HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act

1 The Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, S.B.C. 2001, c. 28, is amended by adding the following section:

Deficits permitted for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fiscal years

2.1  The prohibition in section 2 [prohibition against deficit budgets] does not apply to the main estimates for the 2009-2010 fiscal year and the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

2 Section 2.1 is repealed.

Budget Transparency and Accountability Act

3 The Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, S.B.C. 2000, c. 23, is amended by adding the following section in Part 1:

Operating debt elimination

8.1  (1) If the public accounts for a fiscal year indicate that there was Provincial government direct operating debt at the end of the fiscal year, any increase for that fiscal year in cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated revenue fund must be applied to reduce or eliminate that debt.

(2)  Supplementary estimates may not be presented to the Legislative Assembly if the most recent quarterly report includes a forecast that there will be Provincial government direct operating debt at the end of the fiscal year to which the quarterly report applies.

4 Section 9 (2) (a) (iii) is repealed and the following substituted:

(iii) changes in cash and cash equivalents; .

5 Section 9 (2) is amended

(a) by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following:

(b) for the government reporting entity, supplementary schedules that include

(i) amounts held and administered in trust, and

(ii) a summary of debt at the end of the fiscal year, including a statement of the Provincial government direct operating debt at the end of that fiscal year; , and

(b) in paragraph (d) by striking out "and" at the end of subparagraph (iv), and by adding the following subparagraphs:

(vi) revenues and expenses and the resulting surplus or deficit for the fiscal year and the preceding fiscal year,

(vii) the balance sheet as at the end of the fiscal year and the preceding fiscal year, and

(viii) changes in cash and cash equivalents between the fiscal year and the preceding fiscal year; .

6 Section 10 (2) (b) (ii) is repealed and the following substituted:

(ii)  the forecast of the debt as at the end of that fiscal year, including a forecast of the Provincial government direct operating debt at the end of that fiscal year, and .

Commencement

7  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Notes

Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act

SECTION 1: [Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, section 2.1] allows budget deficits to be forecast in the main estimates for the next 2 fiscal years.

SECTION 2: [Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, section 2.1] repeals the time-limited authority for authorized deficit budgets.

Budget Transparency and Accountability Act

SECTION 3: [Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, section 8.1]

• requires that any increase in the cash of the consolidated revenue fund during a fiscal year be applied first towards reducing or eliminating any existing Provincial government direct operating debt;
• restricts the presentation of supplementary estimates if the most recent quarterly report forecasts such debt.

SECTION 4: [Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, section 9] updates this reference to information that is to be reported in the public accounts.

SECTION 5: [Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, section 9] adds information that must be reported in the public accounts.

SECTION 6: [Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, section 10] adds information that must be reported in the quarterly reports under the Act.