H. B. 2352
(By Delegates Flanigan and Caputo)
[Introduced February 20, 2001
; referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article six, chapter five
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend chapter nine-a of said
code by adding thereto a new article, designated article
two-a, all relating to the establishment of a state veterans'
nursing home; attachment to division of veterans' affairs;
funding; and issuance of bonds.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article six, chapter five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended; and that chapter nine-a of said code be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article two-a, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD
OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 6. STATE BUILDING COMMISSION.
§5-6-4. Powers of commission.
The commission has the power:
(1) To sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded;
(2) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) To contract to acquire and to acquire, in the name of the
commission or of the state, by purchase, lease, lease-purchase or
otherwise, real property or rights or easements necessary or
convenient for its corporate purposes and to exercise the power of
eminent domain to accomplish those purposes;
(4) To acquire, hold and dispose of personal property for its
corporate purposes;
(5) To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its
affairs;
(6) With the consent of the attorney general of the state of
West Virginia, to use the facilities of his or her office,
assistants and employees in all legal matters relating to or
pertaining to the commission;
(7) To appoint officers, agents and employees and fix their
compensation;
(8) To make contracts, and to execute all instruments
necessary or convenient to effectuate the intent of, and to
exercise the powers granted to it by this article;
(9) To renegotiate all contracts entered into by it whenever,
due to a change in situation, it appears to the commission that its
interests will be best served;
(10) To construct a building or buildings on real property,
which it may acquire, or which may be owned by the state of West
Virginia, in the city of Charleston, as convenient as may be to the
capitol building, together with incidental approaches, structures
and facilities, subject to the consent and approval of the city of
Charleston in any case as may be necessary; and, in addition, to
acquire or construct a warehouse, including office space in the
warehouse in Kanawha County for the West Virginia alcohol beverage
control commissioner, and equip and furnish the office space; and
to acquire or construct, through lease, purchase, lease-purchase or
bond financing, hospitals or other facilities, buildings, or
additions or renovations to buildings as may be necessary for the
safety and care of patients, inmates and guests at facilities under the jurisdiction of and supervision of the division of health and
at institutions under the jurisdiction of the division of
corrections or the regional jail and correctional facilities
authority; and to formulate and program plans for the orderly and
timely capital improvement of all of the hospitals and institutions
and the state capitol buildings; and to construct a building or
buildings in Kanawha County to be used as a general headquarters by
the division of public safety West Virginia state police to
accommodate that division's the executive staff, clerical offices,
technical services, supply facilities and dormitory accommodations;
and to develop, improve and expand state parks and recreational
facilities to be operated by the division of natural resources;
and
to acquire or construct, through lease, purchase, lease-purchase or
bond financing, buildings, or additions or renovations to
buildings as may be necessary for the establishment of a state
veterans' nursing home under the jurisdiction of the division of
veterans' affairs;
and to establish one or more systems or complexes of buildings and
projects under control of the commission; and, subject to prior
agreements with holders of bonds previously issued, to change the
systems, complexes of buildings and projects from time to time, in order to facilitate the issuance and sale of bonds of different
series on a parity with each other or having such priorities
between series as the commission may determine; and to acquire by
purchase, eminent domain or otherwise all real property or
interests in the real property necessary or convenient to
accomplish the purposes of this subdivision. The rights and powers
set forth in this subdivision shall not be construed as in
derogation of any rights and powers now vested in the West Virginia
alcohol beverage control commissioner, the department of health and
human resources, the division of corrections or the division of
natural resources;
(11) To maintain, construct and operate a project authorized
under this article;
(12) To charge rentals for the use of all or any part of a
project or buildings at any time financed, constructed, acquired or
improved, in whole or in part, with the proceeds of sale of bonds
issued pursuant to this article, subject to and in accordance with
such agreements with bondholders as may be made as provided in this
article: Provided, That on and after the effective date of the
amendments to this section, to charge rentals for the use of all or
any part of a project or buildings at any time financed, constructed, acquired, maintained or improved, in whole or in part,
with the proceeds of sale of bonds issued pursuant to this article,
subject to and in accordance with such agreements with bondholders
as may be made as in this section provided, or with any funds
available to the state building commission, including, but not
limited to, all buildings and property owned by the state of West
Virginia or by the state building commission, but no rentals shall
be charged to the governor, attorney general, secretary of state,
state auditor, state treasurer, the Legislature and the members of
the Legislature, the supreme court of appeals, nor for their
offices, agencies, official functions and duties;
(13) To issue negotiable bonds and to provide for the rights
of the holders of the negotiable bonds;
(14) To accept and expend any gift, grant or contribution of
money to, or for the benefit of, the commission, from the state of
West Virginia or any other source for any or all of the purposes
specified in this article or for any one or more of such purposes
as may be specified in connection with the gift, grant or
contribution;
(15) To enter on any lands and premises for the purpose of
making surveys, soundings and examinations;
(16) To invest in United States government obligations, on a
short-term basis, any surplus funds which the commission may have
on hand pending the completion of any project or projects;
(17) To issue revenue bonds in accordance with the applicable
provisions of this article for the purposes set forth in section
eleven-a of this article; and
(18) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the
powers given in this article.
(19) The power and authority granted to the state building
commission pursuant to this section and sections seven, eight and
eleven-a of this article to initiate, acquire, construct, finance
or develop projects; to issue revenue bonds; or to exercise the
power of eminent domain with respect to any project, shall
terminate on the effective date of this section: Provided, That
nothing herein shall be construed to affect the validity of any act
of the state building commission prior to the effective date of
this section or to impair the rights of bondholders with respect to
bonds or other evidence of indebtedness issued prior to the
effective date of this section. Following the effective date of
this section, the secretary of administration may exercise any
power expressly granted pursuant to this article with respect to any project or facility previously constructed or acquired, any
existing contractual obligations, and any outstanding bonded
indebtedness. Refunding bonds for any outstanding bonded
indebtedness are authorized, subject to the provisions of article
two-e, chapter thirteen of this code. The West Virginia economic
development authority provided for in article fifteen, chapter
thirty-one of this code is designated to act as the governing body
whose authorizations and determinations are required for the
purpose of refunding bonds.
CHAPTER 9A. VETERANS' AFFAIRS.
ARTICLE 2A. ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE VETERANS' HOME.
§9A-2A-1. Purpose.
The Legislature has determined the establishment of a state
veterans' nursing home to be in the best interests of the veterans
of the state and necessary to the well-being of our elderly and
disabled veterans. Therefore, it is the purpose of this article to
authorize the establishment of a state veterans' nursing home, to
promote its construction or renovation, and to assign
administrative responsibility for its planning and operation.
§9A-2A-2. Veterans' nursing home established; attachment to
division of veterans' affairs; rules; funding.
(a) There shall be established and maintained in West Virginia a state veterans' nursing home to provide long-term care to
veterans who are residents of West Virginia.
(b) The West Virginia state veterans' nursing home shall be
attached to the division of veterans' affairs. The division of
veterans' affairs may propose administrative rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to operate the home in
compliance with applicable state and federal statutes and rules.
(c) The division of veterans' affairs may seek federal and
private funding for the construction or renovation, and operation
of the state veterans' nursing home.
§9A-2A-3. Authorization to apply for issuance of revenue bonds;
other financial arrangements.
For the purpose of financing the costs of the construction or
renovation of the state veterans' nursing home and all proper costs
necessary or incidental thereto, the division of veterans' affairs
is hereby authorized to apply to the state building commission for
the issuance of revenue bonds, and enter into any leases or other
financing agreements with respect to the state veterans' home which
are necessary to provide revenues to amortize and secure the
revenue bonds.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the
establishment of a state veterans' nursing home.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§9A-2A is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.