H. B. 2337
(By Mr. Speaker, (Mr. Thompson) and Delegate Armstead)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced February 12, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Education then
Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5-5-2a, relating to
a nonbase building salary enhancement for state employees;
authorizing the Governor to provide for salary enhancements by
executive order; providing for the allocation of salary
enhancement moneys; and providing for disbursement of the
salary enhancement.
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 §5-5-2a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5. SALARY INCREASE FOR STATE EMPLOYEES.
§5-5-2a. Salary enhancement for state employees.
(a) The purpose of this section is to provide state employees
with salary enhancements to aid in the recruitment and retention of state employees and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
government.
(b) For the purposes of this section, an "eligible employee"
is a state employee with six months or more of continuous service
as of July 1 of any fiscal year in which a salary enhancement is
authorized in accordance with this section.
(c) The Governor may authorize by executive order the payment
of a nonbase building salary enhancement to eligible state
employees in any fiscal year that the Legislature has appropriated
moneys for such purpose. The executive order shall provide for the
allocation of salary enhancement moneys to eligible employees.
Such allocation may be based upon a percentage of each employee's
salary, a flat rate or a combination thereof: Provided, That the
allocation of salary enhancement moneys may not be structured in a
manner that would pay each eligible employee a total of less than
one and one half percent of his or her annual salary. An executive
order issued in accordance with this section may not provide for an
increase in the base wage of eligible employees.
(d) The salary enhancement provided in this section is in
addition to any across-the-board, cost-of-living or percentage
salary increase which may be granted by the Legislature, or
incremental salary increase based on years of service in accordance
with the provisions of section two of this article: Provided, That
a salary enhancement may not increase the base salary of eligible employees and may not carry over to a subsequent fiscal year.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, salary enhancements authorized under this section shall
be disbursed to eligible employees as follows:
(1) Half of the salary enhancement shall be paid to eligible
employees on a date selected by the Auditor of the State of West
Virginia during the month of December; and
(2) Half of the salary enhancement shall be paid to eligible
employees on a date selected by the Auditor of the State of West
Virginia during the month of June.
(f) If for any reason an eligible employee ceases to be an
employee of the State of West Virginia at any time, he or she shall
receive a pro rata share of the salary enhancement provided in this
section.
(g) This section does not prohibit other salary increases
based on merit, seniority, promotion or other reason, if funds are
available for those purposes: Provided, That the executive head of
each spending unit shall first consider the mandated salary
enhancement provided in this section before providing any increases
based on merit, seniority, promotion or other reason.
(h) The payment of salary enhancements in accordance with this
section shall be subject to the availability of funds, and nothing
in this section shall be construed as requiring any specific level
of appropriation by the Legislature or guaranteeing the payment of a salary enhancement absent specific legislative appropriation
therefor.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Governor to
pay a nonbase building salary enhancement to eligible state
employees provided that the Legislature appropriates moneys for
that specific purpose.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.