(a) The Traffic Congestion Relief Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. The fund shall include deposits of funds provided in the annual Budget Act, provided from the Transportation Investment Fund established under Section 7104 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or provided under any other statute. Notwithstanding Section 13340, the money in the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the department, without regard to fiscal years, as follows:

(1) For allocation by the department, as directed by the commission pursuant to Section 14556.20, to the department and other regional and local transportation entities for the projects listed in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40).

(2) For allocation by the commission to the funding exchange program authorized by Section 182.8 of the Streets and Highways Code.

(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon order of the Department of Finance, all or some of the state agencies collecting revenue for, or spending from, the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund shall adjust budgeting, accounting, and reporting systems and documents so that unliquidated encumbrances, payables, and other accruals are not reflected in the fund balance in the Governor’s Budget fund condition display or the fund balance in the financial statements submitted to the Controller for the Budgetary/Legal Basis Annual Report.

(2) For the purposes of the Governor’s Budget, the balance of cash advanced from the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund to the Transportation Revolving Account, as jointly determined by the Department of Finance and the state agencies referenced in paragraph (1), shall be deemed as resources and cash available to the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund for budgeting purposes.

(3) This method shall be effective with the 2013–14 Governor’s Budget development process and may be applied to the 2011–12 data.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 35, Sec. 2. (SB 85) Effective June 27, 2013.)