H. B. 2876
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss and Delegates Perdue,
Michael, Campbell and Leach)
[Introduced March 4, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5A-3-37b, relating
to creating a preference in state purchasing for vendors who
certify that they provide health insurance benefits to their
employees; and authorizing the Insurance Commissioner to
promulgate rules setting forth the criteria that must be met
in order to obtain such certification.
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 §5A-3-37b, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.
§5A-3-37b. Preference for vendors who provide health insurance
benefits to its employees.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, in any instance where a purchase by the Director or by a
state spending unit is required under this article or other
provision of law to be made upon competitive bids, preference shall be given to vendors who submit certification from the Insurance
Commissioner that they provide to their employees in this state
health insurance benefits at least equivalent to the benefit
coverage and employer contribution in plans approved pursuant to
section sixteen, article sixteen-d, chapter thirty-three of this
code as against vendors who do not:
Provided, That the health
insurance benefits so certified shall be maintained throughout the
term of the contract and failure to do so constitutes a willful
breach of the underlying contract.
(b) The Insurance Commissioner may propose legislative rules
for legislative approval in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code setting forth the criteria that must be
met in order for a vendor to obtain the certification provided in
subsection (a) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a preference to
vendors for state contracts who provide health insurance benefits
to their employees.
§5A-3-37b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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