WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
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to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance
A BILL to amend and
reenact §5B-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and
reenact §6-7-2a of said code; to amend and reenact §17A-2-6 of said code; and to amend and reenact §29-21-5
of said code, all relating to the salaries of appointed officers being fixed by
the Governor.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5B-1-1 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §6-7-2a
of said code be amended and reenacted; that §17A-2-6
of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §29-21-5 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1985.
ARTICLE 1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
§5B-1-1. Department of
Commerce; office of Secretary of Department of Commerce.
(a) The Secretary of
Commerce is the chief executive officer of the department. The Governor shall
appoint the secretary, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for
the term for which the Governor is elected. Any
reference in this code to the Bureau of Commerce means the Department of
Commerce. Any reference in this code to
the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce means the Secretary of Commerce.
As used in this article, "secretary"
means the Secretary of Commerce and "department" means Department of Commerce.
(b) The department may
receive federal funds.
(c) The secretary serves at
the will and pleasure of the Governor. The annual salary of the secretary is
$90,000 shall be set by the Governor.
CHAPTER 6. GENERAL
PROVISIONS RESPECTING OFFICERS
ARTICLE 7. COMPENSATION
AND ALLOWANCES.
§6-7-2a. Terms of
certain appointive state officers; appointment; qualifications; powers and
salaries of officers.
(a) Each of the following
appointive state officers named in this subsection shall be appointed by the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of the
appointive state officers serves at the will and pleasure of the Governor for
the term for which the Governor was elected and until the respective state
officers' successors have been appointed
and qualified. Each of the appointive state officers are subject to the
existing qualifications for holding each respective office and each has and is
hereby granted all of the powers and authority and shall perform all of the
functions and services heretofore vested in and performed by virtue of existing
law respecting each office.
The annual salary of each
the following named appointive state officers is as follows shall
be fixed by the Governor:
Commissioner, Division of
Highways; $92,500 Commissioner, Division of Corrections; $80,000
Director, Division of Natural Resources; $75,000 Superintendent, State
Police; $85,000 Commissioner, Division of Banking; $75,000
Commissioner, Division of Culture and History; $65,000 Commissioner,
Alcohol Beverage Control Commission; $75,000 Commissioner, Division of
Motor Vehicles; $75,000 Chairman, Health Care Authority; $80,000
members, Health Care Authority; $70,000 Director, Human Rights Commission;
$55,000 Commissioner, Division of Labor; $70,000 prior to July 1,
2011 Director, Division of Veterans Affair; $65,000 Chairperson,
Board of Parole; $55,000 members, Board of Parole; $50,000
members, Employment Security Review Board; $17,000 and Commissioner,
Workforce West Virginia. $75,000 Secretaries of the departments shall be
paid an annual salary as follows fixed by the Governor: Health
and Human Resources, $95,000: Provided, That effective July 1, 2013,
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall be paid an
annual salary not to exceed $175,000; Transportation, $95,000:
Provided, however, That if the same person is serving as both the Secretary
of Transportation and the Commissioner of Highways, he or she shall be paid $120,000
Revenue, $95,000 Military Affairs and Public Safety, $95,000
Administration, $95,000 Education and the Arts, $95,000 Commerce,
$95,000 Veterans' Assistance; $95,000
and Environmental Protection. $95,000: Provided further, That any
officer specified in this subsection whose salary is increased by more than
$5,000 as a result of the amendment and reenactment of this section during the
2011 regular session of the Legislature shall be paid the salary increase in
increments of $5,000 per fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011, up to the maximum
salary provided in this subsection
(b) Each of the state
officers named in this subsection shall continue to be appointed in the manner
prescribed in this code and shall be paid an annual salary as follows fixed
by the Governor:
Director, Board of Risk and
Insurance Management; $80,000 Director, Division of Rehabilitation
Services; $70,000 Director, Division of Personnel; $70,000
Executive Director, Educational Broadcasting Authority; $75,000 Secretary,
Library Commission; $72,000 Director, Geological and Economic Survey; $75,000;
Executive Director, Prosecuting Attorneys Institute; $80,000; Executive
Director, Public Defender Services; $70,000; Commissioner, Bureau of
Senior Services; $75,000; Executive Director, Women's Commission; $45,000 Director, Hospital
Finance Authority; $35,000 member, Racing Commission; $12,000
Chairman, Public Service Commission; $85,000 members, Public Service
Commission; $85,000 Director, Division of Forestry; $75,000
Director, Division of Juvenile Services; $80,000 and Executive Director,
Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. $80,000
(c) Each of the following
appointive state officers named in this subsection shall be appointed by the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of the
appointive state officers serves at the will and pleasure of the Governor for
the term for which the Governor was elected and until the respective state
officers' successors have been appointed
and qualified. Each of the appointive state officers are subject to the
existing qualifications for holding each respective office and each has and is
hereby granted all of the powers and authority and shall perform all of the
functions and services heretofore vested in and performed by virtue of existing
law respecting each office.
The annual salary of each
named appointive state officer shall be as follows fixed by the
Governor:
Commissioner, State Tax
Division; $92,500 Insurance Commissioner; $92,500 Director, Lottery
Commission; $92,500 Director, Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management; $65,000 and Adjutant General. $125,000
(d) No increase in the
salary of any appointive state officer pursuant to this section may be paid
until and unless the appointive state officer has first filed with the State
Auditor and the Legislative Auditor a sworn statement, on a form to be
prescribed by the Attorney General, certifying that his or her spending unit is
in compliance with any general law providing for a salary increase for his or
her employees. The Attorney General shall prepare and distribute the form to
the affected spending units.
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR
VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATE OF TITLE AND ANTITHEFT
PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 2. DIVISION OF
MOTOR VEHICLES.
§17A-2-6. Commissioner
of motor vehicles — Salary and expenses.
The commissioner shall
receive a salary of $7,000 as fixed by the Governor and the
necessary traveling expenses incident to the performance of his or her
duties. Requisition for 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.
CHAPTER 29.
MISCELLANEOUS BOARDS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 21. PUBLIC
DEFENDER SERVICES.
§29-21-5. Executive
director.
(a) The Governor shall
appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Executive
Director of Public Defender Services, who shall serve at the will and pleasure
of the Governor. The executive director shall be a qualified administrator as determined
by the Governor, and shall be a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of
Appeals. In addition to the executive director there shall be such other
employees as the executive director determines to be necessary. The executive
director shall have the authority to promulgate rules, and shall have such
other authority and perform such duties as may be required or necessary to
effectuate this article. The executive director shall provide supervision and
direction to the other agency employees in the performance of their duties.
(b) The executive
director’s annual salary shall be as determined by the Legislature fixed
by the Governor.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to provide that the salaries of appointed officers shall be fixed by the Governor.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.