AID TO LOCALITIES BUDGET

New authority granted to the budget director to withhold appropriated funds if a projected general fund imbalance reaches $2 billion or more.

Specific exemptions established for withholding, protecting public assistance payments, debt service obligations, and court-ordered payments.

Updated bill header to include Assembly action history and changed the document identifier from S. 9003--B to S. 9003--C.

Removed the detailed definitions for terms like 'refunds,' 'rebates,' and 'credits' which were present in the previous version.

New definitions were added for financial terms like 'refunds,' 'rebates,' and 'reimbursements' to standardize how returned funds are handled and credited back to the original appropriation.

A new provision was added to repeal specific 2025 appropriations that would otherwise expire on March 31, 2027, effectively extending their funding availability for the current fiscal year.

New language clarifies that federal funds appropriated in the bill may be used for all eligible costs consistent with federal laws, regardless of which federal agency administers the program.

The bill number was changed from S 9003-A to S 9003-B, and the Senate action history was updated to reflect the bill's current status in the legislative process.

The procedural status of the bill was updated to reflect that the Senate and Assembly committees have been discharged and the bill has been amended and reprinted.

The visual representation of the ellipsis (...) used to denote omitted text was corrected to ensure consistent spacing.

A new page number (12653-02-6) was inserted into the document.