COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 329
(By Senators Foster, Jenkins, Prezioso, Yost, Unger, Plymale and
Wells)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 10, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
by
adding thereto a new article, designated §5-26-1 and §5-26-2,
all relating to the creation of the Herbert Henderson Office
of Minority Affairs; defining "minority"; establishing the
powers and duties of the office; providing for an executive
director, staff and office; requiring annual reports to the
Governor and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance;
and creating a Minority Affairs Fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §5-26-1 and §5-26-2,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 26. HERBERT HENDERSON OFFICE OF MINORITY AFFAIRS.
§5-26-1. Establishment of Herbert Henderson Office of Minority
Affairs.
(a) There is created and established in the office of the
Governor the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs. For the
purposes of this Article, "Minority" includes any individual who is
a citizen (or lawfully admitted permanent resident) of the United
States and who is in any of the following groups:
(1) Black Americans, which includes persons having origins in
any of the Black racial groups of Africa;
(2) Hispanic Americans, which includes persons of Mexican,
Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or other
Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race;
(3) Native Americans, which includes persons who are American
Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, or Native Hawaiians;
(4) Asian-Pacific Americans, which includes persons whose
origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Burma (Myanmar),
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Brunei, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of
the Pacific Islands (republic of Palau), the Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas Islands, Macao, Fiji, Tonga, Kirbati, Juvalu,
Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, or Hong Kong;
(5) Subcontinent Asian Americans, which includes persons whose
origins are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives
Islands, Nepal or Sri Lanka; and
(6) Women.
(b) The Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs shall:
(1) Provide a forum for discussion of issues that affect the
state's minorities;
(2) Identify and promote best practices in the provision of
programs and services to minorities;
(3) Review information and research that can inform state
policy as to the delivery of programs and services to minorities;
(4) Make recommendations in areas of policy and allocation of
resources;
(5) Pursuant to appropriation of the Legislature, award
grants, loans and loan guaranties for minority affairs programs and
activities in this state; and
(6) Provide recommendations to the Governor and the
Legislature regarding the most appropriate means to provide
programs and services to support minority groups in the state.
(c) The office shall report to the Governor and the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance in January, 2011 and each year
thereafter. The report may include, but is not limited to,
findings and recommendations regarding:
(1) The extent to which programs and services for minorities
are available in the state, and to which funding for providing
those programs and services is available;
(2) The most appropriate means for the planning, delivery and
evaluation of existing and needed programs and services for
minority groups in the manner that best promotes diversity and
regional, cultural and ethnic sensitivity;
(3) Recommendations for the coordination of programs and services to minority groups throughout the state, and with those of
other states and the federal government;
(4) Identifications of governmental and private agencies,
offices, departments or other entities in existence or recommended
for creation that would, alone or in concert, most effectively
improve the delivery of programs and services to minority groups
throughout the state;
(5) Recommendations for changes to law that would facilitate
the achievement of the objectives of the office; and
(6) Such other matters as the office may determine appropriate
to its purposes.
(d) The Governor shall appoint an executive director of the
office to carry out its work and to oversee staff adequate to
fulfill its functions, and shall provide funding and offices for
those purposes.
§5-26-2. Minority Affairs Fund created; purpose.
There is created in the State Treasury a special revenue fund
to be known as the "Minority Affairs Fund" which shall consist of
all gifts, grants, bequests, transfers, appropriations or other
donations or payments received by the Herbert Henderson Office of
Minority Affairs from any governmental entity or unit or any
person, firm, foundation or corporation for the purposes of this
article, and all interest or other return earned from investment of
the fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be made by the
Executive Director of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority
Affairs to provide matching funds to obtain federal funds for the delivery of programs and services to minorities in this state, to
award grants, loans and loan guaranties for minority affairs
programs and activities, and for performance of the duties of the
office prescribed in this article. Expenditures from the fund
shall be for the purposes set forth in this article and are not
authorized from collections, but are to be made only in accordance
with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon
the fulfillment of the provisions of article two, chapter eleven-b
of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create The Herbert
Henderson Office of Minority Affairs.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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