H. B. 2949
(By Delegate Mahan)
[Introduced March 9, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16A-23 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing for the
installation of land-based telephone service along portions of
the West Virginia Turnpike where no cellular telephone service
exists.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-16A-23 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
TOURISM AUTHORITY.
§17-16A-23. Special Highway Fund; appropriations from fund.
(a) There is hereby created a special Fund in the State
Treasury which shall be designated and known as the "West Virginia
Special Highway Fund." The Special Highway Fund shall consist of:
(i) All funds allocated and disbursed to the State Department of Highways by the parkways authority, including, without limitation,
the proceeds of any parkway revenue bonds or revenue refunding
bonds issued by the parkways authority pursuant to sections eleven,
twenty-one or twenty-two of this article, in repayment of the
amount of state funds used to upgrade the West Virginia Turnpike to
federal interstate standards; (ii) any appropriations, grants,
gifts, contributions or other revenues received by the Special
Highway Fund from any source; and (iii) all interest earned on
moneys held in the Fund. When any funds are received by the State
Department of Highways from the parkways authority pursuant to this
section, they shall be paid into the State Treasury by the
Commissioner of the Department of Highways and credited to the
special highway fund, and shall be disbursed in the manner set
forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. The Special
Highway Fund shall not be treated by the Auditor and Treasurer as
part of the State Road Fund or as part of the general revenues of
the state.
(b) The Governor shall have the authority to transfer to the
insurance fund created in section eight, article fifteen, chapter
thirty-one of this code, on any date or dates after the enactment
of this section, up to thirty-five million dollars of the funds
received or earned by the Special Highway Fund, which funds may be
used and applied by the West Virginia Economic Development
Authority in the manner and to the extent set forth in article fifteen of said chapter thirty-one. On or before the thirty-first
day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the
economic development authority shall retransfer to the Special
Highway Fund the thirty-five million dollars advanced to the
insurance fund pursuant to this section. All interest earned on
the thirty-five million dollars while being held in the insurance
fund shall remain in, and be the property of, said insurance fund:
Provided, That on and after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-two, the Governor shall have the authority to
transfer six million dollars from the insurance fund created in
section eight, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code to
a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury and designated
the "West Virginia Economic Development Fund." Expenditures from
the Fund are to be made only in accordance with appropriations by
the Legislature.
(c) Upon the transfer of thirty-five million dollars to the
insurance fund as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
Legislature shall annually appropriate all or any part of the
balance of the funds deposited in the Special Highway Fund for the
construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance or repair of
any parkway project or projects: Provided, That all of such funds
shall be appropriated to: (i) The upgrading or addition of
interchanges; (ii) the construction of expressways or feeder roads;
(iii) the installation and provision of land-based telephone service in any segment of the turnpike consisting of ten or more
kilometers where no cellular service exists: Provided, however,
That the installation and provision of land-based telephone service
in these areas shall be accomplished no later than the first day of
July, two-thousand eight; or (iii) and (iv) the upgrading or
construction of information centers, visitors' centers, rest stops,
or any combination thereof, and that all such feeder roads,
expressways, interchanges, information centers, visitors' centers
or rest stops shall connect to the West Virginia Turnpike and
within seventy-five air miles of the West Virginia Turnpike as it
existed on the effective date of this legislation, or any
subsequent expressway, turnpike or feeder road constructed pursuant
to this subsection. The appropriation of funds pursuant to this
subsection shall be expended on more than one project.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
installation and provision of land-based telephone service along
portions of the West Virginia Turnpike where no cellular telephone
service exists.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.