Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb238%20intr.htm&yr=2011&sesstype=RS&i=238
Timestamp: 2018-03-18 05:16:58
Document Index: 184556262

Matched Legal Cases: ['§4', '§5', '§5', '§6', '§9', '§9', '§9', '§4', '§5', '§5', '§6', '§9', '§9', '§9']

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[Introduced January 21, 2011; referred to the Committee on Military; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
A BILL to amend and reenact §4-10-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §5F-1-2 of said code; to amend and reenact §5F-2-1 of said code; to amend and reenact §6-7-2a of said code; and to amend and reenact §9A-1-1, §9A-1-2 and §9A-1-4 of said code, all relating to redesignating the Division of Veterans’ Affairs as the Department of Veterans’ Assistance within the executive branch; establishing the time period for review of the Department of Veterans’ Assistance by the Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization and the Joint Committee on Government Operations; providing that the Veterans’ Council be part of the Department of Veterans’ Assistance; providing that the department be supervised by a secretary-level administrator; establishing the salary of the secretary; providing an effective date for redesignation; making other changes to the code to comport with the amendment; and providing technical and clerical cleanup.
That §4-10-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §5F-1-2 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §5F-2-1 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §6-7-2a of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §9A-1-1, §9A-1-2 and §9A-1-4 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
(a) Each department shall make a presentation pursuant to the provisions of this article, to the Joint Standing Committee and the committee during the first interim meeting after the regular session of the year in which the department is to be reviewed pursuant to the schedule set forth in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) An agency review shall be performed on one or more agencies under the purview of each department at least once every six years, commencing as follows:
(1) 2008, the Department of Administration;
(2) 2009, the Department of Education and the Arts, and the Department of Education, including the Higher Education Policy Commission and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education;
(3) 2010, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Commerce;
(4) 2011, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety;
(5) 2012, the Department of Health and Human Resources, including the Bureau of Senior Services; and
(6) 2013, the Department of Transportation; and
(7) 2016, the Department of Veteran’s Assistance.
(7) Department of Transportation; and
(9) Effective January 14, 2013, Department of Veteran’s Assistance.
(k) The Veterans' Council provided in article one, chapter nine-a of this code, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related entities and funds associated with it, is incorporated in and administered as a part of the Department of Veteran’s Assistance.
Prior to July 1, two thousand six, each such named appointive state officer shall continue to receive the annual salaries they were receiving as of the effective date of the enactment of this section in two thousand six and thereafter, notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, The annual salary of each named appointive state officer shall be is as follows:
Commissioner, Division of Highways, $92,500; Commissioner, Division of Corrections,$80,000; Director, Division of Natural Resources, $75,000; Superintendent, State Police, $85,000; Commissioner, Division of Banking, $75,000; Commissioner, Division of Culture and History, $65,000; Commissioner, Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, $75,000; Commissioner, Division of Motor Vehicles, $75,000; Chairman, Health Care Authority, $80,000; members, Health Care Authority, $70,000; Director, Human Rights Commission, $55,000; Commissioner, Division of Labor, $70,000; Director, Division of Veterans' Affairs, sixty-five thousand dollars; Chairperson, Board of Parole, $55,000; members, Board of Parole, $50,000; members, Employment Security Review Board, $17,000; and Commissioner, Bureau of Employment Programs Workforce West Virginia, $75,000. Secretaries of the departments shall be paid an annual salary as follows: Health and Human Resources, $95,000; Transportation, $95,000: Provided, That if the same person is serving as both the Secretary of Transportation and the Commissioner of Highways, he or she shall be paid $120,000; Revenue, $95,000; Military Affairs and Public Safety, $95,000; Administration, $95,000; Education and the Arts, $95,000; Commerce, $95,000; Veterans’ Assistance, $95,000; and Environmental Protection, $95,000; Provided, however, That any increase in the salary of any current appointive state officer named in this subsection pursuant to the reenactment of this subsection during the regular session of the Legislature in 2006 that exceeds $5,000 shall be paid to such officer or his or her successor beginning on July 1, 2006, in annual increments of $5,000 per fiscal year, up to the maximum salary provided in this subsection: Provided further, That if the same person is serving as both the Secretary of Transportation and the Commissioner of Highways, then the annual increments of $5,000 per fiscal year do not apply.
Director, Board of Risk and Insurance Management, $80,000; Director, Division of Rehabilitation Services, $70,000; Director, Division of Personnel, $70,000; Executive Director, Educational Broadcasting Authority, $75,000; Secretary, Library Commission, $72,000; Director, Geological and Economic Survey, $75,000; Executive Director, prosecuting attorneys Institute, $70,000; Executive Director, Public Defender Services, $70,000; Commissioner, Bureau of Senior Services, $75,000; Director, State Rail Authority, $65,000; Executive Director, Women's Commission, $45,000; Director, Hospital Finance Authority, $35,000; member, Racing Commission, $12,000; Chairman, Public Service Commission, $85,000; members, Public Service Commission, $85,000; Director, Division of Forestry, $75,000; Director, Division of Juvenile Services, $80,000; and Executive Director, Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, $80,000: Provided, That any increase in the salary of any current appointive state officer named in this subsection pursuant to the reenactment of this subsection during the regular session of the Legislature in 2006 that exceeds $5,000 shall be paid to such officer or his or her successor beginning on July, 1 2006, in annual increments of $5,000 per fiscal year, up to the maximum salary provided in this subsection.
Commissioner, State Tax Division, $92,500; Insurance Commissioner, Insurance Commission, $92,500; Director, Lottery Commission, $92,500; Director, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, $65,000; and Adjutant General, $92,500.
(d) No increase in the salary of any appointive state officer pursuant to this section shall may be paid until and unless the appointive state officer has first filed with the State Auditor and the Legislative Auditor a sworn statement, on a form to be prescribed by the Attorney General, certifying that his or her spending unit is in compliance with any general law providing for a salary increase for his or her employees. The Attorney General shall prepare and distribute the form to the affected spending units.
ARTICLE 1. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS.
A state agency to be known as Effective January 14, 2013, The the West Virginia Division of Veterans' Affairs is hereby created and established within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety redesignated the Department of Veteran’s Assistance for the purpose of aiding, assisting, counseling and advising, and looking after the rights and interests of, all persons known as veterans who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard as defined by the laws of the United States and whose separation therefrom has been other than dishonorable and who are citizens and residents of this state, and the widows, dependents and orphans, who are or have become citizens and residents of this state, or all persons known as veterans who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard as defined by the laws of the United States and whose separation therefrom has been other than dishonorable.
All references in this code to the West Virginia Division of Veterans' Affairs and the Director of the West Virginia Division of Veterans' Affairs shall mean the Department of Veteran’s Assistance and the Secretary of the Department of Veteran’s Assistance, respectively.
There is continued the “Veterans’ Council” consisting of nine members who must be citizens and residents of this state and who have served in and been honorably discharged or separated under honorable conditions from the Armed Forces of the United States and whose service was within a time of war as defined by the laws of the United States, either Public Law No. 2 –- 73rd Congress, or Public Law No. 346 –- 78th Congress, and amendments thereto. At least one member of the council must be a veteran of World War II, at least one member of the council must be a veteran of the Korean Conflict, at least two members of the council must be veterans of the Vietnam era, at least one member must be a veteran of the first Gulf War and at least one member must be a veteran of the Afghanistan or Iraqi Conflicts. The members of the veterans’ council must be selected with special reference to their ability and fitness to effectuate the purposes of this article.
A director secretary and such veterans’ affairs officers, assistants and employees as may be deemed the secretary considers advisable, shall administer the West Virginia division of veterans’ affairs Department of Veteran’s Assistance.
(a) It is the duty and function of the Veterans' Council to advise the director secretary on the general administrative policies of the division department, to select, at their first meeting in each fiscal year commencing on July 1, a chairman chairperson to serve one year, to advise the director secretary on rules as may be necessary, to advise the Governor and the Legislature with respect to legislation affecting the interests of veterans, their widows, dependents and orphans and to make annual reports to the Governor respecting the service of the division department. The director secretary has the same eligibility and qualifications prescribed for members of the Veterans' Council. The Governor shall appoint a director for a term of six years, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Before making the appointment appointing the secretary the Governor shall request the council of the West Virginia division of veterans' affairs to furnish a full and complete report concerning the qualifications and suitability of the proposed appointee. The director may only be removed by the Governor for cause, but shall have upon his or her own request an open hearing before the Governor on the complaints or charges lodged against him or her. The action of the Governor shall be final. The director secretary ex officio shall be is the executive secretary of the Veterans' Council, shall keep the minutes of each meeting and be in charge of all records of the division department.
(b) The Veterans’ Council may annually honor each West Virginian graduating from the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with the highest grade point average by bestowing upon him or her the “West Augusta Award.” The award shall be in a design and form established by the council and include the famous Revolutionary War phrase from which the award’s name is derived: “Once again our brethren from West Augusta have answered the call to duty.” The council shall coordinate the manner of recognition of the recipient at graduation ceremonies with each academy.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to redesignate the Division of Veterans’ Affairs to the Department of Veteran’s Assistance and to provide that the department be supervised by a secretary level administrator.