Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB292%20INTR.htm&yr=2019&sesstype=RS&i=292
Timestamp: 2020-07-08 09:46:43
Document Index: 718334448

Matched Legal Cases: ['§8', '§12', '§12', '§29', '§33', '§33', '§33', '§29', '§12', '§5', '§ 7501', '§33', '§33', '§33', '§29', '§12', '§12', '§39', '§12', '§12', '§29', '§33', '§33', '§33', '§29', '§29', '§29', '§29']

By Senators Sypolt, Stollings, Boso, Maroney, and Baldwin
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-15-8b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §12-4-14 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §12-4-14b; and to amend and reenact §29-3-5f of said code, all relating to fire service equipment and training funds for volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments; authorizing fire departments to file bank statements and check images instead of sworn statements of expenditures; prohibiting the commingling of funds; requiring retention of payment records; defining certain terms; changing deadline dates; authorizing forfeiture and redistribution of funds of delinquent fire departments; prohibiting the conversion of funds through returns or refunds of goods or services; providing for deductions from quarterly distributions to offset improper expenditures by a fire company or department; clarifying the responsibility for proposing legislative rules; requiring written notifications of delinquencies and misapplication of funds; providing a procedure to contest findings of Legislative Auditor; removing certain criminal penalties; and updating outdated language.
(a) Revenues allocated to volunteer and part volunteer fire companies and departments may be expended only for the items listed in subdivisions (1) through (15) of this section. Funds Money received from the state for volunteer and part volunteer fire companies and departments, pursuant to §33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and §33-12C-7 of this code, may not be commingled with funds moneys received from any other source, except money received as a grant from the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund as provided in §29-3-5f of this code. Expenditures may be made Distributions from the Municipal Pensions and Protection Fund and the Fire Protection Fund allocated to volunteer and part volunteer fire companies and departments may be expended only for the following:
(8) Payment of the cost of immunizations, including any laboratory work incident to the immunizations, for firefighters against hepatitis-b and other blood borne pathogens: Provided, That the vaccine shall be purchased through the state immunization program or from the lowest cost vendor available: Provided, however, That volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments shall seek to obtain no cost administration of the vaccinations through local boards of health: Provided further, That in the event any volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department is unable to obtain no cost administration of the vaccinations through a local board of health, the company or department shall seek to obtain the lowest cost available for the administration of the vaccinations from a licensed health care provider;
(9) Any filing fee required to be paid to the Legislative Auditor's Office under §12-4-14 of this code relating to sworn statements of annual expenditures submitted by volunteer or part- volunteer fire companies or departments that receive state funds or grants;
(b) If any volunteer fire company or part-volunteer fire department spends any amount of money received from the Municipal Pensions and Protection Fund or the Fire Protection Fund for an item, service, or purpose not authorized by this section, that amount when determined by an official audit, review, or investigation shall be deducted from future distributions to the volunteer fire company or part-volunteer fire department.
(4) “State grant” means funding provided by a state spending unit, regardless of the original source of the funds, to a person upon application for a specific purpose. The term “state grant” does not include: (A) Payments for goods and services purchased by a state spending unit; (B) compensation to state employees and public officials; (C) reimbursements to state employees and public officials for travel or incidental expenses; (D) grants of student aid; (E) government transfer payments; (F) direct benefits provided under state insurance and welfare programs; (G) funds reimbursed to a person for expenditures made for qualified purposes when receipts for the expenditures are required prior to receiving the funds: Provided, That notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, funding provided pursuant to §5B-2-12 of this code is included within the term “state grant”; (H) retirement benefits; and (I) federal pass-through funds that are subject to the federal Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996, 31 U.S.C. § 7501, et seq. The term “state grant” does not include formula distributions to volunteer and part-volunteer fire departments and fire companies made pursuant to §33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and §33-12C-7 of said chapter of this code and does not include money received from the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund as provided in §29-3-5f of this code.
(2) Any person who receives a state grant in an amount less than $50,000 or who is not required to file a report because an audit has been conducted or substituted, as provided by §12‑4-14(b)(1) of this code, shall file with the grantor a sworn statement of expenditures made under the grant.
(c) (1) Any person failing to file a required report or sworn statement of expenditures within the two-year period provided in §12-4-14(b)(3) of this code for state grant funds disbursed after July 1, 2003 is barred from subsequently receiving state grants until the person has filed the report or sworn statement of expenditures and is otherwise in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(e)(1) Any state agency administering a state grant shall, in the manner designated by the Legislative Auditor, notify the Legislative Auditor of the maximum amount of funds to be disbursed, the identity of the person authorized to receive the funds, the person's fiscal year and federal employer identification number and the purpose and nature of the state grant within thirty days of making the state grant or authorizing the disbursement of the funds, whichever is later. If the state grant was awarded prior to October 1, 2005, the grantor shall provide the information required by this section by December 1, 2005
(4) The Legislative Auditor may assign an employee or employees to perform audits or reviews at the direction of the Legislative Auditor of the disbursement of state grant funds to volunteer fire departments. The volunteer fire department shall cooperate with the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor's employees and the State Auditor in performing their duties under this section. If the Legislative Auditor determines a volunteer fire department is not cooperating, the Legislative Auditor shall notify the state Treasurer who shall withhold payment of any amount that would otherwise be distributed to the fire department under the provisions of sections fourteen-d and thirty-three, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section seven, article twelve-c of said chapter until the Legislative Auditor informs the Treasurer that the fire department has cooperated as required by this section. The State Treasurer shall pay the amount withheld into a special revenue account hereby created in the state Treasury and designated the “Volunteer Fire Department Audit Account”. If, after one year from payment of the amount withheld into the special revenue account, the Legislative Auditor informs the state Treasurer of continued noncooperation by the fire department, the state Treasurer shall pay the amount withheld to the fund from which it was distributed to be redistributed the following year pursuant to the applicable provisions of those sections.
(6) If the Legislative Auditor is notified by a grantor that a fire department has failed to file a report or a sworn statement of expenditures for a state grant it received, the Legislative Auditor shall notify the Treasurer who shall withhold further distributions to the fire department in the same manner provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection
(h) (g) Any report submitted pursuant to the provisions of this section may be filed electronically in accordance with the provisions of §39A-1-1 et seq. of this code.
(i) (h) Any person who files a fraudulent sworn statement of expenditures under subsection (b) or (g) of this section §12-4-14(b) of this code, a fraudulent sworn statement under subsection (d) of this section §12-4-14(d) of this code, or a fraudulent report under this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
“Equipment and training grant” means a grant of money to a volunteer fire company or a part-volunteer fire department from the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund created in §29‑3‑5f of this code;
“Formula distribution” mean a distribution of money to volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies or departments made pursuant to §33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and §33-12C-7 of this code; and
“State funds account” means a bank account established by a volunteer fire company or a part-volunteer fire department and maintained for the exclusive use and accounting of money from formula distributions and equipment and training grants.
(c) Reviews and audits. —The Legislative Auditor is authorized to conduct regular reviews or audits of deposits and expenditures from formula distribution, and equipment and training grant, funds by volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies or departments. The Legislative Auditor may assign an employee or employees to perform audits or reviews at his or her direction. The State Treasurer shall provide the Legislative Auditor information, in the manner designated by the Legislative Auditor, concerning formula distributions and equipment and training grants paid to volunteer and part-volunteer fire departments. The volunteer fire company or part-volunteer fire department shall cooperate with the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor's employees, and the State Auditor in performing their duties under the laws of this state.
(i) Escrow and forfeiture of moneys withheld. — The “Volunteer Fire Department Audit Account” previously created in the Treasury is hereby continued. When the State Treasurer receives notice to withhold the distribution of money to a volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department pursuant to this section, the Treasurer shall instead deposit the amounts withheld into the Volunteer Fire Department Audit Account. If the Treasurer receives notice that the volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department has come into compliance in less than one year from the date of deposit into this special revenue account, then the Treasurer shall release and distribute the withheld amounts to the fire company or department, except that any interest that has accrued thereon shall be credited to the general revenue of the state. If, after one year from payment of the amount withheld into the special revenue account, the Legislative Auditor informs the State Treasurer of continued noncooperation by the fire department, the delinquent fire company or fire department forfeits the amounts withheld and the State Treasurer shall pay the amounts withheld into Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund created in §29‑3‑5f of this code.
§29-3-5f. Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund; creation of fire service equipment and training grant.
(a) There is hereby created in the Treasury a special revenue fund to be known as the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund. Expenditures from the fund by the State Fire Marshal are authorized from collections. The fund may only be used for the purpose of providing grants to equip volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments and their members, and to train volunteer and part-volunteer firefighters. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year does not revert to the General Revenue Fund, but remains in the Special Revenue Fund. The State Fire Marshal shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to implement the grant program established pursuant to this section
(b) The State Fire Marshal shall establish a grant program for equipment and training for volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments. Such grant program shall be open to all volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments. In making grants pursuant to this section, the State Fire Marshal shall consider:
(1) The number of emergency and nonemergency calls responded to by the department;
(2) The activities and responses of the department;
(3) The revenues received by the department from federal, state, county, municipal, local, and other sources; and
(4) The department’s assets, expenditures, and other liabilities, including whether the fire company or department has availed itself of available statewide contracts.
(c) The State Fire Commission Marshal shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to implement the grant program established pursuant to this section.
(d) The Legislative Auditor shall notify the State Fire Marshal of any volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department that is ineligible to receive grant funds due to the department’s failure to file required bank statements or financial reports or failure to comply with an audit or review by the Legislative Auditor. A fire company or fire department reported by the Legislative Auditor shall be ineligible to receive funds under this section until the Legislative Auditor notifies the State Fire Marshal that the company or department has come into compliance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a simpler alternative for fire departments and fire companies to document their use of state funds for safety equipment and training, and to provide sanctions, including forfeiture of state money, for failure to provide required documentation or for spending state funds for improper uses. This bill also provides procedures for notification to the fire department or company that is subject to sanctions and to correct or contest determinations of improper expenditures.
This bill has been recommended for introduction and passage by the Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services.