AJR 21

Currently, the state maintains the budget stabilization fund which is

established and administered as required by statute. This proposed constitutional

amendment, proposed to the 2011 legislature on first consideration, requires the

legislature to establish the fiscal responsibility fund in the treasury, and to deposit

into the fund the greater of 1) one-half of 1 percent of the actual general fund tax

collections in the second preceding fiscal year; or 2) the amount, if any, by which the

actual general fund tax collections in the second preceding fiscal year exceeded 6.5

percent of state personal income in the calendar year in which the second preceding

fiscal year began. The 6.5 percent threshold may be modified by law by a two-thirds

vote of the legislature. The amendment would permit the legislature to appropriate

moneys from the fund by a two-thirds vote or by a majority vote if the governor

declares that the national real gross domestic product is projected to decline in either

the current or succeeding fiscal year. In each fiscal year following a fiscal year in

which the balance in the fiscal responsibility fund exceeded 10 percent of actual

general fund tax collections in that fiscal year, the legislature shall appropriate by

law from the fiscal responsibility fund the excess to be used for property tax relief in

the same manner as the net proceeds of the state lottery under article IV, section 24

(6) (a), of the constitution.

A proposed constitutional amendment requires adoption by two successive

legislatures, and ratification by the people, before it can become effective.