2nd Session, 41st Legislature
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Bill 21
THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND TAXPAYER PROTECTION ACT
| Table of Contents | Bilingual version (PDF) | Explanatory Note |
(Assented to )
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
PART 1
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
1 The following definitions apply in this Act.
"fiscal stabilization account" means the fiscal stabilization account continued under section 26.1 of The Financial Administration Act. (« compte de stabilisation des revenus »)
"fiscal year" means the period beginning on April 1 of one year and ending on March 31 of the following year. (« exercice »)
"government reporting entity" has the same meaning as in The Financial Administration Act. (« entité comptable du gouvernement »)
"minister", except in section 8, means the Minister of Finance. (« ministre »)
"public accounts", in relation to a fiscal year, means the public accounts for that year under section 65 of The Financial Administration Act. (« comptes publics »)
"summary financial statements", in relation to a fiscal year, means the summary financial statements included in the public accounts for that year. (« états financiers sommaires »)
BUDGET AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY STRATEGY
Annual budget for government reporting entity
2(1) For each fiscal year, the minister must table in the Legislative Assembly a budget for the government reporting entity.
2(2) The budget for a fiscal year is to be tabled by April 30 of that year except where
(a) it is not practicable to do so because of unusual circumstances; or
(b) the Legislature is dissolved at any time in that month or the immediately preceding month.
Fiscal responsibility strategy
3(1) For each fiscal year, the minister must prepare the government's fiscal responsibility strategy, including a description of the government's financial objectives for the fiscal year and for the future.
Debt reduction to be addressed when deficit eliminated
3(2) The fiscal responsibility strategy — for every fiscal year after the first fiscal year for which the government does not incur a deficit — must include objectives for reducing the general purpose debt of the government.
Strategy to be tabled with budget
3(3) The minister must table the strategy referred to in subsection (1) in the Legislative Assembly at the time of tabling the budget under section 2.
DEFICIT REDUCTION
Deficit not to exceed baseline amount
4(1) For each fiscal year, the government is not to incur a deficit that exceeds the baseline amount.
4(2) For the purposes of this section and section 8, "baseline amount", in relation to a fiscal year, is the lesser of the following amounts:
(a) the annual deficit projected in the budget for the fiscal year beginning in 2017;
(b) the lowest annual deficit incurred for any fiscal year beginning in or after 2017.
Application until deficit eliminated
4(3) This section ceases to apply at the end of the first fiscal year for which the government does not incur a deficit.
MAINTAINING BALANCE
Government not to incur deficit after deficit eliminated
5 The government is not to incur a deficit for any fiscal year after section 4 ceases to apply.
CALCULATION OF SURPLUS OR DEFICIT
6(1) For the purposes of this Act, the surplus or deficit for a fiscal year is the net income or loss as shown in the audited summary financial statements for the government reporting entity for that fiscal year, subject to the adjustments made under subsections (2), (3) and (4).
Manitoba Hydro's net income or loss excluded
6(2) Manitoba Hydro's net income or loss is not included in determining the surplus or deficit for a fiscal year for the purposes of this Act.
6(3) In determining the surplus or deficit for a fiscal year for the purposes of this Act
(a) an amount transferred to the fiscal stabilization account for that fiscal year is to be deducted as if it were an expenditure for that year; and
(b) an amount applied from the fiscal stabilization account for that fiscal year to support core government operations for that year or to repay debt shall be included as if it were revenue for that year.
6(4) The government is not required to include the following for the purpose of determining the surplus or deficit for a fiscal year for the purposes of this Act:
(a) an expenditure required in the fiscal year as a result of a natural or other disaster in Manitoba that could not have been anticipated and affects the province or a region of the province in a manner that is of urgent public concern;
(b) an expenditure required in the fiscal year because Canada is at war or under apprehension of war;
(c) a reduction in revenue resulting from a decision of another level of government or of a regulatory body that took effect after the budget for the fiscal year was tabled in the Legislative Assembly or within 30 days before it was tabled, the fiscal impact of which was not anticipated in the budget.
6(5) A declaration by the Lieutenant Governor in Council that, in the Lieutenant Governor in Council's opinion, an expenditure or reduction of revenue as described in subsection (4) has occurred is conclusive for the purpose of this Act of the fact that the expenditure or reduction occurred and in that amount.
6(6) The declaration must include a description of the expenditure and why it was necessary or, in the case of a revenue reduction, a description of the reduction and why it occurred.
ANNUAL REPORT
7(1) After each fiscal year, the minister must prepare a report that
(a) shows the surplus or deficit for the fiscal year for the purposes of this Act;
(b) sets out any adjustments made under section 6 in determining the surplus or deficit; and
(c) compares the results for the year to
(i) the objectives set out in the fiscal responsibility strategy tabled under section 3 for that year, and
(ii) the budget that was tabled for that year.
Report included in public accounts
7(2) The report is to be included in the public accounts for the fiscal year.
MINISTERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
8(1) The following definitions apply in this section.
"minister" means the President of the Executive Council and any member of the Executive Council who is appointed to preside over one or more departments. (« ministre »)
"ministerial salary" means the additional salary otherwise payable to a minister under The Legislative Assembly Act for services as a member of the Executive Council. (« traitement supplémentaire »)
20% of ministerial salary to be withheld
8(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (7), an amount equal to 20% of the ministerial salary otherwise payable to a minister is to be withheld pending the application of subsection (4) or (5), whichever applies.
40% to be withheld after consecutive contravening deficits
8(3) Subject to subsection (8), the amount to be withheld under subsection (2) for a fiscal year is 40% of the ministerial salary if each of the last two reports prepared under section 7 before the beginning of that fiscal year showed that the government incurred a deficit in contravention of section 4 or 5.
Full payment — no contravening deficit
8(4) The amount withheld from a person under subsection (2) for a fiscal year is payable to the person for that fiscal year, without interest, if the report under section 7 for that year shows that the government did not incur a deficit in contravention of section 4 or 5.
Salary reduction — contravening deficit
8(5) If the report under section 7 for a fiscal year shows that the government incurred a deficit in contravention of section 4 or 5, the ministerial salary of a person to whom subsection (2) applied for that year is reduced according to the following formula:
Reduction = A × B/$100,000,000
In this formula,
A is the amount withheld for that year under subsection (2);
B is the lesser of $100,000,000 and
(a) if section 5 applies to that fiscal year, the deficit for the fiscal year as shown in the report, or
(b) if section 4 applies to that fiscal year, the amount by which the deficit for the fiscal year as shown in the report exceeds the baseline amount for the year as determined under that section.
If the amount withheld for the fiscal year exceeds the salary reduction for that year, the excess is payable to the person.
8(6) An amount payable under subsection (4) or (5) for a fiscal year is not payable until the report under section 7 for that year is tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
New minister — no withholding in year 1
8(7) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person for the fiscal year in which he or she first becomes a minister.
New minister — 20% withholding in years 2 and 3
8(8) Subsection (3) does not apply to a person for the first two fiscal years after the fiscal year in which he or she first becomes a minister.
Minister appointed after a change in government
8(9) Subsections (7) and (8) apply to a person when he or she becomes a minister for the first time after a general election that results in a change of government, even if that person was a minister in an earlier government.
PART 2
TAXPAYER PROTECTION
Referendum required for tax changes
9(1) Subject to subsection (2), the government shall not present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to increase the rate of any tax imposed by an Act listed below, unless the government first puts the question of the advisability of proceeding with such a bill to the voters of Manitoba in a non-binding referendum:
(a) The Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy Act;
(b) The Income Tax Act;
(c) The Retail Sales Tax Act.
Revenue neutral and external changes
9(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a bill to increase the rate of a tax if, in the opinion of the minister,
(a) the increase results from changes in federal taxation laws and is necessary to maintain provincial revenue or to give effect to a restructuring of taxation authority between the federal government and provincial governments; or
(b) the proposed change is designed to restructure the tax burden and does not result in an increase in revenue.
10(1) A referendum under section 9 must be conducted and managed by the Chief Electoral Officer in the same manner, to the extent possible, as a general election under The Elections Act, and the provisions of The Elections Act apply with necessary modifications to a referendum.
10(2) The question to be put to voters in a referendum under section 9 must be determined by an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council at the commencement of the referendum process.
10(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary respecting the referendum process to give effect to section 9 including, without limitation,
(a) governing the preparation of a voters list;
(b) governing the expenses, if any, that may be incurred, and the contributions, if any, that may be made, and by whom, in connection with a referendum;
(c) where greater certainty is required, modifying to the extent necessary the provisions of The Elections Act to make them applicable to the requirements of a referendum.
10(4) The costs of conducting a referendum are to be paid from the Consolidated Fund without any legislative authority other than this subsection.
PART 3
AMENDMENT OR REPEAL
Restriction on amendment or repeal
11(1) Any bill introduced in the Legislative Assembly to amend, repeal, override or suspend the operation of this Act must be referred at the committee stage to a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly that provides the opportunity for representations by members of the public.
11(2) The standing committee reviewing a bill described in this section must not be scheduled until seven days after the later of
(a) the day the bill is distributed in the Legislative Assembly; and
(b) the day the public is given notice of the date, time and place of the committee meeting.
PART 4
C.C.S.M. REFERENCE AND
COMING INTO FORCE
12 This Act may be referred to as chapter F84 of the Continuing Consolidation of the Statutes of Manitoba.
13 This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.