Bill Text: MA H3407 | 2009-2010 | 186th General Court | Introduced
Bill Title: For a legislative amendment to the Constitution limiting expenditure growth
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-07-29 - Joint session adjourned with no action taken on this matter [H3407 Detail]
Download: Massachusetts-2009-H3407-Introduced.html
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
_______________
To the
Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
A PROPOSAL FOR A LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION LIMITING EXPENDITURE GROWTH.
_______________
PETITION OF:
Name: |
District/Address: |
Bradley H. Jones, Jr. |
20th Middlesex |
George N. Peterson, Jr. |
9th Worcester |
Viriato Manuel deMacedo |
1st Plymouth |
Elizabeth Poirier |
14th Bristol |
F. Jay Barrows |
1st Bristol |
Paul K. Frost |
7th Worcester |
Susan Williams Gifford |
2nd Plymouth |
Bradford R. Hill |
4th Essex |
Richard J. Ross |
9th Norfolk |
Todd M. Smola |
1st Hampden |
Robert S. Hargraves |
1st Middlesex |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
PROPOSAL
for a legislative amendment to the Constitution
A majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become a part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of the next General Court and approved by the people at the state election next following]:
ARTICLE
OF AMENDMENT.
Section 3 of Article LXIII of the Articles of Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby annulled and the following is adopted in place thereof:--
Section 3. The General Appropriation Bill. - All appropriations based upon the budget to be paid from taxes or revenues shall be incorporated in a single bill which shall be called the general appropriation bill. The general court may increase, decrease, add or omit items in the budget, except that, the percentage growth in aggregate expenditures in the budget for any fiscal year, over the previous fiscal year’s budget, shall not be more than the percentage growth rate of inflation for the same fiscal year time period plus the percentage growth rate of the Commonwealth’s population for the same fiscal year time period. Such percentage growth rate of inflation shall be determined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for Boston-Brockton-Nashua, all items, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted, or its successor index. Such percentage growth rate of the Commonwealth’s population shall be determined by the United States Census Bureau. The general court may provide for its salaries, mileage, and expenses and for necessary expenditures in anticipation of appropriations, but before final action on the general appropriation bill it shall not enact any other appropriation bill except on recommendation of the governor. The governor may at any time recommend to the general court supplementary budgets which shall be subject to the same procedures as the original budget.