June 15, 2018
For users of the AMA, BPAS, CBS, and FNTS budget systems.
MMB has received a green light to use BPAS 2.0 for the
2020-21 biennial budget. The custom-built web application replaces the current BPAS
system and will be ready for agency user training at the end of July. The
system opens August 22 for agencies to begin entering base budgets and change
item requests. Approval to proceed came on May 24 from members of the statewide
systems Enterprise Resource and Planning (ERP) Steering Committee.
The system received favorable reviews during a third and
final round of user acceptance testing sessions held earlier this month. Fourteen
state agencies, as well as legislative fiscal analysts from the House and
Senate participated, providing useful feedback that MMB will use in preparing
the system for production. Legislative analysts, who will have read-only access
to the budget system, previewed the Report screens while state agency users
tested out the system’s Change module (see preview below).
MMB Budget Operations will be offering instructor-led BPAS
user training sessions starting Tuesday,
July 31 through Tuesday, August 14 in the Columbine Room of the
Centennial Office Building. Registration
for the sessions will be available soon in Enterprise Learning Management (ELM
in Self Service). Certified BPAS users will
receive an email with registration information on Monday, June 18; watch your email for an invitation and more
details. If you are a certified BPAS user and do not receive a training invitation, please email budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us.
The 2020-21 biennial
budget process will be the same as it has been in the past several biennia with
MMB issuing instructions and agencies preparing budget information in three
stages:
- background/budget narrative materials
- base/enacted budget data, including forecast
adjustments
- requests for changes to be included in the
Governor’s budget
The Change Module consists of four screens used by agencies to
enter budget change items, as well as two screens that are used by MMB in
developing and preparing the governor’s budget recommendations. The five agency
screens are:
- Change Item Entry
- Description
- Funding Summary
- Relevant Base
The Change Item Entry screen is where agencies will begin.
This screen is opened from the left navigation menu:
 After entering a change item name into the textbox and
selecting “Add”, a record is created, assigned a unique ID, and listed in a
table on the Entry screen:
 Each change item ID consists of the agency’s code and a
unique number, assigned in sequence from one to 150. Users can edit change item names directly in
the table. Other fields that can be selected and modified on the Entry Screen
include the change item’s rank, and whether it impacts IT systems or an agency
fee.
 Each change item’s CI ID field is a hyperlink to the
Description screen, which will be previewed in the next Budget Systems
Newsletter.
AMA is the system that agencies use to create new
appropriations, establish appropriations in a particular budget period, or
modify an existing appropriation. The table below lists the transactions
agencies can perform using AMA along with other common accounting transactions
that must be performed in SWIFT or require submission of a paper form.
September 1, 2019 is when the Legislative Budget Office
(LBO) will take over responsibility for the fiscal note process. Established under
legislation enacted during the 2017 legislative session, the LBO was originally
required to take over the fiscal note process from MMB starting on January 8,
2019, but is now postponed until the 2020 legislative session. See Laws
of 2018, Ch. 214, Art. 5 for more information about the LBO changes made
during the 2018 legislative session.
Have a question about or a suggestion for improving the budget systems? Email it to Budget Operations at budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us, Subject: Budget Systems Newsletter.
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