1982. The opinion addressed LB 522A, which would appropriate funds for LB 522, a measure transferring county welfare functions and fiscal responsibilities to the Nebraska Department of Public Welfare effective July 1, 1983.