H. B. 4665
(By Delegates Moore, Long, Perdue, Marshall,
Hutchins, Morgan, Wysong, Schoen, Webster,
Hatfield and Carmichael)
[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §5-26-1, §5-26-2,
§5-26-3, §5-26-4, §5-26-5 and §5-26-6, all relating to the
creation of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs
as a cabinet in the Governor's office; providing legislative
findings and purpose; establishing the cabinet; creating a
citizen's advisory council; providing for duties of cabinet;
powers of the cabinet; 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, §5-26-2,
§5-26-3, §5-26-4, §5-26-5 and §5-26-6, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 26. HERBERT HENDERSON OFFICE OF MINORITY AFFAIRS.
§5-26-1. Legislative findings; statement of purpose.
(a) The Legislature finds that in order to avoid the human
and financial costs to the state of individual and family
instability, and to benefit the state and society as a whole, it is
in the best interests of the state to provide programs and services to support minority groups. The Legislature further finds that
minority groups are best supported by programs and services in or
as close to the local community as possible.
The Legislature intends to accomplish its goals relating to
minority affairs through a family-centered, comprehensive,
community-based system for the provision of social services,
programs and facilities for minority groups overseen by the highest
levels of state government although this may require fundamental
changes in the way state government responds to the needs of
minority groups.
(b) The Legislature hereby declares that one purpose of this
article and the policy of the state is to achieve the coordination
of programs and services to minority groups through a cabinet in
the Governor's office which is independent from any state agency
and which shall act as an interagency cabinet created to nurture a
flexible system for the comprehensive, unified, effective and
efficient administration of programs and services to minorities
which avoids fragmentation and duplication of programs and
services. For maximum effectiveness, the Legislature intends to
provide services in a long-term manner with such intensity as the
needs of the particular situation require.
(c) The service delivery system shall be driven by the needs
and preferences of minorities, shall reflect local community
characteristics and resources, shall allow for local input, and
shall focus on prevention, education and early intervention.
The Legislature intends, by this article, to allow diversity and regional, cultural and ethnic sensitivity in the development of
programs and services for minorities. To the greatest extent
possible, families and communities are to be involved in all
aspects of planning, delivery and evaluation of services. This is
intended to foster strong minority and community program ownership
while maintaining clear parameters for program goals and purposes
through the Governor's cabinet on minority groups.
§5-26-2. Cabinet established.
(a) There is hereby created and established a cabinet in the
Governor's Office the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs,
hereinafter referred to as the "Cabinet". The cabinet shall
include the Secretary of Health and Human Resources or a designee;
the Secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety or a designee;
the secretary of administration or a designee; the superintendent
of schools or a designee; and the Attorney General or designee and
the presidents of West Virginia State University and Bluefield
State College or a designee; one member of the Senate, to be
appointed by the Governor, and one member of the House of
Delegates, to be appointed by the Governor, both of whom shall
serve in an advisory capacity only; and three members selected by
the Governor from the citizen's advisory council as set forth in
section three of this article. The Governor may appoint other
administrative heads of government who shall serve in an advisory
capacity only.
(b) In order to promote consistency and continuity in the work
of the cabinet, each cabinet member appointed by virtue of the member's governmental office is encouraged to select a primary
designee and an alternate designee to serve in that member's place
when necessary.
(c) The cabinet shall be chaired by the Governor and shall
convene at least monthly during the first year and thereafter shall
meet at least six times annually. The cabinet shall establish
bylaws which govern its decision making.
(d) The Governor shall appoint an executive director to carry
out its work and to oversee staff adequate to fulfill its
functions.
§5-26-3. Citizen's advisory council.
(a) The Governor shall appoint a citizens' advisory council to
assist the cabinet with the implementation of its mission and
policy objectives.
(b) The council shall be comprised of not fewer than twelve
nor more than thirty citizens who will serve terms of one, two or
three years as assigned at the time of appointment. The council
members will have knowledge and experience in minority affairs in
such areas as housing: Health promotion and disease prevention;
education; transportation; reading and literacy; food and
nutrition; clothing; utilities; job training and employment; child
care; child protection; early intervention and crisis intervention;
assessment and diagnosis; home-based family development;
preservation and reunification; financial planning; mental health
and counseling; substance abuse prevention counseling and
treatment; addiction awareness training; pregnancy prevention; and information, referral and placement; economic and community
development, crime, corrections and rehabilitation and business
development.
(c) The purpose of the council is to:
(1) Provide a forum for discussion of issues that affect the
state's minorities;
(2) Identify and promote best practices in the provision of
services to minorities;
(3) Review information and research that can inform state
policy;
(4) Make recommendations to the cabinet in areas of policy and
allocation of resources;
(5) Focus attention on accountability and results;
(6) Assist the cabinet in developing a cross-agency multiyear
state plan for improving the well being of minorities;
(7) Connect government officials who make decisions with the
minority groups affected by their decisions;
(8) Engage local communities through resource networks to work
on local issues and statewide priorities concerning minorities;
(9) Assure that community and minority voices are heard by the
cabinet; and
(10) Promote minority support practices by all publicly funded
agencies.
(d) The Governor shall select three members of the council to
serve on the cabinet, two of whom are minority representatives who
have received or are receiving services funded, in whole or in part, by federal, state or local governments, and one of whom is a
community representative who is not employed in a managerial or
decision-making position of a provider of services funded, in whole
or in part, by federal, state or local governments.
(e) The community representative initially appointed shall
serve for a term of one year and the family representatives
initially appointed shall serve for terms of two years and three
years respectively. If a member's term on the cabinet exceeds his
or her term on the council, his or her term on the council will be
extended automatically to coincide with his or her term on the
cabinet. Members appointed subsequent to the initial appointments
shall serve for terms of three years, and may serve up to three
consecutive full terms: Provided, That members appointed under
this section shall continue to serve until their successors are
appointed. An appointment to fill a vacancy will be for the
unexpired term.
(f) Citizen members may be reimbursed for actual and necessary
expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties in a
manner consistent with guidelines of the travel management office
of the Department of Administration.
(g) The Governor may remove any citizen member from the
council or the cabinet for neglect of duty, incompetency or
official misconduct.
§5-26-4. Duties of cabinet generally.
In addition to all other duties and responsibilities assigned
to the cabinet in this article and elsewhere by law, the cabinet shall:
(1) Establish, fund, oversee, evaluate and provide technical
assistance to minority affairs resource networks and other
community based initiatives;
(2) Develop a cross-agency multiyear state plan consistent
with priorities established by local plans developed by minority
affairs resource networks, which includes provisions for regular
updates of the plan and which requires the cabinet to:
(A) Articulate core results desired by the state for its
minority groups;
(B) Choose indicators to measure progress in reaching core
results;
(C) Establish baseline data for measuring progress by
examining current conditions and trends;
(D) Set targets and explore strategies for improving the lives
of minority groups;
(E) Put selected strategies into action to achieve core
results;
(F) Monitor progress and make course corrections as necessary;
and
(G) Identify tools to achieve articulated goals, including:
(i) Shifting focus from process to core results;
(ii) Increasing flexibility to remove barriers, encourage
innovation and provide incentives for achieving results;
(iii) Providing flexible financing to reinvest savings and
decategorize, pool, redeploy or reinstate funding;
(iv) Employing results-based budgeting; and
(v) Improving accountability through results-based decision
making.
(3) Prepare a proposed budget for the operation of the cabinet
and recommend it to the Governor for inclusion in the executive
budget to be submitted to the Legislature;
(4) Promote the work of the Governor's cabinet on minority
affairs in order to engender strong support from the community, the
Legislature and business leaders;
(5) Report on its progress in implementing the comprehensive
multiyear state plan required under subdivision (3) of this
subsection, at least annually during the interim period to the
joint standing committee on government organization; and
(6) Submit to the Legislature, on or before the first day of
each January, a report of its financial transactions for the
preceding year, minutes of its meetings, and narrative descriptions
of any training sessions, conferences or other events, together
with a progress report on its implementation of the comprehensive
multiyear plan required under subdivision (3) of this section, and
shall file a copy of the report with the legislative librarian.
§5-26-5. Powers of cabinet generally.
In addition to all other powers granted to the cabinet in this
article and elsewhere by law, the cabinet may:
(1) Negotiate written agreements and procedures between and
among departments of state government which assure that minority
children and families are provided with health care, social services, appropriate education and vocational training, and any
other services to which they may be entitled under state and
federal law;
(2) Provide or contract with any agencies or persons in this
state and other states for any facilities, equipment or service
necessary to achieve the purposes of this article, and hire staff
sufficient to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the
cabinet;
(3) In addition to the citizens' advisory council established
pursuant to section three of this article, form subcommittees,
convene task teams or consult experts to advise the cabinet
generally or on selected topics as necessary to accomplish its
goals or to otherwise carry out its duties under this article;
(4) Develop and implement rules, standards and policies
governing the internal operation and administration of the cabinet;
(5) Delegate any of the cabinet's powers, duties or functions
as the cabinet may deem appropriate, expedient and effective;
(6) Solicit and accept proposals in furtherance of any program
or service required by this article, especially for the
establishment of minority affairs resource networks at the regional
or local level and for the implementation of pilot programs;
(7) Waive rules that impede coordinated service delivery; and
(8) Exercise any and all other powers, including the adoption
of an official seal and the chartering of public or quasi-public
corporations, necessary for the discharge of the cabinet's duties
and the implementation of the purposes of this article.
§5-26-6. Minority Affairs Fund created; purpose.
(a) The cabinet shall establish a Minority Affairs Fund for
the sole purpose of awarding grants, loans and loan guaranties for
minority affairs programs and activities. Gifts, bequests or
donations for this purpose, in addition to appropriations to the
fund, shall be deposited in the State Treasury in a special revenue
account that is independent from any executive or other department
of government, other than the office of the Governor.
(b) Each state taxpayer may voluntarily contribute a portion
of the taxpayer's state income tax refund to the Minority Affairs
Fund by so designating the contribution on the state personal
income tax return form. The cabinet shall approve the wording of
the designation on the income tax return form, which designation
shall appear on tax forms. The Tax Commissioner shall determine by
the first day of July of each year the total amount designated
pursuant to this subsection and shall report that amount to the
State Treasurer, who shall credit that amount to the minority
affairs fund.
(c) All interest accruing from investment of moneys in the
Minority Affairs Fund shall be credited to the fund. The
legislative Auditor shall conduct an audit of the fund before the
first day of July, two thousand nine and at least every three
fiscal years thereafter.
(d) Grants, loans and loan guaranties may be awarded from the
children's fund by the cabinet for minority affairs programs and
activities.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Herbert
Henderson Office of Minority Affairs as a cabinet in the Governor's
office.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.