HB776: Federal Oversight, Commission on; created, report.

HOUSE BILL NO. 776
Offered January 11, 2012
Prefiled January 11, 2012
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 30 a chapter numbered 51, consisting of sections numbered 30-330 through 30-336, relating to Federal Oversight Commission; report.
Patron-- Landes

Committee Referral Pending

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 51, consisting of sections numbered 30-330 through 30-336, as follows:

CHAPTER 51.
COMMISSION ON FEDERAL OVERSIGHT.

§ 30-330. Commission on Federal Oversight; purpose.

The Commission on Federal Oversight, (the Commission), is established in the legislative branch of state government. The Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established a balanced system of government and provided that all nondelegated and nonprohibited powers are reserved to the states or to the people. Therefore, to advance the provisions of the Tenth Amendment, the Commission is hereby created to facilitate a formal mechanism of communication on broad bipartisan public policy matters through regular meetings with the United States Senate members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation and the Virginia General Assembly, and through communication with members of the United States House of Representatives of the Virginia Congressional Delegation, whereby state and federal legislators may address public policy matters for which both federal and state governments have responsibility.

§ 30-331. Membership; terms; vacancies; chairman and vice-chairman.

The Commission shall consist of seven legislative members. Members shall be appointed as follows: four 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; and three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.

Legislative members of the Commission shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Legislative members may be reappointed. However, no member of the House of Delegates shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms and no member of the Senate shall serve more than two consecutive four-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.

§ 30-332. Quorum; meetings; voting on recommendations.

The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The Commission shall meet at least four times each year, of which two meetings shall be devoted to meeting with the United States Senate members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation. 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.

§ 30-333. Compensation; expenses.

Legislative members of the Commission shall receive such compensation as provided in § 30-19.12. All members shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 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.

§ 30-334. Powers and duties of the Commission.

The Commission shall meet regularly with members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation to discuss and propose constructive remedies for the economy, social concerns, a balanced federal budget, and restoration of the balance of power between federal and state governments. The Commission shall also consider and address public policy issues with the Virginia Congressional Delegation relative to resolving matters within the respective domains of federal and state governments.

§ 30-335. Staffing.

Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of 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.

§ 30-336. 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.

2.  For its first year of existence, if the Commission is not funded by a separate appropriation in the appropriation act, the Commission may be funded from the operating budgets of the Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate upon the approval of the Joint Rules Committee. If the Commission is not funded by a separate appropriation in the appropriation act for any year thereafter, this chapter shall expire on July 1 of the fiscal year that the Commission fails to receive such funding.