Opinion ID: 1424133
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Resolution of Issue of Authority in this Matter

Text: The Appellants contend that West Virginia Code § 18B-9-4(b), as quoted above, provides clear authority to the WVU Board of Governors to set salaries, [4] while permitting the Commission to retain the authority to establish a classification system for such employees under West Virginia Code § 18B-9-1. It is the fundamental distinction between establishment of classification and establishment of salary schedules that provides the foundation for the disposition of this case. The Appellants maintain that the Commission lacks the authority to compel compliance with West Virginia C.S.R. § 133-8-12, alleging (1) that such rule was not validly promulgated; and (2) that it exceeded the scope of the Commission's statutorily-derived authority. We examine each of those assertions below.
Prior to the creation of the Commission as an entity, West Virginia C.S.R. § 128-62-12, [5] required that entry rates for classified staff must be set at or above minimum salaries corresponding to the salary schedule of West Virginia Code § 18B-9-3. With the advent of the new statutory scheme, the policies and rules in effect on the July 1, 2001, date of the Commission's establishment were to be transferred to the Commission and were to continue in effect until rescinded, revised, altered or amended or transferred to the governing boards. . . . W.Va.Code § 18B-1-3(h)(2001). [6] Pursuant to West Virginia Code § 18B-1-6(d) (2001), [7] the previously enacted C.S.R. § 128-62-12 legislative rule was reclassified as a procedural rule. On July 1, 2001, the amended version of West Virginia Code § 18B-9-4(b) took effect, providing that salary increases would be in accord with the uniform classification system and a uniform and equitable salary policy adopted by the individual Boards of Governors. Several months later, in October 2001, the Commission amended the prior C.S.R. § 128-62-12, and it was redesignated as procedural rule C.S.R. § 133-8-12. It provided that the entry rate (zero step) salary must not be below an established minimum. C.S.R. § 133-8-12.1 provides as follows: The entry rate for any classified employee appointed after the effective date of this rule shall not be below the established minimum set out below for the pay grade assigned. The entry rate for any classified employee appointed on or after July 1, 2005, shall not be below the entry (zero) step set out in W.Va.Code 18B-9-3 for the pay grade assigned. The rule alteration, however, was accomplished without compliance with the Higher Education Rule Making Act amendment process. See W.Va.Code § 29A-3A-1, et seq. (2001). [8] The Appellants therefore contend that the rule is unenforceable and that in its absence, the previous version of the rule, C.S.R. § 128-62-12, remains in effect. [9] We agree with the Appellants' contention that the Commission failed in its attempt to amend C.S.R. § 128-62-12 to create procedural rule C.S.R. § 133-8-12. Rules and regulations promulgated or amended by the Higher Education Policy Commission without compliance with the Higher Education Rule Making Act, West Virginia Code § 29A-3A-1, et seq., are void. In this case, the prior rule, C.S.R. § 128-62-12, was to be transferred and remain in effect only until it was amended. When it was amended by the Commission to create C.S.R. § 133-8-12, the Commission did not comply with the Higher Education Rule Making Act amendment process. Thus, C.S.R. § 133-8-12 was not properly promulgated and is unenforceable. [10]