SB689: Workforce Council; change in membership.

SENATE BILL NO. 689
Offered January 20, 2006
A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-2669 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Workforce Commission.
Patron-- Ruff

Referred to Committee on Rules

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 2.2-2669 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2.2-2669. Virginia Workforce Council; purpose; membership; terms; compensation and expenses; staff.

A. The Virginia Workforce Council (the Council) is established as a policy council, within the meaning of § 2.2-2100, in the executive branch of state government. The purpose of the Council shall be to assist the Governor in meeting workforce training needs in the Commonwealth.

B. The Council shall consist of 29 25 members as follows:

1. The Council shall include two members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and two members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. Legislative members shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office and may be reappointed for successive terms.

2. The Governor; the Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Education, and Health and Human Resources; the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System; the Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission; and the president of the Virginia AFL-CIO shall serve as members.

3. The Governor shall appoint 10 additional members as follows: one mayor and one chairperson of a county board of supervisors; one representative of labor in addition to the president of the Virginia AFL-CIO; and 15 nine nonlegislative citizen members representing the business community, to include one mayor and one chairperson of a county board of supervisors, who each shall also be a business owner, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, senior manager or other business executive or employer; the presidents of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Manufacturer's Association, one representative of proprietary employment training schools, one representative of health care employers, and the remaining three members who are business owners, chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, senior managers or other business executives or employers with optimum policy-making or hiring authority and who shall represent diverse regions of the state, to include urban, suburban, and rural areas, at least two of whom shall be members of local workforce investment boards.

Nonlegislative citizen members may be nonresidents of the Commonwealth.

Members appointed in accordance with this subdivision shall serve four-year terms, subject to the pleasure of the Governor, and may be reappointed.

4. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall appoint two members who are business owners, chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, senior managers or other business executives or employers with optimum policy-making or hiring authority. Members appointed in accordance with this subdivision shall serve four-year terms, subject to the pleasure of the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and may be reappointed.

5. The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint two members who are business owners, chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, senior managers or other business executives or employers with optimum policy-making or hiring authority. Members appointed in accordance with this subdivision shall serve four-year terms, subject to the pleasure of the Senate Committee on Rules, and may be reappointed.

C. If one person appointed to fill one of the enumerated positions in subsection B also qualifies to fill any other of the enumerated positions, such person may, at the discretion of the Governor, be deemed to fill any or all of the enumerated positions for which such person qualifies.

D. The Governor shall select a chairman and vice-chairman from among the 15 nine members representing the business community appointed in accordance with subdivision 3 of subsection B. The Council shall meet upon the call of the chair or the Governor.

E. Compensation and reimbursement of expenses of the members shall be as follows:

1. Legislative members appointed in accordance with subdivision B 1 shall receive such compensation and reimbursement of expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 30-19.12, 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825.

2. Members of the Council appointed in accordance with subdivision B 2 shall not receive compensation but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825.

3. Members of the Council appointed in accordance with subdivision B 3, B 4, or B 5 shall not receive compensation but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825.

Funding for the costs of compensation and expenses of the members shall be provided from federal funds received under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220, as amended) and administered by the Virginia Employment Commission.

F. The Virginia Employment Commission, the Virginia Community College System, and the Department of Business Assistance shall serve as staff to the Council as directed by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade. The Virginia Employment Commission shall act as fiscal agent for the Council and the WIA.