ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 348
(Mr. Tomblin, Mr. President, original sponsor)
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[Passed April 9, 2005; to take effect July 1, 2005.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §12-4-14 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to persons who receive state
grants; providing definitions; clarifying when reports of
state grants are required; providing consequences for not
complying with reporting requirements; providing the
withholding of state grants or funds; providing for the
debarment from future state grants under certain
circumstances; requiring state agencies who administer state
grants to have additional duties under certain circumstances;
removing filing fees for volunteer fire departments; and
providing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §12-4-14 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ACCOUNTS, REPORTS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§12-4-14. Accountability of persons receiving state funds or grants; sworn statements by volunteer fire
departments; criminal penalties.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Grantor" means a state spending unit awarding a state
grant.
(2) "Person" includes any corporation, partnership,
association, individual or other legal entity. The term "person"
does not include a state spending unit or a local government as
defined in section one-a, article nine, chapter six of this code.
(3) "Report" means a compliance attestation engagement,
performed and prepared by a certified public accountant to test
whether state grants were spent as intended. The term "report"
does not mean a full-scope audit or review of the person receiving
state funds.
(4)"State grant" means funding provided by a state spending
unit to a person upon application for a specific purpose. The term
"state grant" does not include: (A) Payments for goods and services
purchased by a state spending unit; (B) compensation to state
employees and public officials; (C) reimbursements to state
employees and public officials for travel or incidental expenses;
(D) grants of student aid; (E) government transfer payments; (F)
direct benefits provided under state insurance and welfare
programs; and (G) retirement benefits. The term "state grant" does
include formula distributions to volunteer and part-volunteer fire
departments made pursuant to sections fourteen-d and thirty-three,
article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section sixteen-a, article twelve of said chapter.
(b)(1) Any person who receives one or more state grants in the
amount of twenty-five thousand dollars or more in the aggregate in
a calendar year shall file with the grantor a report of the
disbursement of state grant funds.
(2) The report required by subdivision (1) of this subsection
shall be filed within two years of the end of the calendar year in
which the disbursement of state grant funds by the grantor was
made. The report shall be made by an independent certified public
accountant at the cost of the person receiving the state grant.
The scope of the report is limited to showing that the state grant
funds were spent for the purposes intended when the grant was made.
(c)(1) Any person failing to file a required report within the
two-year period provided in subdivision (2), subsection (b) of this
section for any state grant funds disbursed after the first day of
July, two thousand three, is barred from subsequently receiving
state grants until the person has filed the report and is otherwise
in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Any grantor of a state grant shall report any persons
failing to file a required report within the required time period
provided in subdivision (2), subsection (b) of this section for any
state grant disbursed after the first day of July, two thousand
three, to the Legislative Auditor for purposes of debarment from
receiving state grants.
(d)(1) The state agency administering the state grant shall
notify the grantee of the reporting requirements set forth in this section.
(2) Any state agency administering a state grant shall, in the
manner designated by the Legislative Auditor, notify the
Legislative Auditor of the amount of funds to be disbursed, the
identity of the person authorized to receive the funds and the
purpose and nature of the state grant within thirty days of making
the state grant or authorizing the disbursement of the funds:
Provided, That if the state grant was awarded prior to the
effective date of the amendment and reenactment of this section in
the year two thousand five, the grantor shall provide the
information required by this section within ninety days of the
effective date.
(3) All grantors making state grants that would be subject to
the report requirements of this section shall, prior to awarding a
state grant, take reasonable actions to verify that the person is
not barred from receiving state grants pursuant to this section.
The verification process shall, at a minimum, include:
(A) A requirement that the person seeking the state grant
provide a sworn statement from an authorized representative that
the person has filed all reports for state grants received as
required under this section; and
(B) Confirmation from the Legislative Auditor by the grantor
that the person has not been identified as one who has failed to
file a report under this section. Confirmation may be accomplished
by accessing the computerized database provided in subdivision (4)
of this subsection.
(4) The Legislative Auditor shall maintain a list identifying
persons who have failed to file reports required by this section.
The list may be in the form of a computerized database that may be
accessed by state agencies over the Internet.
(e) If any report performed pursuant to the requirements of
this section provides evidence of a reportable condition or
violation, the grantor shall provide a copy of the report to the
Legislative Auditor within thirty days of receipt by the grantor.
(f) The grantor shall maintain copies of reports required by
this section and make the reports available for public inspection,
as well as for use in audits and performance reviews of the
grantor.
(g) Reports of state grants not required under the provisions
of this section may be authorized by the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance to be conducted by the Legislative Auditor
at no cost to the grantee.
(h)(1) Volunteer and part-volunteer fire departments may
satisfy the report requirements of this section by submitting a
sworn statement of annual expenditures to the Legislative Auditor
on or before the fourteenth day of February of each year. The
sworn statement of expenditures shall be signed by the chief or
director of the volunteer fire department and shall be made under
oath and acknowledged before a notary public.
(2) If the sworn statement is not submitted on or before the
fifteenth day of May, unless the time period is extended by the
Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor may conduct a report of the volunteer or part-volunteer fire department.
(3) If the sworn statement of annual expenditures is not filed
with the Legislative Auditor by the first day of July, unless the
time period is extended by the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative
Auditor shall notify the State Treasurer who shall withhold payment
of any amount that would otherwise be distributed to the fire
department under the provisions of sections fourteen-d and thirty-
three, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section
sixteen-a, article twelve of said chapter until the report is
complete. Moneys withheld pursuant to this subdivision are to be
deposited in the special revenue account created in the State
Treasury in subdivision (4) of this subsection.
(4) The Legislative Auditor may assign an employee or
employees to perform audits or reviews at the direction of the
Legislative Auditor of the disbursement of state grant funds to
volunteer fire departments. The volunteer fire department shall
cooperate with the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor's
employees and the State Auditor in performing their duties under
this section. If the Legislative Auditor determines a volunteer
fire department is not cooperating, the Legislative Auditor shall
notify the State Treasurer who shall withhold payment of any amount
that would otherwise be distributed to the fire department under
the provisions of sections fourteen-d and thirty-three, article
three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section sixteen-a,
article twelve of said chapter until the Legislative Auditor
informs the Treasurer that the fire department has cooperated as required by this section. The State Treasurer shall pay the amount
withheld into a special revenue account hereby created in the State
Treasury and designated the "Volunteer Fire Department Audit
Account". If, after one year from payment of the amount withheld
into the special revenue account, the Legislative Auditor informs
the State Treasurer of continued noncooperation by the fire
department, the State Treasurer shall pay the amount withheld to
the fund from which it was distributed to be redistributed the
following year pursuant to the applicable provisions of those
sections.
(5) Whenever the State Auditor performs an audit of a
volunteer fire department for any purpose the Auditor shall also
conduct an audit of other state funds received by the fire
department pursuant to sections fourteen-d and thirty-three,
article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section
sixteen-a, article twelve of said chapter. The Auditor shall send
a copy of the audit to the Legislative Auditor. The Legislative
Auditor may accept an audit performed by the Auditor in lieu of
performing a report under this section.
(i) Any report submitted pursuant to the provisions of this
section may be filed electronically in accordance with the
provisions of article one, chapter thirty-nine-a of this code.
(j) Any person who files a fraudulent sworn statement of
expenditures under subsection (g)of this section, a fraudulent
sworn statement under subsection (d) of this section, or a
fraudulent report under this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand
dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned in a
state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more
than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.