REPRESENTATIVE Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero will introduce a bill to create a separate operations fund for the Legislature.
Leepan T. Guerrero
He said the Legislature should determine the level of its appropriation “consistent with the doctrine of separation of powers.”
He added that his bill, H.B. 22-8, would give the Legislature control over its appropriated funds consistent with the requirements of the Constitution.
Right now, he said, it is the governor who recommends in his budget submission the appropriation for, among other agencies, the Legislature, and expenditure of funds is also controlled by the executive branch.
According to H.B. 22-8, a Legislature Operations Fund “shall be maintained separate and apart from other funds of the Commonwealth government.” Independent records and accounts, the bill stated, “shall be kept by the Legislative Bureau.”
H.B. 22-8 would also require that the annual appropriation for the Legislature “shall be 6% of the funds identified by the governor as available for appropriation but not less than $8 million.”
The expenditure authority over the Legislature’s funds “shall be the director of the Legislative Bureau, and the funds shall be expended in accordance with the regulations of the Department of Finance for the control of public funds, but the Legislative Bureau shall establish its own bank account for the Legislature Operations Fund.”
