Senate Bill No. 767
(By Senators Bowman, Hunter and Minard)
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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §21A-2-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the powers and duties of the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Employment Programs generally;
and providing that the commissioner may revoke the business
registration certificate of an employer in default.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21A-2-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.
§21A-2-6. Powers and duties generally.
The commissioner is the executive and administrative head of
the bureau
or and has the power and duty to:
(1) Exercise general supervision for the governance of the
bureau and propose rules for promulgation in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the requirements of this chapter;
(2) Prescribe uniform rules pertaining to investigations,
departmental hearings and propose rules for promulgation;
(3) Supervise fiscal affairs and responsibilities of the
bureau;
(4) Prescribe the qualifications of, appoint, remove and fix
the compensation of the officers and employees of the bureau,
subject to the provisions of section ten, article four of this
chapter, relating to the board of review;
(5) Organize and administer the bureau so as to comply with
the requirements of this chapter and to satisfy any conditions
established in applicable federal law or regulation;
(6) Make reports in the form and containing information
required by the United States Department of Labor and comply with
any requirements that the United States Department of Labor finds
necessary to assure the correctness and verification of the
reports;
(7) Make available to any agency of the United States charged
with the Administration of Public Works or assistance through
public employment, upon its request, the name, address, ordinary
occupation and employment status of each recipient of unemployment
compensation and a statement of the recipient's rights to further
compensation under this chapter;
(8) Keep an accurate and complete record of all bureau proceedings, record and file all bonds and contracts and assume
responsibility for the custody and preservation of all papers and
documents of the bureau;
(9) Sign and execute in the name of the state, by the "Bureau
of Employment Programs," any contract or agreement with the federal
government, its agencies, other states, their subdivisions or
private persons;
(10) Prescribe a salary scale to govern compensation of
appointees and employees of the bureau;
(11) Make the original determination of right in claims for
benefits;
(12) Make recommendations and an annual report to the Governor
concerning the condition, operation and functioning of the bureau;
(13) Invoke any legal or special remedy for the enforcement of
orders or the provisions of this chapter;
(14) Exercise any other power necessary to standardize
administration, expedite bureau business, assure the establishment
of fair rules and promote the efficiency of the service;
(15) Keep an accurate and complete record and prepare a
monthly report of the number of persons employed and unemployed in
the state. The report shall be made available upon request to
members of the public and press;
(16) Provide at bureau expense a program of continuing
professional, technical and specialized instruction for the personnel of the bureau;
(17) (A) Propose
for promulgation rules
for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code under which agencies of this
state shall
revoke or not grant, issue or renew any contract,
license, permit, certificate or other authority to conduct a trade,
profession or business to or with any employing unit whose account
is in default with the commissioner with regard to the
administration of this chapter. The term "agency" includes any
unit of state government such as officers, agencies, divisions,
departments, boards, commissions, authorities or public
corporations. An employing unit is not in default if it has
entered into a repayment agreement with the Unemployment
Compensation Division of the bureau and remains in compliance with
its obligations under the repayment agreement.
(B) The rules shall provide that, before
revoking, granting,
issuing or renewing any contract, license, permit, certificate or
other authority to conduct a trade, profession or business to or
with any employing unit, the designated agencies shall review a
list or lists provided by the bureau of employers that are in
default. If the employing unit's name is not on the list, the
agency, unless it has actual knowledge that the employing unit is
in default with the bureau, may grant, issue or renew the contract,
license, permit, certificate or other authority to conduct a trade, profession or business. The list may be provided to the agency in
the form of a computerized database or databases that the agency
can access. Any objections to the
revocation or refusal to issue
or renew shall be reviewed under the appropriate provisions of this
chapter. The rules provided
for by this subdivision shall be
promulgated pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code. The prohibition against granting,
issuing,
or renewing
or revoking any contract, license, permit,
certificate or other authority under this subdivision shall
continue in full force and effect until the revised rules are
promulgated and are in effect.
(C) The rules may be promulgated or implemented in phases so
that specific agencies or specific types of contracts, licenses,
permits, certificates or other authority to conduct trades,
professions or businesses will be subject to the rules beginning on
different dates. The presumptions of ownership or control
contained in the Division of Environmental Protection's Surface
Mining Reclamation Regulations promulgated under the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-two of this code are not applicable
or controlling in determining the identity of employing units who
are in default for the purposes of this subdivision. The rules
shall also provide a procedure allowing any agency or interested
person, after being covered under the rules for at least one year,
to petition the bureau of employment programs to be exempt from the provisions of the rules. Rules subjecting all applicable agencies
and contracts, licenses, permits, certificates or other authority
to conduct trades, professions or businesses to the requirements of
this subdivision that were promulgated prior to the first day of
October, two thousand three, shall be revised and submitted for
legislative review no later than the first day of June, two
thousand four;
(18) Deposit to the credit of the appropriate special revenue
account or fund, notwithstanding any other provision of this code
and to the extent allowed by federal law, all amounts of delinquent
payments or overpayments, interest and penalties thereon, and
attorneys' fees and costs collected under the provisions of this
chapter. The amounts collected shall not be treated by the Auditor
or Treasurer as part of the general revenue of the state; and
(19) Enter into interagency agreements to assist in exchanging
information and fulfilling the provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the commissioner
of the bureau of employment programs the authority to revoke a
business registration certificate of an employer in default.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.