WEST virginia legislature
2021 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2834
By Delegates
Espinosa, Howell, Barrett, Householder, and Higginbotham
(By Request of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History)
[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization; reported March 10, 2021]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-1-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, related to the Commission on the Arts; to add the Curator of the West Virginia Division of Arts, Culture and History as an ex officio voting member of the commission; other technical updates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 1. DIVISION OF CULTURE AND HISTORY.
§29-1-3. Commission on the Arts.
(a) The Commission on the Arts is continued and shall be composed of 15 appointed voting members, the Curator of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History as an ex officio voting member, the director of the arts section as an ex officio nonvoting member, and the ex officio nonvoting members set forth or authorized for appointment in this section.
(b)(1) The Governor shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the voting members of the commission for staggered terms of three years. A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the remainder of that term.
(2) No more than eight appointed voting members may be of the same political party. Effective July 1, 2004, no more than three voting members may be from the same regional educational service agency district created in §18-2-26 of this code. Appointed voting members of the commission shall be appointed so as to fairly represent both sexes, the ethnic and cultural diversity of the state, and the geographic regions of the state.
(3) The commission shall
elect one of its members as chair. It shall meet at the times specified by the
chair. Notice of each meeting shall be given to each member by the chair in
compliance with the open meetings laws of the state. A majority of the voting
members constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The director of
the arts section shall be an ex officio nonvoting member of the commission
and shall serve as secretary. The director curator or a majority
of the members also may call a meeting upon notice as provided in this section.
(4) Each voting member
or ex officio nonvoting member of the commission shall serve without
compensation, but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses
actually incurred in the performance of the duties of the office; except that in
the event if the expenses are paid, or are to be paid, by a third
party, the member or ex officio member, as the case may be, shall may
not be reimbursed by the state.
(5) Upon recommendation of
the commissioner curator, the Governor also may appoint those
officers of the state that are appropriate to serve on the commission as ex
officio nonvoting members.
(c) The commission may:
(1) Advise the commissioner
a curator and the director of the arts section concerning the
accomplishment of the purposes of that section and establish a state plan with
respect to the arts section;
(2) Approve and distribute grants-in-aid and awards from federal and state funds relating to the purposes of the arts section;
(3) Request, accept, or
expend federal funds to accomplish the purposes of the arts section when
federal law or regulations would prohibit those actions by the commissioner
curator or section director, but would permit them to be done by the
commission on the arts;
(4) Otherwise encourage and promote the purposes of the arts section;
(5) Approve rules concerning the professional policies and functions of the section as promulgated by the director of the arts section; and
(6) Advise and consent to
the appointment of the director by the commissioner curator.
(d) A special revenue account in the State Treasury, known as the “Cultural Facilities and Capital Resources Matching Grant Program Fund”, is continued. The fund shall consist of moneys received under §29-22A-10 of this code and funds from any other source. The moneys in the fund shall be expended in accordance with the following:
(1) Fifty percent of the moneys deposited in the fund shall be expended by the Commission on the Arts for capital improvements, preservation, and operations of cultural facilities: Provided, That the Commission on the Arts may use no more than 25 percent of the funding for operations of cultural facilities pursuant to the rule required by this subdivision. The Commission on the Arts shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to create a matching grant program for cultural facilities and capital resources; and
(2) Fifty percent of the
moneys deposited in the fund shall be expended by the Division Department
of Arts, Culture and History for:
(A) Capital improvements,
preservation, and operation of cultural facilities that are managed by the division
department; and
(B) Capital improvements,
preservation, and operation of cultural facilities that are not managed by the division
department.
(e) The commission shall undertake a study, solicit designs, and make recommendations for the establishment of an appropriate memorial on state capitol grounds for soldiers killed in the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations who died fighting the United States War on Terror, and to recognize and honor the West Virginians who lost their lives in these conflicts. The commission shall consult with the Capitol Building Commission and state veterans, including veterans groups and Gold Star mothers of those lost in these conflicts, prior to adoption of a proposal for the memorial. The commission shall provide a report to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance by January 1, 2022, including recommendations for design and location of the memorial and estimated construction costs.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to add the Curator of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History as an ex officio voting member of the Commission on the Arts.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.