H. B. 2286
(By Delegates Prunty and Louisos)
[Introduced January 30, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one, chapter
twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the public
service commission; providing for election of commissioners;
compensation; and term of office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article one, chapter twenty-four of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§24-1-3. Commission continued; membership; chairman; compensation.
(a) The public service commission of West Virginia,
heretofore established, is continued and directed as provided by
this chapter, chapter twenty-four-a and chapter twenty-four-b of
this code. After having conducted a performance audit through
its joint committee on government operations, pursuant to section
nine, article ten, chapter four of this code, the Legislature
hereby finds and declares that the public service commission
should be continued and reestablished. Accordingly,
notwithstanding the provisions of section four of said article,
the public service commission shall continue to exist until the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. The
public service commission may sue and be sued by that name. Such
public service commission shall consist of three members who
shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of
the Senate elected by the voters of this state in a manner
provided for in this section. The commissioners shall be
citizens and residents of this state and at least one of them
shall be duly licensed to practice law in West Virginia, of not less than ten years' actual experience at the bar. No more than
two of said commissioners shall be members of the same political
party. Each commissioner shall, before entering upon the duties
of his office, take and subscribe to the oath provided by section
five, article IV of the Constitution of this state, which oath
shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The
governor shall designate one of the commissioners to serve as
chairman at the governor's will and pleasure. The chairman who
shall be elected by the commission shall be the chief
administrative officer of the commission. The governor may
remove any commissioner only for incompetency, neglect of duty,
gross immorality, malfeasance in office or violation of
subsection (c) of this section. The chairman or any other
commissioner may be removed from office in the manner provided in
section three, chapter six of this code. In addition to the
grounds for removal numerated in section three, article six,
chapter six of this code, a commissioner may be removed from
office for conviction of a felony, for conviction of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a duty of the office or
of a willful violation of this chapter or any rule, regulation or
order provided for in this chapter.
(b) The unexpired term of members of the public service
commission at the time this subsection becomes effective are
continued through the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-nine until the end of their respective terms or
until the elected commissioners take office, whichever date first
occurs. In accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section the governor shall appoint three commissioners one
commissioner shall be elected at the general election to be held
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, for a term of
two years, one and two commissioners shall be elected at the
general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, for a term of four years, and one for a term of six
years all the terms beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred seventy-nine January. All future
appointments elections are for terms of six years, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy is for the unexpired term only.
The commissioners whose terms are terminated by the provisions of
this subsection are eligible for reappointment election.
(c) No person while in the employ of, or holding any
official relation to, any public utility subject to the
provisions of this chapter, or holding any stocks or bonds
thereof, or who is pecuniarily interested therein, may be elected
to serve as a member of the commission or as an employee thereof.
Nor may any such commissioner be a candidate for or hold any
other public office, or be a member of any political committee,
while acting as such commissioner; nor may any commissioner or
employee of said commission receive any pass, free transportation
or other thing of value, either directly or indirectly, from any
public utility or motor carrier subject to the provisions of this
chapter. In case any of the commissioners becomes a candidate
for any other public office or a member of any political
committee, the governor shall remove him from office and shall
appoint a new commissioner to fill the vacancy created a vacancy shall be determined to exist in that commissioner's office.
(d) Effective the first day of November, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one, and in light of the assignment of new,
substantial additional duties embracing new areas and fields of
activity under certain legislative enactments, each commissioner
shall receive an annual salary of sixty thousand dollars to be
paid in monthly installments from the special funds in such
amounts as follows:
(1) From the public service commission fund collected under
the provisions of section six, article three of this chapter,
forty-eight thousand dollars;
(2) From the public service commission motor carrier fund
collected under the provisions of section six, article six,
chapter twenty-four-a of this code, ten thousand dollars; and
(3) From the public service commission gas pipeline safety
fund collected under the provisions of section three, article
five, chapter twenty-four-b of this code, two thousand dollars.
In addition to this salary provided for all commissioners, the chairman of the commission shall receive five thousand
dollars per annum to be paid in monthly installments from the
public service commission fund collected under the provisions of
section six, article three of this chapter on and after the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
election of commissioners for four-year terms. The first
election is to be held at the general election in 1996.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.