Senate Bill No. 632

(By Senators Love, Sharpe, Edgell, Minear, Snyder and Rowe)

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[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section fifty-four, article three, chapter five-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to state agencies making timely payments on invoices for telephone services.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifty-four, article three, chapter five-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.

§5A-3-54. Payment of legitimate uncontested invoices; interest on late payments.

(a) Any properly registered and qualified vendor who supplies services or commodities, including telephone services, to any state agency shall be entitled to prompt payment upon presentation to that agency of a legitimate uncontested invoice.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, for purchases of services or commodities, including telephone services, made on or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, a state check shall be issued in payment thereof within sixty days after a legitimate uncontested invoice is received by the state agency receiving the services or commodities. Any state check issued after such sixty days shall include interest at the current rate, as determined by the state tax commissioner under the provisions of section seventeen-a, article ten, chapter eleven of this code, which interest shall be calculated from the sixty-first day after such the invoice was received by the state agency until the date on which the state check is mailed to the vendor.
(2) For purchases of services or commodities, including telephone services, made on or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, by the division of highways, the public employees insurance agency, and by the department of health and human resources, a state check shall be issued in payment thereof within sixty days after a legitimate uncontested invoice is received by any of such agencies receiving the services or commodities, including telephone services. Any state check issued after sixty days shall include interest at the current rate, determined in the manner provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection, which interest shall be calculated from the sixtieth day after such the invoice was received by any of such the agencies until the date on which the state check is mailed to the vendor.
(3) For purposes of this subsection, an invoice shall be deemed to be is considered received by a state agency on the date on which the invoice is marked as received by the agency, or three days after the date of the postmark made by the United States postal service as evidenced on the envelope in which the invoice is mailed, whichever is earlier: Provided, That in the event if an invoice is received by a state agency prior to the date on which the commodities or services, including telephone services, covered by the invoice are delivered and accepted or fully performed and accepted, the invoice shall be deemed to be is considered received on the date on which the commodities or services, including telephone services, covered by the invoice were actually delivered and accepted or fully performed and accepted.
(c) The state auditor shall deduct the amount of any interest due for late payment of an invoice from any appropriate account of the state agency responsible for the late payment: Provided, That if two or more state agencies are responsible for the late payment, the state auditor shall deduct the amount of interest due on a pro rata basis.
(d) The state agency initially receiving a legitimate uncontested invoice shall process such the invoice for payment within ten days from its receipt: Provided, That in the case of if the department of health and human resources, the division of highways and the public employees insurance agency, such invoices shall be processed within fifteen days of their receipt. No state agency shall may be liable for payment of interest owed by another state agency under this section.
(e) Any other state agency charged by law with processing a state agency's requisition for payment of a legitimate uncontested invoice shall either process the claim or reject it for good cause within ten days after such state agency receives it. Failure to comply with the requirements of this subsection shall render such renders the state agency liable for payment of the interest mandated by this section when there is a failure to promptly pay a legitimate uncontested invoice: Provided, That no such state agency shall may be liable for payment of interest owed by another state agency under this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, the phrase "state agency" means any agency, department, board, office, bureau, commission, authority or any other entity of state government.
(g) This section may be cited as the "Prompt Pay Act of 1990."


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it clear that state agencies must make timely payments on invoices for telephone services under the "Prompt Payment Act of 1990" as well as payment for other purchases of services or commodities.

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