HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Staggers,
Mahan, Kessler, Moye, Proudfoot, Spencer,
Wells, Marshall, Shook and Ellem)
[Introduced February 9, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Constitutional Revision then the Judiciary.]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending article VI thereof by adding thereto a new
section, designated section fifty-seven, relating to revenues
accruing from the sales of specialized motor vehicle
registration plates to honor the memory of West Virginians who
have served and given their lives as members of the military,
military reserves, National Guard, law-enforcement officers,
firefighters and emergency medical service personnel;
providing that such additional revenues collected from the
issuance of such plates shall be used solely for the
continuing education of surviving dependents of West
Virginians who have died as a result of injuries they
sustained in the line of duty while serving as or emergency
response personnel or as members of law enforcement or the
military
; numbering and designating such proposed amendment;
and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of
the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment
to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to
the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in
the year 2008, which proposed amendment is that article VI thereof
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty-seven, to read as follows:
§57. Providing revenues for a scholarship fund to benefit the
survivors of West Virginians who die or have died in the
line of duty while serving as members of the military,
military reserves, National Guard, law-enforcement
officers, firefighters or emergency medical service
personnel.
Notwithstanding any provision of section fifty-two of article
VI of this Constitution, the Legislature may, by general law,
provide for the funding of a scholarship fund for the benefit of
surviving dependents of West Virginians who die or have died in the
line of duty while serving as members of the military, military
reserves, National Guard, law-enforcement officers, firefighters or
emergency medical service personnel by providing a specialized
motor vehicle registration plate honoring the memory of fallen
emergency service personnel, law-enforcement officers and members of the military for motor vehicles registered in this state. The
registration plate shall be issued on a voluntary basis and, by
general law, the costs and fees for such plate shall include an
additional fee above the basic registration and license fees and
costs otherwise collected and dedicated to the road fund. Any such
additional funds collected from the issuance of such specialized
registration plates shall be deposited in a special revenue account
in the State Treasury and applied towards a special scholarship
fund established for the continuing education of surviving
dependents of West Virginians who die or have died as a direct
result of injuries sustained in the line of duty while serving the
citizens of this state as emergency response personnel,
law-enforcement officers or members of the military.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article eleven, chapter three of the Code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, such proposed
amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No. 1" and designated as
the "Survivors' Education Amendment" and the purpose of the
proposed amendment is summarized as follows: "To amend the
Constitution of West Virginia to require that revenue funds
accruing from a special motor vehicle registration plate
established to honor the memory of members of the military,
military reserves, National Guard, law-enforcement officers,
firefighters and emergency service personnel who have given their lives in the line of duty, which are in excess of revenues
otherwise dedicated to the road fund, shall be dedicated to a fund
established to help finance the provision of scholarships given to
their surviving dependents, and may be used for no other purposes."
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.