(a) It is the duty of the Legislative Auditor to:

(1) Compile fiscal information for the Senate and the House of Delegates, to including the fiscal information and economic analysis required by §4-2-6a of this code;

(2) Make a continuous audit and analysis of the state budget, revenues and expenditures, during and between sessions of the Legislature; to

(3) Make post audits of the revenues and expenditures of the spending units of the state government, at least once every two years, if practicable; to

(4) Report any misapplication of state funds or erroneous, extravagant or unlawful expenditures by any spending unit; to and

(5) Ascertain facts and to make recommendations to the Legislature concerning post-audit findings, the revenues and expenditures of the state and of the organization and functions of the state and its spending units.

(b) The Legislative Auditor may collect, and the department, agency or board shall pay, any or all of the costs associated with conducting the post audits from the department, agency or board being audited, when necessary and desirable. The Legislative Auditor shall render to the department, agency or board liable for the costs a statement of the costs as soon after the costs were incurred as practicable, and it is the duty of the department, agency or board to pay promptly in the manner that other claims and accounts are paid. All money received by the Legislative Auditor from this source shall be expended only for the purpose of covering the costs associated with such services, unless otherwise directed by the Legislature.

(c) A copy of each report of audit when completed and certified shall be filed ~~in the office of~~ with the Department of ~~finance and~~ Administration as a public record and a copy shall be filed with the Attorney General for any action he or she may consider necessary.

§4-2-6a. Division of Regulatory and Fiscal Affairs established; fiscal note and economic impact analysis process authorized.

(a) In order to better ascertain both the fiscal impact of proposed legislation and the economic impact of legislative rules promulgated pursuant to §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, the Division of Regulatory and Fiscal Affairs (“division”) is hereby established under the Joint Committee on Government and Finance. The division shall be administered by the Legislative Auditor, and shall provide the Legislature with fiscal and economic analysis of proposed legislation and legislative rules as set forth in this section.

(b) Fiscal notes. –

(1) The division is responsible for obtaining any and all information necessary to complete a required fiscal note, which shall conform to the requirements as to form and content as prescribed by the Clerks of the Senate and the House of Delegates: Provided, That every fiscal note shall include the following:

(A) An estimate in dollars, if available, of the immediate and long-range fiscal impacts of the measure. If no dollar estimate is available, the fiscal note shall set forth the reasons therefor;

(B) A detailed breakdown of the costs of the fiscal impacts of the measure, including, but not limited to, any fiscal impact on personal services, current expenses, repairs and alterations, assets, or such other relevant information as the division considers appropriate;

(D) An analysis of any fiscal notes prepared by the agency or agencies impacted by the measure;

(E) Any discernable economic impact the measure may have on the revenues of the state; and

(F) To the extent practicable, an assessment of the potential compliance costs to the public of conforming to the proposed measure.

(2) To the extent that additional information is required by the division from any agency or governmental entity, the information shall be provided to the division within 24 hours, or as soon as reasonably available, of the request.

(1) The division shall perform an economic impact analysis pursuant to the provisions of this subsection for any legislative rule submitted to the Legislature in accordance with §29A-3-9 of this code.

(2) When an agency finally approves a proposed legislative rule for submission to the Legislature, the division shall conduct an initial economic analysis of the rule to determine the potential fiscal and economic impact of the rule. In performing its analysis, the division may consider, but not exclusively rely upon, any fiscal note or economic impact statement provided by the agency in accordance with §29A-3-11(a)(5) of this code. If the division independently determines that the rule could have a fiscal or economic impact greater than $1 million, then the division shall perform a full economic impact analysis in accordance with subdivision (3) of this subsection.

(3) The division shall conduct an economic impact analysis for any agency approved legislative rule with a fiscal or economic impact determined to be greater than $1 million. The economic impact analysis conducted shall include, but may not be limited to, the following:

(A) A statement of need;

(B) The legal basis for the rule and whether the rule is mandatory by law or discretionary on the part of the proposing agency;

(D) An evaluation of costs and benefits, including:

(i) Estimated primary or direct benefits;

(ii) Estimated cost savings or financial benefits to the citizens of West Virginia;

(iii) Estimated compliance costs for regulated entities;

(iv) Estimated secondary or indirect costs;

(v) Estimated impact on state revenue;

(vi) Estimated impact on state expenditures, including estimated administrative expenses;

(vii) Estimated opportunity cost of compliance resulting from the removal of private capital from the market;

(viii) An evaluation of any potential adverse impacts on the citizens and businesses within the state;

(ix) Any estimated costs, savings or impacts of proposed alternatives to the rule; and

(x) The estimated net financial impact of the rule as well as any proposed alternatives to the rule.

(E) Any key assumptions made or areas of uncertainty.

(4) An economic impact analysis shall also be performed pursuant to the provisions of this subsection for any legislative rule being renewed in accordance with §29A-3-19(d) of this code.

(5) The division shall conduct an economic impact analysis for any rule, including any existing legislative rule or agency proposed rule, upon request of either the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Delegates, either of the chairs of the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee, or either Minority Leader for the Senate or the House of Delegates.

(6) A copy of any economic impact analysis shall be filed with the Secretary of State for publication with the agency approved rule.

(7) The requirements of this subsection do not apply to legislative exempt rules in accordance with §29A-3-4 of this code.

(d) Upon request of the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, and under the supervision of the Legislative Auditor, the division may assist with a performance review or economic analysis of specific laws, rules of the state to determine the effectiveness of the measure in achieving initial legislative intent, the continuing impact of such a measure, and whether the measure under review should be continued, amended or terminated.

ARTICLE 3. JOINT COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AND FINANCE.

§4-3-3c. Reorganization of joint legislative agencies.

(a) The Joint Committee on Government and Finance has the authority over and direction of joint legislative agencies, personnel and services, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The Commission on Special Investigations provided for in §4-5-1 et seq. of this code;

(2) The ~~Court of~~ West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission provided for in §14-2-1 et seq. of this code and crime victims compensation provided for in §14-2A-1et seq. of this code;

(3) The Legislative Auditor provided for in §4-2-1 et seq. of this code;

(4) The Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee provided for in §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code;

(5) The Division of Regulatory and Fiscal Affairs provided for in §4-2-6a of this code;

~~(5)~~ (6) The legislative reference library provided for in §4-3-3 of this code;

~~(6)~~ (7) The legislative automated systems division;

~~(7)~~ (8) Legislative Services;

~~(8)~~ (9) Public information; and

~~(9)~~ (10) Joint services provided by one or more of the joint agencies set forth in this subsection. The following joint services are included:

(A) Bill drafting;

(B) Budget analysis;

(D) Financial, payroll, personnel and purchasing for joint agencies and personnel;

(E) Fiscal analysis;

(F) Post audits, full performance evaluations and preliminary performance reviews;

(G) Research; and

(H) Joint services to other joint legislative committees created and authorized by this code, to joint standing committees of the Senate and House of Delegates, to standing committees of the Senate and House of Delegates and to legislative interim committees.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance has the authority to reorganize and restructure the joint legislative agencies, personnel and services as provided in subsection (a) of this section for the purposes of improving their efficiency and the service they provide to the Legislature and to improve the management thereof by the joint committee. To accomplish these purposes, the joint committee may create divisions as it determines necessary and transfer and assign the joint agencies, personnel and services to the divisions. The divisions, joint agencies, personnel and services shall operate under the direction and policies of the joint committee: Provided, That ~~nothing in~~ this section ~~shall be construed to~~ does not permit the joint committee to alter or redefine the powers, duties and responsibilities vested in the Commission on Special Investigations pursuant to §4-5-1 et seq. of this code.