H. B. 4520


(By Delegates Nesbitt and Miller)
[Introduced February 18, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-three, article sixteen-a, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority generally; setting forth legislative findings; providing for the transfer of certain funds to the division of public safety; requiring the transferred funds be used to purchase police vehicles; and requiring the transfer of an additional three million six hundred thousand dollars to the division of public safety to pay back wages of uniformed employees in the amount of the judgment returned in the 'Cordle v. O'Rourke' case.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section twenty-three, article sixteen-a, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM AUTHORITY.

§ 17-16A-23. Special highway fund; appropriations from fund.

(a) There is hereby created a special fund in the state treasury which shall be designated and known as the "West Virginia special highway fund." The special highway fund shall consist of (i) all funds allocated and disbursed to the state department of highways by the parkways authority, including without limitation the proceeds of any parkway revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds issued by the parkways authority pursuant to sections eleven, twenty-one or twenty-two of this article, in repayment of the amount of state funds used to upgrade the West Virginia Turnpike to federal interstate standards, (ii) any appropriations, grants, gifts, contributions or other revenues received by the special highway fund from any source, and (iii) all interest earned on moneys held in the fund. When any funds are received by the state department of highways from the parkways authority pursuant to this section, they shall be paid into the state treasury by the commissioner of the department of highways and credited to the special highway fund, and shall be disbursed in the manner set forth in subsections (b), and (c) and (d) of this section. The special highway fund shall not be treated by the auditor and treasurer as part of the state road fund or as part of the general revenues of the state.

(b) The governor shall have the authority to transfer to the insurance fund created in section eight, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code, on any date or dates after the enactment of this section, up to thirty-five million dollars of the funds received or earned by the special highway fund, which funds may be used and applied by the West Virginia economic development authority in the manner and to the extent set forth in article fifteen of said chapter thirty-one. On or before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the economic development authority shall retransfer to the special highway fund the thirty-five million dollars advanced to the insurance fund pursuant to this section. All interest earned on the thirty-five million dollars while being held in the insurance fund shall remain in, and be the property of, said insurance fund: Provided, That on and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, the governor shall have the authority to transfer six million dollars from the insurance fund created in section eight, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code to a special fund hereby created in the state treasury and designated "the West Virginia economic development fund." Expenditures from the fund are to be made only in accordance with appropriations by the Legislature.
(c) Upon the transfer of thirty-five million dollars to the insurance fund as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the Legislature shall annually appropriate all or any part of the balance of the funds deposited in the special highway fund for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance or repair of any parkway project or projects: Provided, That all of such funds shall be appropriated to (i) the upgrading or addition of interchanges; (ii) the construction of expressways or feeder roads; or (iii) the upgrading or construction of information centers, visitors' centers, rest stops, or any combination thereof, and that all such feeder roads, expressways, interchanges, information centers, visitors' centers or rest stops shall connect to the West Virginia Turnpike and within seventy-five air miles of the West Virginia Turnpike as it existed on the effective date of this legislation, or any subsequent expressway, turnpike or feeder road constructed pursuant to this subsection. The appropriation of funds pursuant to this subsection shall be expended on more than one project.
(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the division of public safety provides important and necessary direct services to the West Virginia Parkways and Economic Development Authority in patrolling the turnpike and in providing traffic control, public safety assistance and other duties on the West Virginia Turnpike. The Legislature further finds that it is in the public interest that a portion of the revenues generated by the authority be made available to the division of public safety for the purchase of equipment and to reimburse members of the division for back wages due to overtime, therefore, on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the authority shall: (1) Transfer up to three million two hundred thousand dollars of the funds received or earned in interest by the special highway fund to the division of public safety to be used and applied by the division of public safety to purchase up to two hundred motor vehicles for use by members of the division of public safety in undertaking their official public safety responsibilities; and (2) transfer up to three million six hundred thousand dollars of the funds received or earned in interest by the special highway fund to the division of public safety to be used and applied by the division of public safety to pay back wages in the amount of the judgment returned in the "Cordle v. O'Rourke" case regarding overtime of uniformed employees.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the transfer of $3.2 million from the Parkways Authority to the Division of Public Safety to be used to purchase up to two hundred police vehicles. The bill also provides for the transfer of an additional $3.6 million to the Division of Public Safety to pay back wages of uniformed employees in the amount of the judgment returned in the "Cordle v. O'Rourke" case.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.