Senate Bill No. 698

(By Senators Boley, Kessler and McKenzie)

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[Introduced February 23, 1998; referred to the Committee on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article two-b, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, all relating to the wildlife endowment fund; providing for four additional citizen members to the wildlife endowment fund board; and creating the Ohio river management fund advisory board to advise the wildlife endowment fund board with respect to the management and expenditures of the Ohio river management fund account within the wildlife endowment fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article two-b, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. WILDLIFE ENDOWMENT FUND.
§20-2B-2. Board created; composition.

There is hereby created the board of trustees of the wildlife endowment fund of the department division of natural resources, with full authority over the administration of the wildlife endowment fund, whose chairman shall be the director of the department division of natural resources and whose members shall be the executive secretary of the department division, the departmental division fiscal officer, the chief of the wildlife resources division section, and the chief of the law-enforcement division section and two six citizen members, to be appointed by the governor. To the extent possible, citizen members shall be appointed to ensure an equal geographic representation throughout the state and their terms shall be staggered from the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. Existing citizen members shall retain their appointed positions for a period of two years from that date. Initial citizen appointments to the board shall be as follows: Two citizen members shall be appointed for a term of three years; two citizen members shall be appointed for a term of four years; and subsequent citizen member appointments to the board shall be for a term of four years. The actual expenses of such citizen members, incurred in the performance of their duties hereunder, shall be payable from funds of the department division. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the wildlife endowment fund and shall invest its assets in accordance with the provisions of section nine, article six, chapter twelve of this code.
§20-2B-2a. Ohio River management fund advisory board created; composition; responsibilities.
There is hereby created an advisory board to the wildlife endowment fund board which shall be composed of the director of the division of natural resources, the fiscal officer of the division and three citizen members. One citizen member shall be a resident of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio or Marshall county; one citizen member shall be a resident of Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants or Wood county; and one citizen member shall be a resident of Jackson, Mason, Cabell or Wayne county. The actual expenses of the citizen members incurred in the performance of their duties under this section shall be payable from the funds of the division. The advisory board shall advise the wildlife endowment fund board with respect to the management and expenditure of funds from the Ohio river management fund account within the wildlife endowment fund.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to add four citizen members to the wildlife endowment fund board, and to create the Ohio river management fund advisory board to advise the wildlife endowment fund board with respect to the management and expenditures of the Ohio river management fund account within the wildlife endowment fund.

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

Section two-a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.)

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FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS


On page__, section two, line __, by striking out the words "There is hereby created, the" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "The";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the word "with" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "has";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the words "fund, whose chairman shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "fund. The chairman of the board is";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the word "whose" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the word "shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "are";
On page __, section two, line __, after the word "possible," by inserting the words "the governor shall appoint the";
On page __, section two, lines __ and __, by striking out the words "shall be appointed";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the words "hereunder shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "under this section are";
On page __, section two, line __, by striking out the words "shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "is";
On page __, section two-a, line __, by striking out the word "hereby";
And,
On page __, section two-a, lines __ and __, by striking out the words "wildlife endowment fund board" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "board of trustees of the wildlife endowment fund".

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NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS


On page __, section two, line __, after the word "years." by inserting the words "No more than three citizen members may be members of one political party." ;
On page __, section two-a, line __, after the word "board" by inserting a comma and the words "designated the Ohio river management fund advisory board," ;
On page __, section two-a, line __, by striking out the words "fiscal officer" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "chief of the wildlife resources section";
On page __, section two-a, line __, after the word "members" by inserting the words "to be appointed by the governor".;
And,
On page one, by striking out the title and substituting therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 698--A Bill to amend and reenact section two, article two-b, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, all relating to the wildlife endowment fund; providing for four additional citizen members to the wildlife endowment fund board; providing that no more than three citizen members may be from the same political party; and creating the Ohio river management fund advisory board to advise the wildlife endowment fund board with respect to the management and expenditures of the Ohio river management fund account within the wildlife endowment fund.