Senate Bill No. 6010

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,

By Request of the Executive)

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[Introduced October 21, 2001; referred to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article two, chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section six-b, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of said code; and to amend and reenact section fourteen, article three, chapter thirty-three of said code, all relating to the acquisition, construction, leasing and permanent financing of new regional jail, juvenile detention and correctional facilities and state police facilities by the West Virginia economic development authority; authorizing the issuance of bonds by the West Virginia economic development authority to prepay certain investment capital and to finance the acquisition, construction and leasing of new jail and juvenile detention facilities and state police facilities; and removing the dedication and transfer of certain amounts from the insurance tax fund to the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article two, chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section six-b, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of said code be amended and reenacted; and that section fourteen, article three, chapter thirty-three of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 15. PUBLIC SAFETY.

ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-10. Uniforms; authorized equipment, weapons and supplies; local headquarters; quarters for members; life insurance; medical and hospital fees for injuries and illnesses of members incurred in line of duty.

(a) The standard uniform to be used by the West Virginia state police after the effective date of this article shall be as follows: Forestry green blouse with West Virginia state police emblem on sleeve; black shoulder strap, one-inch black stripe around sleeve, four inches from end of sleeve; forestry green breeches with one-inch black stripe down the side; trousers (slacks) with one-inch black stripe down the side for officers and clerks regularly enlisted in the department; forestry green shirts with West Virginia state police emblem on sleeve; black shoulder straps; forestry green mackinaw with West Virginia state police emblem on sleeve; black shoulder straps; one-inch black stripe around sleeve four inches from end of sleeve; campaign hat of olive drab color; black Sam Browne belt with holster; black leggings and shoes; the officer's uniform will have one and one-quarter inch black stripe around the sleeve of blouse and mackinaw four inches from end of sleeve circumposed with one-half inch gold braid, also black collars on blouse, with two silver shoulder bars for captains, one silver shoulder bar for first lieutenant, one gold shoulder bar for second lieutenant. For noncommissioned officers the uniform blouse and shirt will have thereon black chevrons of the appropriate rank.
(b) The superintendent shall establish the weapons and enforcement equipment which shall be authorized for use by members of the department, and shall provide for periodic inspection of such weapons and equipment. He shall provide for the discipline of members using other than authorized weapons and enforcement equipment.
(c) The superintendent shall provide the members of the department with suitable arms and weapons, and, when he deems it necessary, with suitably equipped automobiles, motorcycles, watercraft, airplanes and other means of conveyance, to be used by the West Virginia state police, the governor, and other officers and executives in the discretion of the governor, in times of flood, disaster and other emergencies, for traffic study and control, criminal and safety work, and in other matters of official business. He shall also provide the standard uniforms for all members of the department, for officers, noncommissioned officers and troopers herein provided for. All uniforms and all arms, weapons and other property furnished the members of the department by the state of West Virginia shall be and remain the property of the state.
(d) The superintendent is authorized to purchase and maintain on behalf of members group life insurance not to exceed the amount of five thousand dollars on behalf of each member.
(e) The superintendent is authorized to contract and furnish at department expense medical and hospital services for treatment of illness or injury of a member which shall be determined by the superintendent to have been incurred by such member while engaged in the performance of duty and from causes beyond control of such members. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the superintendent shall have the right of subrogation in any civil action or settlement brought by or on behalf of a member in relation to any act by another which results in the illness, injury or death of a member. To this end, the superintendent is hereby authorized to initiate such an action on behalf of the department in order to recover the costs incurred in providing medical and hospital services for the treatment of a member resulting from injury or illness originating in the performance of official duties. This subsection shall not affect the power of a court to apply ordinary equitable defenses to the right of subrogation.
The superintendent is further empowered to consult with the commissioner of the bureau of employment programs in an effort to defray the cost of medical and hospital services. In no case will the compensation rendered to health care providers for medical and hospital services exceed the then current rate schedule in use by the bureau of employment programs, workers' compensation division.
Third-party reimbursements received by the superintendent after the expiration of the fiscal year in which the injury, illness or death occurred will be deposited to a nonexpiring special revenue account. Funds deposited to this account may be used solely for defraying the costs of medical or hospital services rendered to any sworn members as a direct result of an illness, injury or death resulting from the performance of official duties.
(f) The superintendent shall establish and maintain local headquarters at such places in West Virginia as are in his judgment suitable and proper to render the West Virginia state police most efficient for the purpose of preserving the peace, protecting property, preventing crime, apprehending criminals and carrying into effect all other provisions of this article. The superintendent shall provide, by acquisition, lease or otherwise, for such local headquarters, for housing and quarters for the accommodation of the members of the West Virginia state police, and for any other facilities necessary or useful for the effective operation of the West Virginia state police, and shall provide all equipment and supplies necessary for them the members of the West Virginia state police to perform their duties.
CHAPTER 31. CORPORATIONS.

ARTICLE 15. WEST VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.
§31-15-6b. Special power of authority to issue bonds or notes to repay and refinance capital investment of investment management board in regional jail and correctional facility authority; authorizing issuance of bonds or notes to finance local and regional jail facilities, including juvenile detention centers.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the supreme court of appeals has determined and ordered that the constitution of this state imposes a duty on behalf of the state to make significant improvements in the jail and correctional facility system, including the duty to make capital improvements to facilities and to pay for the cost of those improvements; that many of the existing facilities used by the West Virginia state police, including those facilities identified in section ten, article two, chapter fifteen of this code, are in need of significant capital improvement or replacement, and that in some cases the acquisition and construction of additional state police facilities is needed; that the acquisition and construction of the capital improvements identified above requires that the cost of the facilities be financed over time; that capital improvements cannot be funded out of current year appropriations of the Legislature; and that section fifty-one, article six of the constitution prohibits the Legislature amending the budget bill so as to create a deficit; that the enacting of new taxes, or the diversion of revenues from other essential departments and functions of government, in order to support capital improvements in jails and correctional facilities, including juvenile detention centers and state police facilities is not in the interests of the people of the state represented in the Legislature, and is specifically rejected by the Legislature in its exercise of its legitimate constitutional powers; that there have been previously funded certain jail and correctional facilities through funds available for investment through the West Virginia investment management board, the proceeds of which have and are being used by the regional jail and correctional facility authority to finance the cost of capital improvements to jail and correctional facilities, the repayment of such investment being made from transfers to the regional jail and correctional facility investment fund established under section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of this code, from funds on deposit in the insurance tax fund established under subsection (b), section fourteen, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code, such transfers undertaken in the manner set forth in subsection (c), section fourteen, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code; that the supreme court of appeals has previously made a judicial determination that the insurance tax fund is a special revenue fund from which repayment of the investment may be made without violating any constitutional limitation on contracting state debt; that the rate of return being paid under subsection (b), section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve for the investment is subject to annual adjustment and theretofore subject to the volatility of the financial markets and it is anticipated that the rate of return paid on such investment will be in excess of the interest rate that would be payable with respect to bonds issued under this article to acquire certain jail facilities and state police facilities, to construct additional jail facilities, juvenile detention centers and state police facilities, to repay and refinance such investment, that a lower interest rate payable with respect to bonds issued under this article issued to repay and refinance such investment would provide sufficient money for repayment of the investment in full as well as additional money for capital expenditures for jail and correctional facilities, including juvenile detention centers, without increasing the amounts currently transferable from the insurance tax fund for repayment of the investment; and that the use of the insurance tax fund, as a special revenue fund, for the repayment of debt service on bonds or notes issued under this article to finance capital expenditures for jail and to lease the correctional facilities, including juvenile detention centers and state police facilities is a means by which the state may make significant improvements to the jail and correctional facility system without enacting new taxes or diverting revenues from other essential departments and functions of government to the department of administration.
(b)In order to provide (1) for the acquisition of certain existing jail and correctional facilities and the repayment of all or a portion of the investment, and (2) for the financing of construction or the improvements to regional jail and correctional facilities, including juvenile detention centers acquisition and construction of new jail and correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers and state police facilities and the improvement of existing jail and correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers and state police facilities, and (3) for payment of the costs of issuance of the bonds, bonds of the authority may be issued in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(c) There is hereby created a special revenue fund in the state treasury which is designated the "regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund." Moneys deposited into the fund shall be used to make payments of principal, redemption premium, if any, and interest payments for bonds issued for the purposes set forth in this section. Separate accounts may be established within the special revenue fund for the purpose of identification of payment of specific obligations. The fund shall consist of amounts transferred from the insurance tax fund in the manner set forth in subsection (c), section fourteen, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code. The authority may further provide in the resolution and in the trust agreement for priorities on the revenues paid into the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund as may be necessary for the protection of the prior rights of the holders of bonds issued at different times under the provisions of this article.
CHAPTER 33. INSURANCE.

ARTICLE 3. LICENSING, FEES AND TAXATION OF INSURERS.
§33-3-14. Annual financial statement and premium tax return; remittance by insurer of premium tax, less certain deductions; special revenue fund created.

(a) Every insurer transacting insurance in West Virginia shall file with the commissioner, on or before the first day of March, each year, a financial statement made under oath of its president or secretary and on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The insurer shall also, on or before the first day of March of each year subject to the provisions of section fourteen-c of this article, under the oath of its president or secretary, make a premium tax return for the previous calendar year, on a form prescribed by the commissioner showing the gross amount of direct premiums, whether designated as a premium or by some other name, collected and received by it during the previous calendar year on policies covering risks resident, located or to be performed in this state and compute the amount of premium tax chargeable to it in accordance with the provisions of this article, deducting the amount of quarterly payments as required to be made pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen-c of this article, if any, less any adjustments to the gross amount of the direct premiums made during the calendar year, if any, and transmit with the return to the commissioner a remittance in full for the tax due. The tax is the sum equal to two percent of the taxable premium, and also includes any additional tax due under section fourteen-a of this article. All taxes received by the commissioner shall be paid into the insurance tax fund created in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) There is created in the state treasury a special revenue fund, administered by the treasurer, designated the "insurance tax fund." This fund is not part of the general revenue fund of the state. It consists of all amounts deposited in the fund pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, sections fifteen and seventeen of this article, any appropriations to the fund, all interest earned from investment of the fund and any gifts, grants or contributions received by the fund.
(c) The treasurer shall dedicate and transfer from the insurance tax fund to the regional jail and correctional facility investment fund created under the provisions of section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of this code, on or before the tenth day of each month, an amount equal to one twelfth of the projected annual investment earnings to be paid and the capital invested to be returned, as certified to the treasurer by the investment management board: Provided, That the amount dedicated and transferred may not exceed twenty million dollars in any fiscal year. In the event there are insufficient funds available in any month to transfer the amount required pursuant to this subsection to the regional jail and correctional facility investment fund, the deficiency shall be added to the amount transferred in the next succeeding month in which revenues are available to transfer the deficiency. Each month a lien on the revenues generated from the insurance premium tax, the annuity tax and the minimum tax, provided in this section and sections fifteen and seventeen of this article, up to a maximum amount equal to one twelfth of the projected annual principal and return is granted to the investment management board to secure the investment made with the regional jail and correctional facility authority pursuant to section twenty, article six, chapter twelve of this code. The treasurer shall, no later than the last business day of each month, transfer amounts the treasurer determines are not necessary for making refunds under this article to meet the requirements of subsection (d), section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of this code, to the credit of the general revenue fund. Commencing on the first day of the month following the month in which the investment created under the provisions of section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of this code, is returned to the investment management board, the treasurer shall dedicate and transfer from the insurance tax fund to the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund created under the provisions of section six-b, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code, on or before the tenth day of each month, an amount equal to one tenth of the projected annual principal, interest and coverage requirements on any and all revenue bonds and refunding bonds issued, or to be issued, after the first day of May, two thousand and one, as certified to the treasurer by the economic development authority: Provided, That the amount transferred may not exceed sixteen million dollars in any fiscal year. In the event there are insufficient funds available in any month to transfer the amount required pursuant to this subsection to the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund, the deficiency shall be added to the amount transferred in the next succeeding month in which revenues are available to transfer the deficiency. A lien on the revenues generated from the insurance premium tax, the annuity tax and the minimum tax, provided in this section and sections fifteen and seventeen of this article, not to exceed twenty million dollars annually, is granted to the economic development authority to secure the bonds issued by the economic development authority on behalf of the regional jail and correctional facility authority pursuant to section six-b, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code. The treasurer shall, no later than the last business day of the month in which the last annually required transfer is made to the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund, transfer amounts the treasurer determines are not necessary for making transfers under this article to meet the requirements of section six-b(c), article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code transfer all amounts deposited in the insurance tax fund as appropriated by the Legislature.
(d) The amendment to this section enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight is effective on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the issuance of bonds by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to acquire certain existing jail and correctional facilities, to construct new regional jail, juvenile detention and correctional facilities , to acquire and construct certain new state police facilities and improvements to certain existing state police facilities, and to lease all of the same to the Department of Administration for the benefit of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority (in the case of the regional jail, juvenile detention and correctional facilities ) or the West Virginia State Police (in the case of the state police facilities); to prepay certain investment capital; and to release the dedication of certain amounts from the insurance tax fund to the regional jail and correctional facility debt service fund upon the issuance of the bonds and prepayment of the invested capital.

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