H. B. 4676
(By Delegates Armstead, Carmichael, Howard,
Webb, Walters, Trump and Calvert)
[Introduced February 27, 2004; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5F-1-5, relating to
establishing a maximum number of employees allowed in a
department or separate spending unit of the state, effective
the first day of July, two thousand four; legislative
findings; definitions; creating a method for departments or
separate spending units which are required to create new
positions or hire new employees by state or federal
legislation or court order to not exceed the maximum number of
employees allowed; emergency rule by division of personnel.
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 §5F-1-5, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§5F-1-5. Maximum number of employees in a department or separate
spending unit.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the state
currently faces severe budget restraints which have been projected
to continue to increase in severity over at least the next five
years; that studies conducted by the Legislature find that the
state needs to begin immediate remedial action to avoid projected
deficits in the state budget. In view of the financial crisis
facing the state of West Virginia, the Legislature further finds
that it is essential that the efficiency of the operations of the
executive branch of state government be increased and that the rate
of increase of the expenditures of governmental expenses be
curtailed. The Legislature further finds that a freeze on the
maximum number of state employees is an essential element of any
plan to minimize the projected increase of future expenditures of
state government necessary to avoid projected budget deficits.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Department" means an executive department created in
section two of this article;
(2) "Maximum number of employees" means the number of
employees that a department or separate spending unit employed as
of the first day of January, two thousand four;
(3) "Separate spending unit" means a spending unit as defined
in section one, article one, chapter five of this code which is not within a department.
(c) Effective the first day of July, two thousand four:
(1) Departments and separate spending units whose number of
employees exceeds the maximum allowable number of employees shall
reduce its number of employees to a number that does not exceed the
maximum allowable number of employees by attrition, and by
elimination or consolidation of positions.
(2) Departments and separate spending units may not hire any
new employee or fill any vacant position which causes the
department or separate spending unit to exceed the maximum
allowable number of employees.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2)
above, if a department or separate spending unit is required to
hire employees or create new positions which exceed the maximum
number of employees in order to meet requirements of federal or
state legislation or court order which becomes effective subsequent
to the enactment of this section, such department or spending unit
shall reduce the number of employees in other areas or divisions
within the department or spending unit to the extent necessary to
permit the department or spending unit to ensure that its number of
employees does not exceed the maximum number of employees allowed
pursuant to this section.
(4) The director of the division of personnel shall adopt an
emergency rule to provide guidelines and procedures for departments and separate spending units to implement the provisions
of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that, effective
the first day of July, two thousand four, the maximum number of
employees allowed in a department or separate spending unit of the
state shall be no more than the number of employees that a
department or separate spending unit had as of January 1, 2004; the
bill also creates a method for departments or separate spending
units which are required to create new positions or hire new
employees by state or federal legislation or court order so as to
not exceed the maximum number of employees allowed, by reducing the
number of employees in other areas or divisions.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.