Bill Text: HI SR85 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Fringe Benefit Assessment; General Funded Salaries & Wages

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to WAM. [SR85 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SR85-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	85
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE TO CONSIDER ESTABLISHING A POLICY TO IMPOSE THE FRINGE BENEFIT ASSESSMENT ON PERSONNEL SALARIES OR WAGES PAID FROM the GENERAL FUND.

 

 

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance imposes a fringe benefit assessment on personnel salaries or wages paid from non-general funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, beginning with fiscal year 2015-2016, the planned fringe benefit assessment will be fifty-two per cent of the salary or wages for a position paid from non-general funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance does not impose a similar fringe benefit assessment on personnel salaries and wages paid from general funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance budgets fringe benefit costs of positions in central program IDs; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance appears to use assumptions to project increased appropriations for fringe benefit costs for general funded positions rather than a computation based on the specific budget requests of a department; and

 

     WHEREAS, in essence, this manner of budgeting for fringe benefit costs shields the departments from responsibility and accountability for the additional burden of those costs; and

 

     WHEREAS, the manner of budgeting should change in order to make the departments more aware of the impact of budget requests for new general funded positions or trade-offs from other current expenses or equipment to personal services; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to consider establishing a policy to impose the fringe benefit assessment on new appropriation and new trade-off requests to pay personnel salaries or wages with general funds; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, under the policy, the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to consider requiring each department to pay fringe benefit assessments of unauthorized positions out of the general fund appropriations in their base budgets; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to make the policy operational beginning with the executive budget for the fiscal biennium 2017-2019; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the Department of Budget and Finance deems the imposition of an assessment to be too difficult or costly, the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to require departments to submit to the Legislature information on the fringe benefit costs resulting from budget requests for new general funded positions and trade-off requests to pay salaries or wages with general funds; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to submit a progress report on establishment of the policy to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Finance.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Fringe Benefit Assessment; General Funded Salaries & Wages