Senate Bill No. 459
(By Senators Kessler, Barnes, White, Plymale, Wells, Chafin and
Bowman)
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[Introduced February 3, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §6-5-13, relating to
boards and commissions whose members serve staggered terms and
whose appointment requires the advice and consent of the
Senate; and requiring a majority of the total number of
persons to be appointed to the board or commission to have
been confirmed by the Senate in order to validly take certain
actions.
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 section, designated §6-5-13, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5. TERMS OF OFFICE; MATTERS AFFECTING THE RIGHT TO HOLD
OFFICE.
§6-5-13. Requiring majority of members of boards and commissions
for validity of certain acts.
(a) The Legislature finds that its purpose in providing
independence of certain boards and commissions, by requiring
staggered terms and Senate confirmation for members, may be
compromised when vacancies are left unfilled and terms of members
are allowed to expire without renomination and confirmation. This
independence is especially important with respect to authorization
and implementation of programs that affect the statutory rights or
privileges of any class or persons or may have a significant impact
on state revenue.
(b)(1) After January 1, 2010, an action a board or commission,
identified in subdivision (3) of this subsection, is not valid
unless a majority of the total number of persons to be appointed to
the board or commission are serving unexpired terms and have been
confirmed by the Senate for the unexpired terms.
(2) This subsection applies only to an action of a board or
commission that implements or continues a program that affects the
statutory rights or privileges of a class of persons, or that
generates or could generate at least $1 million a year in revenue
to the state.
(3) For purposes of this subsection a board or commission
includes only those boards and commissions that are composed of
members appointed for staggered terms and whose members are
required to be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require
a majority of the
total number of persons to be appointed to certain boards and
commissions to have been confirmed by the Senate in order to
validly take actions that implement or continue a program that
affects the statutory rights or privileges of a class of persons,
or that generate or could generate at least $1 million a year in
revenue to the state.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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