1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public finance; clarifying a duty relating 
  1.3             to expenditure forecasts; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             1996, section 16A.103, subdivision 1.  
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 16A.103, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [STATE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES.] In 
  1.9   February and November each year, the commissioner shall prepare 
  1.10  and deliver to the governor and legislature a forecast of state 
  1.11  revenue and expenditures.  The forecast must assume the 
  1.12  continuation of current laws and reasonable estimates of 
  1.13  projected growth in the national and state economies and 
  1.14  affected populations.  Revenue must be estimated for all sources 
  1.15  provided for in current law.  Expenditures must be estimated for 
  1.16  all obligations imposed by law and those projected to occur as a 
  1.17  result of inflation and variables outside the control of the 
  1.18  legislature.  In determining the rate of inflation, the 
  1.19  application of inflation, and the other variables to be included 
  1.20  in the expenditure part of the forecast, the commissioner must 
  1.21  consult with house and senate fiscal staff.  In addition, the 
  1.22  commissioner shall forecast Minnesota personal income for each 
  1.23  of the years covered by the forecast and include these estimates 
  1.24  in the forecast documents.  A forecast prepared during the first 
  1.25  fiscal year of a biennium must cover that biennium and the next 
  2.1   biennium.  A forecast prepared during the second fiscal year of 
  2.2   a biennium must cover that biennium and the next two bienniums.