HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss)

[Introduced February 21, 2001; referred to the Committee on Constitutional Revision then Finance.]



Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia authorizing the issuing and selling of state bonds in an amount not exceeding two hundred million dollars and the equal distribution of the proceeds thereof among the senatorial districts of this state to be used solely for the construction, extension, expansion, rehabilitation, repair and improvement of water supply and sewage treatment systems and for the acquisition, preparation, construction and improvement of sites for economic development in this state; numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of the members elected to each House agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the State at the general election to be held in the year two thousand two, which proposed amendment is to read as follows:
INFRASTRUCTURE 2002 AMENDMENT.

I. The Legislature shall have power to authorize the issuing and selling of state bonds not exceeding in the aggregate two hundred million dollars, which shall be in addition to all other bonds heretofore authorized. The proceeds of said bonds hereby authorized to be issued and sold shall be appropriated equally among the senatorial districts of this state and shall be used solely for the construction, extension, expansion, rehabilitation, repair and improvement of water supply and sewage treatment systems and for the acquisition, preparation, construction and improvement of sites for economic development in this state in a manner and subject to such conditions, qualifications and requirements as shall be prescribed by general law. Such bonds may be issued in registered form at such time or times, in such amount or amounts and in such denominations as the Legislature shall authorize. When a bond issue as aforesaid is authorized, the Legislature shall, at the same time, provide for the irrevocable dedication, prior to the application of such tax proceeds for any other purpose, of an annual portion of any gross receipts tax which is then currently imposed on businesses that sever, extract and, or produce natural resources within this state which will be sufficient to pay, as it may accrue, the interest on the bonds and the principal thereof, within and not exceeding thirty years and all such taxes so levied and the additional tax hereinafter described shall be irrevocably dedicated to such purpose until such principal and interest on the bonds are finally paid and discharged: Provided, That when a bond issue as aforesaid is authorized, the Legislature shall at the same time provide for the collection of an additional annual state tax sufficient to pay as it may accrue the interest on the bonds and the principal thereof within and not exceeding thirty years: Provided, however, That such additional tax shall be levied in any year only to the extent that the moneys from the tax previously dedicated herein are insufficient therefor. Any of the covenants, agreements or provisions in the acts of the Legislature levying and dedicating the taxes shall be enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction by any of the holders of the bonds.
II. The Legislature shall have power to enact legislation to implement the provisions of this amendment.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of article eleven, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, such amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No. 1" and designated as the "Infrastructure 2002 Amendment" and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: "To allow the issuing and selling of not more than two hundred million dollars in general obligation bonds of the state, the proceeds of which will be evenly divided among all senatorial districts of this state and used (1) to finance the construction and improvement of water systems and (2) to finance sewage systems and the acquisition and improvement of economic development sites in this state; to dedicate as the initial source of repayment of the principal of and interest on the bonds, a portion of the existing gross receipts tax on the activity of severing, extracting or producing natural resources, and providing for the levy of additional taxes sufficient to pay such bonds to the extent that the amounts dedicated as aforesaid are insufficient therefor."