FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 14, 2026
Time Requested: 06:19 PM |
| Agency: |
Legislative Auditor |
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| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 1648 |
Introduced |
HB4137 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Legislature |
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|
FUND(S):
General
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund
Legislation creates:
Creates New Expense
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
This bill does not create a new program or spending unit, rather it continues the West Virginia Law Institute (Institute), allows for new members, and also allows citizen members to receive reimbursement in accordance with 4-2A-6, creating a new expense.
4-2A-6 applies specifically to reimbursement for elected member of the legislature:
"(a) Each member of the Legislature is entitled to be reimbursed, upon submission of an expense voucher, for expenses incurred incident to travel in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the Legislature or any committee of the Legislature, whether the committee is operating under general law or resolution, including, but not limited to, attendance at party caucuses held in advance of the date of the assembly of the Legislature in regular session in odd-numbered years for the purpose of selecting candidates for officers of the two houses, at a rate equal to that paid by the travel management office of the Department of Administration for the most direct usually traveled route, if travel is by private automobile, or for actual transportation costs for direct route travel, if travel is by public carrier, or for any combination of those means of transportation actually used, plus the cost of necessary taxi service, tolls and parking fees in connection with the travel, but during any regular, extension of regular or extraordinary session, travel expenses shall not be paid to any member for more than one round trip to and from the seat of government and to and from his or her place of residence for each week of the session."
It is unclear how a citizen member would be eligible for reimbursement under 4-2A-6 as it applies specifically to members of the legislature. It is also unclear what members are considered "citizen" members as there is no other use of this term anywhere in the bill and the term is undefined per this section of code.
For the purpose of the estimate, the assumption was that this bill is seeking to allow the other Institute members to be eligible for reimbursement for incurred expenses attending Institute meetings similar to the reimbursements allowed under 4-2A-6.Further, since citizen member is undefined it is also assumed that all members not elected to the legislature would be a citizen member.
The Institute is already functioning as stipulated in the bill and reimbursements under 4-2A-6 for attending meetings are already made to those members also serving as elected members of the legislature or as an employee of the same (Currently 6 members and the Director of Legislative Services). It is unclear by whom and how reimbursements are currently paid for other Institute members not serving as an elected member of the legislature, but previous language made it clear no state funds were to be provided to the Institute, "The compensation provided for in this section shall come from private funding and no state funds are to be provided for this institute."
The bill however strikes this language that made it clear that no state funds are to be provided for this Institute, making it more unclear as to what entity is responsible for the reimbursements under 4-12-4 stating citizen members are now entitled to reimbursement under 4-2A-6. It will be assumed that since 4-12-4 now references reimbursements made under 4-2A-6 that these costs will be reimbursed by the Legislature.
Based on meeting minutes available on the West Virginia Law Institute website (https://www.law.wvu.edu/west-virginia-law-institute), the most recent meeting noted was in 2017 and it appears the Institute holds meetings about twice per year. However, other information suggests more recent meetings and a December 2024 meeting may have been through Zoom as a virtual meeting, incurring no costs.
Based on this information this estimate uses the following assumptions:
Round trip mileage per meeting (Charleston to Morgantown) - 300 miles
Number of members - 30
Number of meeting per year - 2
Mileage reimbursement rate - $0.725
Number of members eligible for reimbursement under 4-2A-6 - All 30
Total Reimbursements Per Year = $13,050
Costs already incurred under 4-2A-6 = $3,045
Total Less Costs Already Incurred = $10,005
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2026
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2027
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
10,005 |
10,005 |
10,005 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
10,005 |
10,005 |
10,005 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Assumptions made:
Round trip mileage per meeting (Charleston to Morgantown) - 300 miles
Number of members - 30
Number of meeting per year - 2
Mileage reimbursement rate - $0.725
Number of members eligible for reimbursement under 4-2A-6 - All 30
Total Reimbursements Per Year (300 x 30 x 2 x $0.725) = $13,050
Costs already incurred under 4-2A-6 = $3,045
Total Less Costs Already Incurred = $10,005
New expenses total $10,005
Memorandum
It is unclear whether it is allowed to authorize reimbursement per 4-2A-6 for all citizen members in the new 4-12-4 language and "citizen member" is undefined. It is assumed for the purpose of the estimate that this would allow all 30 Institute members to be eligible for such reimbursement and would cause the Legislature to pay these costs. The bill also strikes the language making clear no state funds would be provided to the Institute, making it less clear who would pay these costs if not the State/Legislature under 4-2A-6.
The location of each member is unknown. However, the majority of those defined in code have work HQ in Charleston so the assumption was made that the majority of trips would be from Charleston to Morgantown where the Institute is located.
If the allowed reimbursements under 4-12-4 would be paid by each member's respective employer and only those members associated with the Legislature would be eligible for reimbursement under 4-2A-6, then only 7 of the 30 Institute members would have potential costs eligible to be reimbursed (Senate & House Judiciary chairs (2), One member from majority and minority of Senate and House (4), and the Director of Legislative Services (1).) This would reduce the estimated cost to $3,045 however as mentioned before these costs were already being incurred for meetings of the Institute, so this would not create a new expense. The only new expense would be the reimbursements to the other 27 members not currently eligible for reimbursement under 4-2A-6.
The language of 4-12-4 of this bill could be clarified to indicate who qualifies as a citizen member to be eligible for reimbursement, as well as specifying the entity responsible for reimbursing these costs and whether that should be the state, the legislature, or the respective member's employer.
Note* - If such meeting are held virtually using Zoom, there should be no costs to reimburse.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Justin Robinson
Email Address: justin.robinson@wvlegislature.gov