Approved budgets for operations and fixed capital outlay.

(1) The General Appropriations Act and any other acts containing appropriations shall be considered the original approved operating budgets for operational and fixed capital expenditures. Amendments to the approved operating budgets for operational and fixed capital outlay expenditures from state agencies may be requested only through the Executive Office of the Governor and approved by the Governor and the Legislative Budget Commission as provided in this chapter. Amendments from the judicial branch may be requested only through the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and must be approved by the Chief Justice and the Legislative Budget Commission as provided in this chapter. This includes amendments which are necessary to implement the provisions of s. 216.212 or s. 216.221.

(2) Amendments to the original approved operating budgets for operational and fixed capital outlay expenditures must comply with the following guidelines in order to be approved by the Governor and the Legislative Budget Commission for the executive branch and the Chief Justice and the Legislative Budget Commission for the judicial branch:

(a) The amendment must be consistent with legislative policy and intent.

(b) The amendment may not initiate or commence a new program or a fixed capital outlay project, except as authorized by this chapter, or eliminate an existing program.

(c) Except as authorized in s. 216.292 or other provisions of this chapter, the amendment may not provide funding or increased funding for items which were funded by the Legislature in an amount less than that requested by the agency in the legislative budget request or recommended by the Governor, or which were vetoed by the Governor.

(d) For amendments that involve trust funds, there must be adequate and appropriate revenues available in the trust fund and the amendment must be consistent with the laws authorizing such trust funds and the laws relating to the use of the trust funds. However, a trust fund shall not be increased in excess of the original approved budget, except as provided in subsection (11).

(e) The amendment shall not conflict with any provision of law.

(f) The amendment must not provide funding for any issue which was requested by the agency or branch in its legislative budget request and not funded in the General Appropriations Act.

(g) The amendment must include a written description of the purpose of the proposed change, an indication of why interim budget action is necessary, and the intended recipient of any funds for contracted services.

(h) The amendment must not provide general salary increases which the Legislature has not authorized in the General Appropriations Act or other laws.

(3) All amendments to original approved operating budgets, regardless of funding source, are subject to the notice and objection procedures set forth in s. 216.177.

(4) To the extent possible, individual members of the Senate and the House of Representatives should be advised of budget amendments requested by the executive branch and judicial branch.

(5) An amendment to the original operating budget for an information technology project or initiative that involves more than one agency, has an outcome that impacts another agency, or exceeds $500,000 in total cost over a 1-year period, except for those projects that are a continuation of hardware or software maintenance or software licensing agreements, or that are for desktop replacement that is similar to the technology currently in use must be approved by the Executive Office of the Governor for the executive branch or by the Chief Justice for the judicial branch, and shall be subject to approval by the Legislative Budget Commission as well as the notice and objection procedures set forth in s. 216.177.

(6)(a) A detailed plan allocating a lump-sum appropriation to traditional appropriations categories shall be submitted by the affected agency to the Executive Office of the Governor or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Executive Office of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall submit such plan to the chair and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Commission either before or concurrent with the submission of any budget amendment that recommends the transfer and release of the balance of a lump-sum appropriation.

(b) The Executive Office of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may amend, without approval of the Legislative Budget Commission, state agency and judicial branch entity budgets, respectively, to reflect the transferred funds and to provide the associated increased salary rate based on the approved plans for lump-sum appropriations. Any action proposed pursuant to this paragraph is subject to the procedures set forth in s. 216.177.

The Executive Office of the Governor shall transmit to each state agency and the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Justice shall transmit to each judicial branch component and the Chief Financial Officer, any approved amendments to the approved operating budgets.

(7) The Executive Office of the Governor may, for the purpose of improved contract administration, authorize the consolidation of two or more fixed capital outlay appropriations for an agency, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the judicial branch, except for projects authorized under chapter 1013, provided the original scope and purpose of each project are not changed.

(8) As part of the approved operating budget, the Executive Office of the Governor shall furnish to each state agency, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall furnish to the entity of the judicial branch, an approved annual salary rate for each budget entity containing a salary appropriation. This rate shall be based upon the actual salary rate and shall be consistent with the General Appropriations Act or special appropriations acts. The annual salary rate shall be:

(a) Determined by the salary rate specified in the General Appropriations Act and adjusted for reorganizations authorized by law, for any other appropriations made by law, and, subject to s. 216.177, for distributions of lump-sum appropriations and administered funds and for actions that require authorization of salary rate from salary rate reserve and placement of salary rate in salary rate reserve.

(b) Controlled by department or agency; except for the Department of Education, which shall be controlled by division and for the judicial branch, which shall be controlled at the branch level.

(c) Assigned to the number of authorized positions.

(9) No agency or the judicial branch may exceed its maximum approved annual salary rate for the fiscal year. However, at any time during the fiscal year, an agency or entity of the judicial branch may exceed its approved rate for all budget entities by no more than 5 percent, provided that, by June 30 of every fiscal year, the agency or entity of the judicial branch has reduced its salary rate so that the salary rate for each department is within the approved rate limit for that department.

(10)(a) The Legislative Budget Commission may authorize increases or decreases in the approved salary rate, except as authorized in paragraph (8)(a), for positions pursuant to the request of the agency filed with the Executive Office of the Governor or pursuant to the request of an entity of the judicial branch filed with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, if deemed necessary and in the best interest of the state and consistent with legislative policy and intent.

(b) Lump-sum salary bonuses may be provided only if specifically appropriated or provided pursuant to s. 110.1245 or s. 216.1815.

(c) The salary rate provisions of subsections (8) and (9) and this subsection do not apply to the general office program of the Executive Office of the Governor.

(11)(a) The Executive Office of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may approve changes in the amounts appropriated from state trust funds in excess of those in the approved operating budget up to $1 million only pursuant to the federal funds provisions of s. 216.212, when grants and donations are received after April 1, or when deemed necessary due to a set of conditions that were unforeseen at the time the General Appropriations Act was adopted and that are essential to correct in order to continue the operation of government.

(b) Changes in the amounts appropriated from state trust funds in excess of those in the approved operating budget which are in excess of $1 million may be approved only by the Legislative Budget Commission pursuant to the request of a state agency filed with the Executive Office of the Governor or pursuant to the request of an entity of the judicial branch filed with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) to the contrary, the Executive Office of the Governor may approve changes in the amounts appropriated to the Department of Military Affairs for fixed capital outlay projects when the department has received federal funds for specific fixed capital outlay projects that do not carry a continuing commitment for future appropriations by the Legislature.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) and paragraph (2)(b), and for the 2026-2027 fiscal year only, the Legislative Budget Commission may approve budget amendments for new fixed capital outlay projects or increase the amounts appropriated to state agencies for fixed capital outlay projects. This paragraph expires July 1, 2027.

The provisions of this subsection are subject to the notice and objection procedures set forth in s. 216.177.

(12) There is appropriated nonoperating budget for refunds, payments to the United States Treasury, and payments of the service charge to the General Revenue Fund. Such authorized budget, together with related releases, shall be transmitted by the state agency or by the judicial branch to the Chief Financial Officer for entry in his or her records in the manner and format prescribed by the Executive Office of the Governor in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer. A copy of such authorized budgets shall be furnished to the Executive Office of the Governor or the Chief Justice, the chairs of the legislative committees responsible for developing the general appropriations acts, and the Auditor General. Notwithstanding the duty specified for each state agency in s. 17.61(3), the Governor may withhold approval of nonoperating investment authority for certain trust funds when deemed in the best interest of the state. The Governor for the executive branch, and the Chief Justice for the judicial branch, may establish nonoperating budgets, with the approval of the chairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives appropriations committees, for transfers, purchase of investments, special expenses, distributions, transfers of funds specifically required by law, and any other nonoperating budget categories they deem necessary and in the best interest of the state and consistent with legislative intent and policy. For purposes of this section, the term “nonoperating budgets” means nonoperating disbursement authority for purchase of investments, refunds, payments to the United States Treasury, transfers of funds specifically required by law, distributions of assets held by the state in a trustee capacity as an agent of fiduciary, special expenses, and other nonoperating budget categories, as determined necessary by the Executive Office of the Governor and the chairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives appropriations committees, not otherwise appropriated in the General Appropriations Act. The establishment of nonoperating budget authority shall be deemed approved by a chair of a legislative committee if written notice of the objection is not provided to the Governor or Chief Justice, as appropriate, within 14 days of the chair receiving notice of the action pursuant to the provisions of s. 216.177.

(13) Each state agency and the judicial branch shall develop the internal management procedures and budgets necessary to assure compliance with the approved operating budget.

(14) The Executive Office of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall certify the amounts approved for operations and fixed capital outlay, together with any relevant supplementary materials or information, to the Chief Financial Officer; and such certification shall be the Chief Financial Officer’s guide with reference to the expenditures of each state agency pursuant to s. 216.192.

(15) The provisions of this section do not apply to the budgets for the legislative branch.

(16)(a) Funds provided in any specific appropriation in the General Appropriations Act may be advanced if the General Appropriations Act specifically so provides.

(b) Any agency, or the judicial branch, that has been authorized by the General Appropriations Act or expressly authorized by other law to make advances for program startup or advances for contracted services, in total or periodically, shall limit such disbursements to other governmental entities and not-for-profit corporations. The amount that may be advanced shall not exceed the expected cash needs of the contractor or recipient within the initial 3 months. Thereafter, disbursements shall only be made on a reimbursement basis. Any agreement that provides for advancements may contain a clause that permits the contractor or recipient to temporarily invest the proceeds, provided that any interest income shall either be returned to the agency or be applied against the agency’s obligation to pay the contract amount. This paragraph does not constitute lawful authority to make any advance payment not otherwise authorized by laws relating to a particular agency or general laws relating to the expenditure or disbursement of public funds. The Chief Financial Officer may, after consultation with the legislative appropriations committees, advance funds beyond a 3-month requirement if it is determined to be consistent with the intent of the approved operating budget.

(17) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter or chapter 339, a change to the approved operating budget may not initiate or commence a fixed capital outlay project.