H. B. 3006
(By Delegates Douglas, Collins, Varner, Stalnaker, Willison,
Marshall and Angotti)
(Originating in the Committee on Government Organization)
(February 26, 1999)
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article one, chapter
thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring the state
auditor to provide orientation to certain members of state
boards of examination or registration; and requiring
attendance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article one, chapter thirty 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 APPLICABLE TO ALL STATE BOARDS OF
EXAMINATION OR REGISTRATION REFERRED TO IN CHAPTER.
§30-1-2. Oath; required orientation.
(a) Every person appointed as a member of any board referred
to in this article, before proceeding to exercise the authority or
discharge the duties of the office, shall take the oath prescribed by section 5 of article IV of the state constitution, and shall
file the certificate of the oath with the secretary of state.
(b) Whenever a state board or commission is newly created by
act of the Legislature by amendment to this chapter, the chair or
chief financial officer of the board or commission shall attend an
orientation session designed to inform the board, through its chair
or chief financial officer, of the duties and requirements imposed
by this code. After the first day of April and not later than the
thirty-first day of July of each year, the auditor shall provide
one or more orientation sessions on relevant statutes and
regulations governing the official conduct of members, as well as
other topics the auditor determines to be essential in the
fulfillment of the duties of the members. Topics for the
orientation may include, but are not limited to, state budgeting
and financial procedures, purchasing requirements, open meetings
requirements, ethics, rule-making procedures, records management,
and annual reports. All state agencies shall cooperate with and
assist in providing the orientation if the auditor requests. The
orientation session shall be open to any member of new or existing
boards and commissions and each board may approve expense
reimbursement for the attendance of one or more of its members.
Each board must provide for the attendance of its chair or chief
financial officer, who will have attended an orientation session
offered by the auditor not later than the thirty-first day of July,
two thousand one. Not later than the tenth day of August of each year, the auditor shall provide to the chairs of the Joint
Standing Committee on Government Operations a list of the names of
board or commission members attending, together with the names of
the boards and commissions represented, at the orientation session
or sessions offered by the auditor since the previous April first.
The auditor may charge a registration fee for the orientation to
cover the cost of providing the orientation. The fee may be paid
from funds available to a board. Notwithstanding the member's
normal rate of compensation for serving on a board, a member
attending the orientation may be reimbursed for necessary and
actual expenses, as long as the member attends the complete
orientation provided. Ex officio members who are elected or
appointed state officers or employees, and members of boards that
have purely advisory functions with respect to a department or
agency of the state, are exempt from the requirements of this
subsection.