Alabama § 29-9-3 - Fiscal Year Appropriation Cap.

§ 29-9-3. Fiscal Year Appropriation Cap.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, beginning with appropriations made for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, appropriations from the Education Trust Fund shall not exceed the fiscal year appropriation cap, or the secondary spending limit, whichever is less.

(b) The fiscal year appropriation cap for the Education Trust Fund shall be equal to the sum of all of the following:

(1) The total of recurring revenues deposited into the Education Trust Fund in the last completed fiscal year preceding the date on which the fiscal year appropriation cap is calculated.

(2) An amount equal to the amount in subdivision (1) multiplied by the average annual percent of change in the recurring revenues deposited into the Education Trust Fund for the 15 most recently completed fiscal years preceding the date on which the fiscal year appropriation cap is calculated, excluding the highest and lowest years from the calculation.

(3) If new recurring revenue measures are enacted that will be deposited into the Education Trust Fund, or if existing revenue sources are amended to increase the amount of money deposited into the Education Trust Fund, for the first time during the year for which the fiscal year appropriation cap is being calculated, then 95 percent of the amount projected in the enacted fiscal note accompanying the legislative act creating the new recurring revenue shall be added or subtracted as a part of the fiscal year appropriation cap. If a recurring revenue source to the Education Trust Fund is removed or reduced during the year for which the fiscal year appropriation cap is being calculated, the negative impact, based on the enacted fiscal note, of the removal or reduction of the recurring revenue shall be included in the calculation of the fiscal year appropriation cap.

(4) Nonrecurring revenue shall be added or subtracted as a part of the fiscal year appropriation cap for the fiscal year in which the nonrecurring revenue is deposited into the Education Trust Fund.

(c) The Director of Finance and the Legislative Fiscal Officer shall certify their computation of the fiscal year appropriation cap and secondary spending limit at the same time as the certification required by Section 260.02 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022.

(d) Section 260.02 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, requires an estimate of available revenue for the Education Trust Fund which is to be certified by the Finance Director and the Legislative Fiscal Officer prior to the third legislative day of each regular session. If, however, the average of the estimated available revenue is less than the fiscal year appropriation cap calculated in subsection (b) or the secondary spending limit, the Legislature shall appropriate no more than the lesser amount of the average of the estimated available revenue or the fiscal year appropriation cap or secondary spending limit as required to be determined by this section.