Senate Bill No. 404
(By Senators McCabe, Anderson and Unger)
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[Introduced March 6, 2001; referred to the Select Committee on
Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Government
Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections four, five and fourteen,
article seven, chapter twelve of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to board composition; management and control of the board; and
exemption from certain requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four, five and fourteen, article seven, chapter
twelve of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. JOBS INVESTMENT TRUST FUND.
§12-7-4. Jobs investment trust board; composition; appointment, term of private members; chairman; quorum.
(a) The jobs investment trust board is continued. The board
is a public body corporate and established to improve and otherwise
promote economic development in this state.
(b) The board consists of thirteen members, five of whom serve
by virtue of their respective positions. These five are the
president of West Virginia university or his or her designee; the
president of Marshall university or his or her designee; the
chancellor of the board of directors of the state college system
higher education policy commission or his or her designee; the
executive director of the West Virginia housing development fund;
and the executive director of the West Virginia development office.
Two members shall be appointed by the governor from a list of four
names submitted by the board of directors of the housing
development fund. The other six members shall be appointed from
the general public by the governor. Of the members of the general
public appointed by the governor, one shall be an attorney with
experience in finance and investment matters, one shall be a
certified public accountant, one shall be a representative of
labor, one shall be experienced or involved in innovative business
development, two shall be present or past executive officers of companies listed on a major stock exchange or large privately held
companies.
(c) A vacancy on the board shall be filled by appointment by
the governor for the unexpired term in the same manner as the
original appointment. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy
serves only for the unexpired term.
(d) The governor may remove any appointed member in case of
incompetency, neglect of duty, moral turpitude or malfeasance in
office and the governor may declare the office vacant and fill the
vacancy as provided in other cases of vacancy.
(e) The chairman of the board shall be elected by the board
from among the members of the board.
(f) Seven members of the board is a quorum. No action may be
taken by the board except upon the affirmative vote of at least a
majority of those members present, but in no event fewer than six
of the members serving on the board.
(g) Members of the board may participate in a meeting of the
board by means of conference telephone or similar communication
equipment by means of which all persons participating in the
meeting can hear each other, and participation in a board meeting
pursuant to this subsection shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.
(g) (h) The members of the board, including the chairman, may
receive no compensation for their services as members of the board
but are entitled to their reasonable and necessary expenses
actually incurred in discharging their duties under this article.
(h) (i) The board shall meet on a quarterly basis or more
often if necessary.
(i) (j) The terms of the board members appointed by the
governor first taking office on or after the one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two effective date of the jobs investment trust act
expired as designated by the governor at the time of the
nomination, two at the end of the first year, two at the end of the
second year, two at the end of the third year and two at the end of
the fourth year. These original appointments were for and each
subsequent appointment was and shall be for a full four-year term.
Any member whose term has expired serves until his or her successor
has been duly appointed and qualified. Any member is eligible for
reappointment.
(j) (k) Additionally, one member of the West Virginia House of
Delegates and one member of the West Virginia Senate shall serve as
advisory members of the jobs investment trust board and, as advisory members, shall be ex officio, nonvoting advisory members.
The governor shall appoint the two legislative ex officio advisory
members who shall serve for four years or such shorter time as he
or she continues to be a West Virginia legislator.
§12-7-5. Management and control of jobs investment trust vested in
board; officers; liability; authority of executive
director to act on behalf of board; relationship to
higher education institutions.
(a) It is the duty of the board to manage and control the jobs
investment trust. In order to carry out the day-to-day management
and control of the trust and effectuate the purposes of this
article, the board shall appoint an executive director who is or
has been a senior executive of a major financial institution,
brokerage firm, investment firm or similar institution, with
extensive experience in capital market development. The board
shall fix the executive director's duties. The board shall fix the
compensation of the executive director and the compensation shall,
at least in part, be incentive based. The executive director
serves at the will and pleasure of the board.
(b) The board shall elect a secretary annually, who need not
be a member of the board, to keep a record of the proceedings of
the board.
(c) The members and officers of the board are not liable
personally, either jointly or severally, for any debt or obligation
created by the board.
(d) The acts of the board are solely the acts of its
corporation and are not those of an agent of the state. No debt or
obligation of the board is a debt or obligation of the state.
(e) Upon the affirmative vote of at least a majority of those
members in attendance or participating present in a meeting of the
board, but in no event fewer than six of the members serving on the
board, the board may approve any action to be taken and authorize
the executive director for and on behalf of the board to execute
and deliver all instruments, agreements or other documents that are
required or are reasonably necessary to effectuate the decisions or
acts of the board.
(f) The West Virginia housing development fund shall provide
office space and staff support services for the director and the
board shall act as fiscal agent for the board and, as such, shall
provide accounting services for the board, invest all funds as
directed by the board, service all investment activities of the
board and shall make the disbursements of all funds as directed by
the board, for which the West Virginia housing development fund shall be reasonably compensated, as determined by the board.
(g) The board and the executive director shall involve
students and faculty members of state institutions of higher
education in the board's activities, in order to enhance the
opportunities at the institutions for learning, and for
participation in the board's investment activities and in the
economic development of the state, whether in research, financial
analysis, management participation, or in such other ways as the
board and the executive director may, in their discretion, find
appropriate.
§12-7-14. Exemption from certain requirements; audit.
In order to provide excellent investment opportunities
effectively implement the new millennium fund, the investment
activity and the new millennium fund activity provided by this
article shall be exempt from the bidding and public sale
requirements, from the approval of contractual agreements by the
department of finance and administration or the attorney general
and from the requirements of chapter five-a of this code. The
transactions provided by this article shall be subject to an annual
audit by an independent firm of certified public accountants.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update and modify
provisions relating to internal governance of the jobs investment
trust fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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