Senate Bill No. 587
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced February 16, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to repeal §30-26-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended; and to amend and reenact §30-26-3 of said code,
relating to the Board of Hearing-Aid Dealers; removing the
statutory per diem salary granted to board members; and
removing the requirement that the Department of Health and
Human Resources provide administrative assistance to the
board.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-26-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be repealed; and that §30-26-3 of said code be amended and
reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 26. HEARING-AID DEALERS AND FITTERS.
§30-26-3. West Virginia Board of Hearing-Aid Dealers created;
members; qualifications; term; oath; salary and
expenses; powers and duties.
There is
hereby created the West Virginia Board of Hearing-Aid
Dealers, which shall be composed of five members to be appointed by
the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The members of the board shall be residents of this state. One
member shall be a person licensed to practice medicine in this
state and one member shall hold a degree in audiology from an
accredited college or university. The remaining three members
shall be persons having no less than five years' experience as
hearing-aid dealers or fitters and shall hold a valid license under
the provisions of this article, except that the hearing-aid dealers
or fitters to be first appointed to the board shall obtain a
license under the provisions of this article within six months
following their appointment to the board.
The term of office of each member of the board
shall be is
four years, excepting that as to the members first appointed to the
board, one shall be appointed for two years; two shall be appointed
for three years; and two shall be appointed for four years. A
board member shall serve until his
or her successor has been duly
appointed and qualified and any vacancy in the office of a member
shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term of such
member. Any member of the board
shall be is eligible for
reappointment.
The board shall annually at its meeting first succeeding May
1 elect from its own members a chairman and vice chairman.
Each member of the board shall
receive for each day actually engaged in the duties of his office, a per diem salary of one
hundred dollars and shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and
necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of his
or
her duties as a member of
such the board. All fees and other
moneys collected by the board, pursuant to the provisions of this
article, shall be kept in a separate fund and shall be
expended
spent solely for the purposes of this article. The compensation
for the members of the board and all expenses incurred under this
article shall be paid from this special fund and no such
compensation or expenses shall be paid from the General Revenue
Fund of this state. All disbursements of funds necessary to carry
out the provisions of this article shall be so disbursed only upon
the authority of the board.
The board is
hereby empowered, with the assistance of the
department to generally supervise, regulate and control the
practice of dealing in or fitting of hearing aids in this state,
and in so doing, shall administer qualifying examinations in
accordance with the provisions of this article to test the
knowledge and proficiency of all prospective licensees or trainees.
The board may purchase and maintain or rent audiometric
equipment and other facilities necessary to carry out the
examination of applicants as provided in this article and may
purchase
such other equipment and supplies and employ
such persons
as it deems deemed appropriate to
carry out execute the provisions
of this article.
The board shall
promulgate propose for legislative approval
reasonable rules
and regulations in accordance with and subject to
the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code:
(a) For the proper performance of its duties;
(b) To define and prescribe the ethical practice of dealing in
or fitting of hearing aids for the safety, protection and welfare
of the public;
(c) To govern the time, place and manner of conducting the
examinations required by this article and the standard, scope and
subject of such examinations, which examinations shall, as a
minimum, conform with the standards, scope and subjects set forth
in section six of this article and manner and form in which
applications for such examinations shall be filed;
(d) To establish procedures for determining whether persons
holding similar valid licenses from other states or jurisdictions
shall be required to take and successfully pass the appropriate
qualifying examination as a condition for such licensing in this
state;
(e) To establish
such fees for
such examinations, permits,
licenses and renewals as
may be are necessary to cover the costs of
administration.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update laws concerning
the Board of Hearing-Aid Dealers.
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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