H. B. 4131
(By Delegates Susman, Crosier, Moore,
Marshall, Rick Thompson, Hatfield, Poling,
Longstreth, Martin, Caputo and Paxton)
[Introduced January 26, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-1-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §24-1-3a; and to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §24-2B-3, all relating to
the Public Service Commission; providing for election of
commissioners; compensation; terms of office; establishing a
public review panel; duties and powers of public review panel;
and providing a cap on certain utilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-1-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §24-1-3a; and that said code be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §24-2B-3, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§24-1-3. Commission continued; membership; chairman; compensation.
(a) The Public Service Commission of West Virginia is
continued and directed as provided by this chapter, chapter
twenty-four-a, chapter twenty-four-b and chapter twenty-four-d of
this code. After having conducted a performance audit through its
Joint Committee on Government Operations, pursuant to section nine,
article ten, chapter four of this code, the Legislature hereby
finds and declares that the Public Service Commission should be
continued and reestablished. Accordingly, notwithstanding the
provisions of section five, article ten, chapter four of this code,
the Public Service Commission shall continue to exist until the
first day of July, two thousand three. The Public Service
Commission may sue and be sued by that name. The Public Service
Commission shall consist of three members, one from each
congressional district, who shall be appointed by the governor,
with the advice and consent of the Senate elected by a majority of
the voters of the state. The commissioners shall be citizens and
residents of this state and at least one of them shall be duly
licensed to practice law in West Virginia, with not less than ten
years' actual work experience in the legal profession as a member
of a state bar. No more than two of the commissioners shall be
members of the same political party. Each commissioner shall,
before entering upon the duties of his or her office, take and
subscribe to the oath provided by section five, article IV of the
Constitution of this State. The oath shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The governor shall designate one of the
commissioners to serve as chairman at the governor's will and
pleasure. The chairman, who shall be elected by the commission,
shall be the chief administrative officer of the commission. The
governor may remove any commissioner only for incompetency, neglect
of duty, gross immorality, malfeasance in office or violation of
subsection (c) of this section. The chairman or any other
commissioner may be removed from office in the manner provided in
section three, article six of this code. In addition to the
grounds for removal enumerated in section three, article six,
chapter six of this code, a commissioner may be removed from office
for conviction of a felony, for conviction of a misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude or a duty of the office or of a willful
violation of this chapter or any rule, regulation or order provided
in this chapter.
(b) The unexpired terms of members of the Public Service
Commission at the time this subsection becomes effective are
continued until the end of their respective terms or until the
elected commissioners take office, whichever date first occurs. In
accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section,
one commissioner shall be elected at the general election to be
held in the year two thousand six, one commissioner shall be
elected at the general election to be held in the year two thousand
eight, and one commissioner shall be elected at the general election to be held in the year two thousand ten. Upon expiration
of the terms, appointments All future elections are for terms of
six years, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy is for the
unexpired term only. The commissioners whose terms are terminated
by the provisions of this subsection are eligible for reappointment
election.
(c) No person while in the employ of, or holding any official
relation to, any public utility subject to the provisions of this
chapter or holding any stocks or bonds of a public utility subject
to the provisions of this chapter or who is pecuniarily interested
in a public utility subject to the provisions of this chapter may
be elected to serve as a member of the commission or as an employee
of the commission. Nor may any commissioner be a candidate for or
hold any other public office or be a member of any political
committee while acting as a commissioner; nor may any commissioner
or employee of the commission receive any pass, free transportation
or other thing of value, either directly or indirectly, from any
public utility or motor carrier subject to the provisions of this
chapter. In case any of the commissioners becomes a candidate for
any public office or a member of any political committee, the
governor shall remove him or her from office and shall appoint a
new commissioner to fill the vacancy created a vacancy shall be
determined to exist in that commissioner's office.
(d) The salaries of members of the Public Service Commission and the manner in which they are paid established by the prior
enactment of this section are continued. Effective the first day
of July, two thousand one, the annual salary of each commissioner
provided in section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code
shall be paid in monthly installments from the special funds in the
percentages that follow:
(1) From the Public Service Commission Fund collected under
the provisions of section six, article three of this chapter,
eighty percent;
(2) From the Public Service Commission Motor Carrier Fund
collected under the provisions of section six, article six, chapter
twenty-four-a of this code, seventeen percent; and
(3) From the Public Service Commission Gas Pipeline Safety
Fund collected under the provisions of section three, article five,
chapter twenty-four-b of this code, three percent.
In addition to the salary provided for all commissioners in
section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code, the
chairman of the commission shall receive five thousand dollars per
annum to be paid in monthly installments from the Public Service
Commission Fund collected under the provisions of section six,
article three of this chapter.
§24-1-3a. Public review panel established
; membership; duties and
responsibilities.
There is hereby created a public review panel. The panel shall consist of seven members, with at least one member of each of
the following areas: Manufacturing, labor, senior citizen, the
impoverished and the law. Five members shall be appointed by the
Governor and one member each shall also be appointed by the Speaker
of the House and by the President of the Senate. All congressional
districts must be equally represented on the panel according to the
primary residence of each of the members. No member may be an
employee of, member of, partner in, consultant of or major vendor
to a company, organization or industry that the commission has the
authority to regulate.
The public review panel shall review and recommend any reforms
to the Legislature for the two thousand seven regular session.
This panel shall be funded by the Public Service Commission and
have the authority to hire personnel, obtain office space and
equipment as necessary to perform their duties. The public review
panel shall have subpoena powers with a two thirds vote of its
total members.
The public review panel shall terminate on the thirtieth day
of June, two thousand seven.
The Public Review Commission shall have a minimum of five
hearings in which to solicit input for the general citizenry and
industry representatives and allow for a thirty-day comment period
following each meeting. The Public Service Commission and all
regulated industries, companies and organizations shall cooperate with the public review panel fully.
ARTICLE 2B. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF RATE INCREASES.
§24-2B-3. Temporary cap on certain
utilities.
All utilities subject to regulation by this chapter that have
increased over the previous five years at a rate greater than the
inflation rate shall be capped at the current rate until the first
day of April, two thousand seven.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to
provide for the election
of Public Service Commissioners; providing terms of office;
establishing a public review panel; establishing duties and powers
of the public review panel; and providing a cap on certain
utilities.
§24-1-3a
and
§24-2B-3
are new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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