2023 New York Laws › STF - State Finance › Article 4 - Appropriations › 53 - Special Emergency Appropriations.

§  53.  Special  emergency appropriations. 1. If, for any fiscal year,
the legislature enacts a special emergency appropriation, no money shall
be paid pursuant to any such appropriation  unless  an  amount  of  such
appropriation  which  is  equal to the amount to be paid shall have been
transferred as authorized by the governor who may authorize the transfer
of all or a portion of such a special emergency  appropriation  only  in
accordance  with  the  procedures  and  subject  to  the  conditions and
limitations set forth in this section.
2. The governor may authorize the transfer of all or a portion of such
a special emergency appropriation to the  general  fund  or  to  a  fund
classified  as  a special revenue or capital projects fund as defined in
section two of this chapter for a specific program or  purpose,  subject
to the conditions and procedures described in subdivisions five, six and
seven of this section and the following:
a.  Transfers  to  the  general  fund  or  the  capital  projects fund
established under section ninety-three of this chapter shall be only for
the  purpose  and  to  the  extent  required  to  meet   emergency   and
unanticipated expenditures of the state which shall mean:
(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.