H. B. 2735
(By Delegate Kiss)
[Introduced March 26, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one, chapter
twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the public
service commission; providing for election of commissioners;
compensation; and term of office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article one, chapter twenty-four of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§24-1-3. Commission continued; membership; chairman;
compensation.
(a) The public service commission of West Virginia,
heretofore established, is continued and directed as provided by
this chapter, chapter twenty-four-a and chapter twenty-four-b of
this code. Pursuant to the provisions of section four, article
ten, chapter four of this code, the public service commissionshall continue to exist until the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three, to allow for the completion of an
audit by the joint committee on government operations. The
public service commission may sue and be sued by that name. Such
public service commission shall consist of three members who
shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of
the Senate elected by the voters of this state in the manner
provided for in this section. The commissioners shall be
citizens and residents of this state. and at least one of them
shall be duly licensed to practice law in West Virginia, of not
less than ten years' actual experience at the bar. No more than
two of said commissioners shall be members of the same political
party Each commissioner shall, before entering upon the duties
of his office, take and subscribe to the oath provided by section
five, article four of the constitution, which oath shall be filed
in the office of the secretary of state. The governor shall
designate one of the commissioners to serve as chairman at the
governor's will and pleasure. The chairman, who shall be elected
by the commission, shall be the chief administrative officer of
the commission. The governor may remove any commissioner only
for incompetency, neglect of duty, gross immorality, malfeasance
in office or violation of subsection (c) of this section. The
chairman or any other commissioner may be removed from office in
the manner provided in section three, article six, chapter six of
this code. In addition to the grounds for removal enumerated in
section three, article six, chapter six of this code, acommissioner may be removed from office for conviction of a
felony, for conviction of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude
or a duty of the office or of a willful violation of this chapter
or any rule, regulation or order provided for in this chapter.
(b) The unexpired term of members of the public service
commission at the time this subsection becomes effective are
continued through the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-nine until the end of their respective terms or
until the elected commissioners take office, whichever date first
occurs. In accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section, the governor shall appoint three commissioners, one
commissioner shall be elected at the general election to be held
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, one for a term
of two years, one and two commissioners shall be elected at the
general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six, for a term of four years, and one for a term of six
years, all the terms beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred seventy-nine January. All future
appointments elections are for terms of six four years, except
that an appointment to fill a vacancy is for the unexpired term
only. The commissioners whose terms are terminated by the
provisions of this subsection are eligible for reappointment
election.
(c) No person while in the employ of, or holding any
official relation to, any public utility subject to the
provisions of this chapter, or holding any stocks or bondsthereof, or who is pecuniarily interested therein, may be elected
to serve as a member of the commission or as an employee thereof.
Nor may any such commissioner be a candidate for or hold any
other public office, or be a member of any political committee,
while acting as such commissioner; nor may any commissioner or
employee of said commission receive any pass, free transportation
or other thing of value, either directly or indirectly, from any
public utility or motor carrier subject to the provisions of this
chapter. In case any of the commissioners becomes a candidate
for any other public office or a member of any political
committee, the governor shall remove him from office and shall
appoint a new commissioner to fill the vacancy created a vacancy
shall be determined to exist in that commissioner's office.
(d) Effective the first day of November, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one, and in light of the assignment of new,
substantial additional duties embracing new areas and fields of
activity under certain legislative enactments, each commissioner
shall receive an annual salary of sixty thousand dollars to be
paid in monthly installments from the special funds in such
amounts as follows:
(1) From the public service commission fund collected under
the provisions of section six, article three of this chapter,
forty-eight thousand dollars;
(2) From the public service commission motor carrier fund
collected under the provisions of section six, article six,
chapter twenty-four-a of this code, ten thousand dollars; and
(3) From the public service commission gas pipeline safety
fund collected under the provisions of section three, article
five, chapter twenty-four-b of this code, two thousand dollars.
In addition to this salary provided for all commissioners,
the chairman of the commission shall receive five thousand
dollars per annum to be paid in monthly installments from the
public service commission fund collected under the provisions of
section six, article three of this chapter on and after the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
election of commissioners of the Public Service Commission for
four-year terms. The first election is to be held at the general
election in 1994.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.