Senate Bill No. 121
(By Senators Wiedebusch, Yoder, Minear, Wagner and Bowman)
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[Introduced January 24, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article eighteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to continuing the
West Virginia cable television advisory board until the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article eighteen, chapter five of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18. WEST VIRGINIA CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS ACT.
§5-18-6. West Virginia cable television advisory board created;
appointments and terms of members; meetings;
vacancies; quorum.
(a) There is hereby created a cable review board to be known
as the "West Virginia Cable Television Advisory Board" which
board shall, in consultation with the attorney general's office, implement the provisions of this article and consider subscriber
complaints in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-
five of this article.
(b) The board shall consist of seven members, who shall be
residents of this state, and who shall be appointed as follows:
(1) The governor shall appoint one member to represent the
viewpoint of the public service commission. When the member is
to be appointed, the governor shall request from the public
service commission a list of three nominees for such position.
A summary of the qualifications of each nominee shall be
submitted with each list. When the completed list of nominees is
submitted in accordance with the provisions hereof, the governor
shall make his or her appointment from the persons so nominated.
(2) The governor shall appoint one member to represent the
viewpoint of those cable operators whose cable system or systems
in the aggregate have five thousand subscribers or more, and one
member to represent the viewpoint of cable operators whose cable
system or systems in the aggregate have less than five thousand
subscribers. The governor shall request from the trade
association representing cable operators in this state a list of
three nominees for each such position of the board. All nominees
shall be persons with special experience and competence in cable
television operations. A summary of the qualifications of each
nominee shall be submitted with each list. When the completed
list of nominees for each position is submitted in accordance with the provisions hereof, the governor shall make his or her
appointments from the persons so nominated.
(3) The governor shall appoint one member to represent the
viewpoint of municipalities within the state and one member to
represent the counties within the state. The governor shall
request from the associations representing the municipalities and
counties, respectively, a list of three nominees for such
position. A summary of the qualifications of each nominee shall
be submitted with each list. When the completed list of nominees
is submitted in accordance with the provisions hereof, the
governor shall make his or her appointments from the persons so
nominated.
(4) The governor shall appoint two members from the general
public who shall be from different political parties and who
shall not represent the viewpoint of the members appointed in
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) or (3) of this
subsection.
(5) All appointments made by the governor under the
provisions of this section shall be with the advice and consent
of the Senate.
(c) Upon the initial appointment of members, the governor
shall specify the length of the beginning term which each member
shall serve, pursuant to the following formula:
(1) With regard to the two members appointed in accordance
with the provisions of subdivisions (2) and (3), subsection (b) of this section, one member shall serve a beginning term of two
years, and one member shall serve a beginning term of three
years;
(2) The two members appointed in accordance with the
provisions of subdivision (3), subsection (b) of this section
shall serve a term of two years;
(3) The member appointed in accordance with the provisions
of subdivision (1), subsection (b) of this section shall be
appointed to serve a beginning term of one year; and
(4) Following the beginning terms provided for in this
subsection, members shall be nominated and appointed in the
manner provided for in this section and shall serve for a term
of three years. Members are eligible for reappointment.
(d) The board shall meet at least once during each calendar
quarter, or more often as may be necessary, and at other times
upon the call of the chairman or upon the request of any three
members of the board. The chairman shall set the agenda for all
meetings. No meeting of the board may be conducted unless said
notice and agenda are given to the board members at least five
days in advance, as provided herein, except in cases of
emergency, as declared by the chairman, in which event members
shall be notified of the board meeting and the agenda in a manner
to be determined by the chairman. Four members of the board
shall constitute a quorum and no action may be taken by the board
unless agreed to by a majority of the members present.
(e) Each member of the board shall take and subscribe to the
oath or affirmation required pursuant to section 5, article IV of
the constitution of West Virginia. A member may be removed by
the governor for substantial neglect of duty or gross misconduct
in office, after written notice and an opportunity to reply.
(f) The board shall meet within thirty days of the initial
appointments to the board, at a time and place to be determined
by the governor, who shall designate a member to preside at that
meeting until a chairman is elected. At its first meeting, the
board shall elect a chairman and such other officers as are
necessary.
(g) The board shall, within six months after the appointment
of the initial board, promulgate rules for its procedure and to
otherwise carry out its duties under the provisions of this
article. Such rules shall be promulgated as legislative rules
subject to legislative rule-making review and subject to the
administrative procedures act.
(h) The board may subpoena witnesses, compel their
attendance and testimony, administer oaths and affirmations, take
evidence and require by subpoena the production of books, logs,
papers, records or other evidence needed for the performance of
the board's duties or exercises of its power under the provisions
of section twenty-five of this article.
(i) The board may request the attorney general to provide
legal advice to the board and the attorney general shall comply with the request. The board shall employ an executive secretary
to be compensated from the cable advisory board fund created
under the provisions of this article in an amount to be fixed by
the board. Such executive secretary shall be in charge of its
offices which shall be within the public service commission,
shall be responsible to the board for the maintenance of such
offices and shall be the custodian of all documents filed by
cable operators and of any complaints or other documents which
may be filed with the board in accordance with the provisions of
this article. The board is also authorized to employ and assign
the necessary professional and clerical staff and such hearing
examiners as may be necessary to conduct hearings in such various
locations in the state, under the provisions of section twenty-
five of this article, in order to provide a convenient forum for
persons making subscriber complaints to be heard. The salaries
and expenses of any such staff and hearing examiners shall be
paid from the fees assessed and collected under provisions of
this article.
(j) Pursuant to the provisions of article ten, chapter four
of this code, the West Virginia cable television advisory board
shall continue to exist until the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven, to allow for the completion of a
preliminary performance review.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to continue the Cable TV
Advisory Board until July 1, 1997, to allow for the completion of the preliminary performance review pursuant to the West Virginia
Sunset Law.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
This bill is recommended by the Joint Committee on
Government Operations for passage during the 1996 regular session
of the Legislation.