Senate Bill No. 109
(By Senators Love, Rowe and McCabe)
____________
[Introduced January 14, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5A-7-4a
, relating to
state agencies making timely payments on invoices for
telephone services; requiring that late checks include
interest; specifying when an invoice is determined to be
received; and specifying which agency is responsible for the
payment of interest.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §5A-7-4a
, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. INFORMATION SERVICES AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISIONS.
§5A-7-4a. Payment of legitimate uncontested invoices for telephone
services; interest on late payments.
(a) Any properly registered and qualified vendor who supplies
telephone services to any state agency is entitled to prompt
payment upon presentation of a legitimate uncontested invoice for
telephone services to the division. It is the responsibility
of
the division to pay the legitimate uncontested invoice.
(b) A state check shall be issued for payment within sixty
days after a legitimate uncontested invoice for telephone services
is received by the division. Any state check issued after 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. The
interest shall be calculated from the sixty-first day after the
invoice was received by the division until the date on which the
state check is mailed to the vendor.
(c) For purposes of this section, an invoice is considered
received by the division on the date on which the invoice is marked
as received by the division, 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 if an invoice is received by the division prior to
the date on which the telephone services covered by the invoice are
delivered and accepted or fully performed and accepted, the invoice
is considered received on the date on which the telephone services
covered by the invoice were actually delivered and accepted or fully performed and accepted.
(d) The state auditor shall deduct the amount of any interest
due for late payment of a legitimate uncontested invoice for
telephone services from the division's account.
(e) The division shall seek reimbursement for a legitimate
uncontested invoice payment or interest payment, or both
reimbursement and interest payment, from the state agency receiving
the telephone services.
(f) If a state agency makes a timely payment to the division
for a legitimate uncontested invoice for telephone services and the
division fails to make a timely payment to the vendor supplying the
telephone services, then the division is responsible for the
payment and the interest payment.
(g) If a late payment and interest payment are a result of a
state agency not making a timely payment to the division for a
legitimate uncontested invoice for telephone services and the
agency still has not reimbursed the division within ninety days of
the division paying the vendor supplying the telephone services,
then the division may authorize the discontinuance of the telephone
services to the state agency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require state agencies
to make timely payments on invoices for telephone services. It
requires payment of interest on late payments; specifies when an
invoice is determined to be received; and which agency is
responsible for the payment of interest.
§5A-7-4a
is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.