Senate Bill No. 25
(By Senators Burdette, Mr. President, and Boley,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 14, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twelve-d, relating
to the establishment of the office of business registration
and centralize records for business registration;
legislative findings and declaration of purpose;
establishment of an interagency advisory group;
establishment of a centralized data base to store
registration, licensing and other similar information
concerning the initiation of new businesses in West
Virginia; development of a single basic registration form
and an agency contact list; providing for the
confidentiality of records; directing that staffing come
from existing positions and certain costs come from existing
appropriations; and ensuring limited effect so that no
existing agency responsibilities or powers are changed.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article twelve-d, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 12D. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF BUSINESS REGISTRATION;
CREATION OF CENTRALIZED RECORDS.
§11-12D-1. Legislative findings and declaration of purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
assistance, promotion, encouragement, development and advancement
of economic prosperity and employment throughout this state
requires an efficient, coherent, accurate and simplified system
for the registration of businesses with state and local agencies.
The Legislature further finds and declares that the establishment
of such a system will promote consistent, fair and efficient
compliance with registration, licensing and other similar
statutory obligations by all businesses in the state. The
Legislature finds that staff of the secretary of state, the
department of tax and revenue and the bureau of employment
programs, as well as staff from other state agencies with an
interest in the issue, have studied the need for, and the
feasibility of, a simplified system of business registration and
have designed certain elements of such a system, specifically, a
common data base of information regarding businesses registering
with said agencies. The Legislature recognizes the need for
continued involvement and cooperation by said agencies and it is
the intent of the Legislature to build upon the work of theseagencies in order to develop a simplified business registration
system in the manner contemplated by this article. The purposes
of the system created by this article are therefore to make
government more responsive to the needs of West Virginia
businesses in their dealings with government and to better enable
government agencies to assure that all West Virginia businesses
comply with legal requirements.
§11-12D-2. Establishment of office of business registration;
centralized business registration records.
(a) There is hereby established in the tax division of the
department of tax and revenue the office of business
registration.
(b) For the purpose of designing and implementing the
simplified business registration system contemplated by this
article, there is hereby established the business registration
interagency advisory group, which shall consist of
representatives designated by the secretary of state; the
secretary of tax and revenue; the executive director of the
development office; secretary of commerce, labor and
environmental resources; and the commissioner of the bureau of
employment programs. The advisory group shall consult with
representatives of such other state offices and agencies as
necessary to accomplish the purposes of this article. In
implementing the simplified business registration system
described in this article, the tax commissioner shall be guided
by the recommendations of the advisory group.
(c) The office of business registration, with the
cooperation and assistance of all interested governmental
entities, shall establish a system of centralized records, which
may be in the form of a centralized data base, for the
acquisition and storage of information the departments, divisions
and agencies may require for registration, licensing and other
similar statutory purposes related to the initiation of new
businesses in West Virginia.
(d) Not later than the thirtieth day of November, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the office of business
registration shall design a single basic registration information
form for the purpose of fulfilling, to the extent feasible, the
business registration information requirements of the department
of tax and revenue, the secretary of state and the bureau of
employment programs. The information to be provided on the form
will include the name, address and telephone number of the
prospective new business; the standard industry code or codes
appropriate to the business; the number of employees of the
business; and such other appropriate information. Prospective
new businesses must register with the office of business
registration and disclose the business registration information
required by that office.
(e) For each prospective new business seeking to do business
in the state of West Virginia, a record of registration
information will be entered into the centralized records or data
base for new business registration.
(f) If all of the business registration information required
by the secretary of state, the department of tax and revenue and
the bureau of employment programs can not feasibly be included in
a single form, the office of business registration will include
on the single form as much of the information as is feasible and
will design a system which avoids, to the maximum extent
possible, duplication of effort by businesses seeking to
register. No later than the thirtieth day of June, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-five, the office of business registration and
the advisory group shall make joint recommendations as to
additional measures, whether administrative or legislative,
needed in order to:
(1) Permit a business to provide all needed registration
information in a single step;
(2) Bring all interested governmental entities into the
simplified registration system; and
(3) Simplify in any other manner the dealings of businesses
with government agencies in West Virginia, with particular
emphasis on data management techniques.
§11-12D-3. Agency contact list, dispersal of data base
information to agencies, agency contact with prospective
businesses.
(a) An agency contact list consisting of those state
government agencies and offices having registration, licensing or
other similar statutory provisions related to the initiation of
new businesses in West Virginia or which should otherwise havecontact with a new business, will be maintained by the office of
business registration in conjunction with the centralized records
for new business registration.
(b) Based upon the proposed location, size, number of
employees, type of business, standard industry code or codes and
other pertinent information relating to the business, each
prospective new business, upon having a record established in the
centralized records for new business registration, shall be
informed by the office of business registration of those state
agencies or offices having a registration, licensing and other
similar statutory provisions related to the initiation of a new
business in West Virginia or other function relating to
prospective new business such that the agency or office should by
law or regulation be given notice of the establishment or
operation of a new business in West Virginia. The office of
business registration shall establish a record of the new
business in the centralized data base for the use and benefit of
any agency or officer of the state of West Virginia having access
to the data base and which should, by law or regulation, receive
notice of the establishment or operation of a particular
business. The record should contain such information as is
necessary to fulfill the regulatory, registration or licensing
function of that agency, or in lieu of such information, the
name, address and other pertinent information relating to the
particular business whereby the agency or office may initiate
such procedures or make such contact with the particular businessas is appropriate for the fulfillment of the regulatory,
registration, licensing or other statutory duties of the office
or agency.
§11-12D-4. Confidentiality of records of the centralized data
base for new business registration.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, new
business registration information may be disseminated to the
state of West Virginia, its political subdivisions, agencies and
offices in accordance with this article.
(b) Information from the centralized records for new
business registration received by any state, local or municipal
agency or office is confidential and the provisions of sections
five-d and five-s, article ten of this chapter concerning
confidentiality and disclosure of taxpayer information apply to
such information.
§11-12D-5. Staffing for office of business registration; costs
of centralized records system; fees for use of system;
legislative intent.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the staff of
the office of business registration established by this article
be composed of existing positions within the departments,
divisions and agencies of the state whose functions are
centralized by this article, and particularly from existing staff
of the department of tax and revenue and the bureau of employment
programs.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that costsassociated with the office of business registration and the
centralized records system established in this article be paid,
to the maximum extent possible, from existing appropriations to
the department of tax and revenue and the bureau of employment
programs, except for such additional costs as may be attributable
to the development and maintenance of the centralized records
system or data base. To carry out this intent, the governor may
redirect funds from such appropriations.
§11-12D-6. Limited effect of article; intent of Legislature.
It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article
to simplify the methods by which government agencies gather
information from businesses for the purposes of registration,
licensing or other similar statutory purpose related to the
initiation of new businesses in West Virginia:
Provided, That
this article shall not be construed to change any existing
requirement of this code, nor to modify any existing agency
responsibility or power, except as may be necessary to simplify
the information-gathering functions described in this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the office
of business registration and a system of centralized records for
new business registration in the tax division.
Article 12D is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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