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IB Union Calendar No. 435 112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3706 [Report No. 112–600] To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 16, 2011 Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources JULY 17, 2012 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 16, 2011] VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3706 RH A BILL To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3706 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE VIRGIN IS- 3 LANDS. 4 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the Virgin 6 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 7 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin 8 Islands, from the names on the list required under 9 section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated a person 10 for Chief Financial Officer but the Legislature of the 11 Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nominee within 12 90 days after receiving the list pursuant to section 13 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from such list a 14 Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis until the 15 Legislature consents to a Chief Financial Officer. 16 (2) ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—If a 17 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed under 18 paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date of the 19 enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands Chief Fi- 20 nancial Officer Search Commission, by majority vote, 21 shall appoint from the names on the list submitted 22 under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Financial Officer 23 to serve in that capacity until a Chief Financial Offi- 24 cer is appointed under the first sentence of paragraph 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3706 RH (1). In either case, if the Acting Chief Financial Offi- 1 cer serves in an acting capacity for 180 consecutive 2 days, without further action the Acting Chief Finan- 3 cial Officer shall become the Chief Financial Officer. 4 (b) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The du- 5 ties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol- 6 lowing: 7 (1) Develop and report on the financial status of 8 the Government of the Virgin Islands not later than 9 6 months after appointment and quarterly thereafter. 10 Such reports shall be available to the public. 11 (2) Each year prepare and certify spending lim- 12 its of the annual budget, including annual estimates 13 of all revenues of the territory without regard to 14 sources, and whether or not the annual budget is bal- 15 anced. 16 (3) Revise and update standards for financial 17 management, including inventory and contracting, 18 for the Government of the Virgin Islands in general 19 and for each agency in conjunction with the agency 20 head. 21 (c) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of each de- 22 partment of the Government of the Virgin Islands, in par- 23 ticular the head of the Department of Finance of the Virgin 24 Islands and the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau of 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3706 RH the Virgin Islands shall provide all documents and informa- 1 tion under the jurisdiction of that head that the Chief Fi- 2 nancial Officer considers required to carry out his or her 3 functions to the Chief Financial Officer. 4 (d) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFI- 5 CER.— 6 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall be 7 appointed for a term of 5 years. 8 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 9 not be removed except for cause. An Acting Chief Fi- 10 nancial Officer may be removed for cause or by a 11 Chief Financial Officer appointed with the advice 12 and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 13 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Offi- 14 cer is unable to continue acting in that capacity due 15 to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another Chief 16 Financial Officer shall be selected in accordance with 17 subsection (a). 18 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 19 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 20 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be less 21 than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer of 22 the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief Fi- 23 nancial Officer serving in any government or semi- 24 autonomous agency. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3706 RH (e) REFERENDUM.—As part of the closest regularly 1 scheduled, islands-wide election in the Virgin Islands to the 2 expiration of the fourth year of the five-year term of the 3 Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Elections of the Virgin 4 Islands shall hold a referendum to seek the approval of the 5 people of the Virgin Islands regarding whether the position 6 of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin 7 Islands shall be made a permanent part of the executive 8 branch of the Government of the Virgin Islands. The ref- 9 erendum shall be binding and conducted according to the 10 laws of the Virgin Islands, except that the results shall be 11 determined by a majority of the ballots cast. 12 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a commis- 14 sion to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Financial 15 Officer Search Commission’’. 16 (b) DUTY OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 17 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 18 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is- 19 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 20 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac- 21 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage- 22 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 23 experience in the development, implementation, and oper- 24 ation of financial management systems. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3706 RH (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commis- 2 sion shall be composed of 8 members appointed not 3 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 4 this Act. Persons appointed as members must have 5 recognized business, government, or financial exper- 6 tise and experience and shall be appointed as follows: 7 (A) 1 individual appointed by the Governor 8 of the Virgin Islands. 9 (B) 1 individual appointed by the President 10 of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 11 (C) 1 individual, who is an employee of the 12 Government of the Virgin Islands, appointed by 13 the Central Labor Council of the Virgin Islands. 14 (D) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 15 of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 16 (E) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 17 of Commerce of St. Croix. 18 (F) 1 individual appointed by the President 19 of the University of the Virgin Islands. 20 (G) 1 individual, who is a resident of St. 21 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 22 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 23 (H) 1 individual appointed by the Presi- 24 dent of AARP Virgin islands. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3706 RH (2) TERMS.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 2 appointed for the life of the Commission. 3 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 4 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 5 the original appointment was made. Any mem- 6 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap- 7 pointed for the remainder of that term. 8 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 9 pay. 10 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commission 11 shall constitute a quorum. 12 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 13 Commission shall be the Chief Justice of the Supreme 14 Court of the United States Virgin Islands or the des- 15 ignee of the Chief Justice. The Chairperson shall serve 16 as an ex officio member of the Commission and shall 17 vote only in the case of a tie. 18 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 19 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 20 meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 21 all members have been appointed under this sub- 22 section. 23 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3706 RH (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members may 1 not be current government employees, except for the 2 member appointed under paragraph (1)(C). 3 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 4 shall transmit a report to the Governor, the Committee on 5 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 6 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 7 not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The report 8 shall name the Commission’s recommendations for can- 9 didates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the 10 Virgin Islands. 11 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 12 upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Finan- 13 cial Officer. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 16 apply: 17 (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 18 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 19 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial Of- 20 ficer, as the case may be, appointed under section 21 1(a). 22 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 23 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 24 Search Commission established pursuant to section 2. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3706 RH (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 1 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 2 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 3 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 4 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds that 5 a reasonable person would find grounds for discharge. 6 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 435 112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3706 [Report No. 112–600] A BILL To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. JULY 17, 2012 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:59 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3706.RH H3706 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS