COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 67
(By Senator Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 27, 2004.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §4-2-5 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the powers and duties of the
legislative auditor; requiring a statement to the legislative
auditor within six months of a fiscal or performance audit
responding to the recommendations set forth in the legislative
audit; requiring the statement to be filed with the
legislature; and providing that failure to comply may
constitute misfeasance of office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §4-2-5 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR; POWERS; FUNCTIONS; DUTIES;
COMPENSATION.
§4-2-5. Powers of auditor; statement of compliance required.
(a) The legislative auditor shall have the power and authority
to examine the revenues, expenditures and performance of every spending unit of the state government and for these purposes shall
have the authority, by such means as are necessary, to require any
person holding office in the state government or employed by the
state, to allow him
or her to inspect the properties, equipment,
facilities and records of the various agencies, departments,
subdivisions or institutions of the state government for which
appropriations are to be made or have been made, either before or
after estimates therefor are submitted, and before, during and
after the sessions of the Legislature. Refusal of any person to
allow such inspection shall be reported by the legislative auditor
to the
committee joint committee on government and finance.
(b) The head of an agency, department or board subject to a
fiscal or performance audit by the office of the legislative
auditor shall, within six months of receipt of the final draft
audit report, submit a statement to the legislative auditor setting
forth how the agency, department or board is addressing the issues
identified in the audit. If the agency, department or board has
not implemented all of the recommendations set forth in the audit,
the statement must include the recommendations with which there has
been compliance and a specific explanation as to why other
recommendations have not been implemented. The statement of
compliance is to be submitted to the president of the Senate and
the speaker of the House of Delegates, with a copy being supplied
to the legislative auditor. Failure to submit the statement of
compliance to the legislative auditor in a timely fashion may
constitute misfeasance of office.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the head of an
agency, department or board to submit a statement of compliance to
the legislative auditor within six months of a fiscal or
performance audit discussing how the agency is complying with the
issues cited in the audit. If there are specific recommendation
that have not been complied with, the agency or board must explain
why they have not been implemented. The statement of compliance is
to be submitted to the president of the Senate and speaker of the
House of Delegates. Failure to timely submit the report may be
considered misfeasance of office.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)