H. B. 4624
(By Delegates Hutchins and Yost)
[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §9A-1-5 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing per diem pay and
mileage for volunteers who drive veterans to hospitals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §9A-1-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. DIVISION OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS.
§9A-1-5. Compensation of director, veterans' affairs officers,
assistants and employees; payment to Veterans'
Council members; traveling expenses; meetings of
Veterans' Council.
(a) The director shall receive an annual salary as provided in
section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code and
necessary traveling expenses incident to the performance of his or
her duties. The salaries of the veterans' affairs officers,
assistants and employees shall be fixed by the Veterans' Council.
The members of the Veterans' Council shall receive no salary, but each member shall receive the same compensation and expense
reimbursement as is paid to members of the Legislature for their
interim duties as recommended by the Citizens Legislative
Compensation Commission and authorized by law for each day or
portion thereof engaged in the discharge of official duties. The
requisition for such expenses and traveling expenses shall be
accompanied by a sworn and itemized statement, which shall be filed
with the Auditor and permanently preserved as a public record. The
Veterans' Council shall hold its initial meeting on the call of the
Governor, and thereafter shall meet on the call of its chairman,
except as otherwise provided. With the exception of the first
three meetings of the Veterans' Council, none of which shall be of
a duration longer than two weeks each, for organizational purposes,
the Veterans' Council shall meet not more than once every two
months at such times as may be determined by and upon the call of
the chairman for a period of not more than two days, unless there
should be an emergency requiring a special meeting or for a longer
period and so declared and called by the Governor or by the
chairman with the approval of the Governor. A majority of the
members of the Veterans' Council shall constitute a quorum for the
conduct of official business.
(b) Volunteers who drive or transport veterans to veterans'
hospitals that are over thirty miles from the veteran's home or
local veteran's affairs office shall be considered employees for
the purposes of this section and paid a per diem of fifty dollars
and mileage and expenses in the same amount as provided for state employees under the provisions of section eleven, article three,
chapter twelve of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a $50 per diem
pay and mileage and expenses for volunteers who drive veterans to
hospitals that are more than 30 miles from their home or local VA
office.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.