Bill Text: VA HB959 | 2016 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Women's Right to Vote, Commission for Commemoration of Centennial of; established.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-16 - Left in Rules [HB959 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2016-HB959-Prefiled.html
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16101158D Patrons-- Carr, Aird, Anderson, Bagby, Bell, J.J., Bell, Richard P., Boysko, Bulova, Heretick, Herring, Kory, Krizek, Lindsey, McClellan, McQuinn, Minchew, Murphy, Plum, Price, Rasoul, Simon, Spruill, Sullivan and Watts; Senators: Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Howell, Locke, Saslaw, Sturtevant, Vogel and Wexton Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 30 a chapter numbered 58, consisting of sections numbered 30-362 through 30-370, as follows: §30-362. Commission for the Commemoration of the Centennial of Women's Right to Vote; purpose. The Commission for the Commemoration of the Centennial of Women's Right to Vote (the Commission) is established in the legislative branch of state government. The purpose of the Commission is to plan and lead the Commonwealth in commemorating the centennial anniversary of women's right to vote in 2020 and to educate the public concerning the importance and significance of the right to vote by all citizens in a democracy. §30-363. Membership; terms; vacancies; chairman and vice-chairman. The Commission shall consist of eight members that include five legislative members, two nonlegislative citizen members, and one ex officio member. Members shall be appointed as follows: three members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; two members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; one representative of the League of Women Voters to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; one representative of the Virginia Historical Society to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and the Librarian of Virginia or his designee to serve ex officio with voting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Commission shall be citizens of the Commonwealth. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the Commission and the respective Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth for the purpose of attending meetings. Legislative members and ex officio members of the Commission shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of two years. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Legislative members and nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed. However, no nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly. §30-364. Quorum; meetings; voting on recommendations. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Commission shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request. No recommendation of the Commission shall be adopted if a majority of the House members or a majority of the Senate members appointed to the Commission (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Commission. §30-365. Compensation; expenses. Legislative members of the Commission shall receive such compensation as provided in §30-19.12, and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive such compensation for the performance of their duties as provided in §2.2-2813. All members shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§2.1-2813 and 2.2-2825. However, all such compensation and expenses shall be paid from existing appropriations to the Commission or, if unfunded, shall be approved by the Joint Rules Committee. §30-366. Commission for the Commemoration of the Centennial of Women's Right to Vote Fund. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Commission for the Commemoration of the Centennial of Women's Right to Vote Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All moneys, gifts, grants, donations, bequests, or other funds from any source as may be received by the Commission for its work shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of enabling the Commission to perform its duties. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the chairman of the Commission. §30-367. Powers and duties of the Commission. The Commission shall have the powers and duties to: 1. Plan, develop, and perform programs and activities appropriate to commemorate the centennial of women's right to vote; 2. Promote and encourage research and scholarship to increase historical literacy concerning the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; 3. Educate citizens concerning the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia and its role in obtaining the right to vote for women in the Commonwealth and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; 4. Collaborate with the Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, the Department of Education, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy, the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries Special Collections and Archives, and other interested persons and civic and community organizations to plan, provide, and promote appropriate educational and cultural programs to commemorate the history and leaders of women's suffrage in the Commonwealth; 5. Engage and encourage civic, historical, educational, and other organizations throughout the Commonwealth to organize and participate in activities to expand the understanding and appreciation of the significance of the centennial of women's right to vote; 6. Solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, grants, donations, bequests, or other funds received by the Commission for the purpose of aiding or facilitating its work; and 7. Perform such other duties, functions, and activities as may be necessary to facilitate and implement the objectives of this chapter. §30-368. Staffing. Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House or Delegates or the Office of the Clerk of the Senate as may be appropriate for the house in which the chairman of the Commission serves. The Division of Legislative Services shall provide legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the Commission. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request. §30-369. Chairman's executive summary of activity and work of the Commission. The chairman shall submit to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Commission no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website. At the conclusion of the commemoration, the chairman of the Commission shall submit to the 2021 Session of the General Assembly and the Governor a final report for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems. §30-370. Sunset. This chapter shall expire on July 1, 2020. 2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless an appropriation effectuating the purposes of this act is included in a general appropriation act passed in 2016 by the General Assembly that becomes law. |
