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IIB 112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3706 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 2, 2012 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources AN ACT To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3706 RFS SECTION 1. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE VIRGIN IS- 1 LANDS. 2 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the Virgin 4 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 5 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Vir- 6 gin Islands, from the names on the list required 7 under section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated 8 a person for Chief Financial Officer but the Legisla- 9 ture of the Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nomi- 10 nee within 90 days after receiving the list pursuant 11 to section 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from 12 such list a Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis 13 until the Legislature consents to a Chief Financial 14 Officer. 15 (2) ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—If a 16 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed 17 under paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date 18 of the enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands 19 Chief Financial Officer Search Commission, by ma- 20 jority vote, shall appoint from the names on the list 21 submitted under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Fi- 22 nancial Officer to serve in that capacity until a Chief 23 Financial Officer is appointed under the first sen- 24 tence of paragraph (1). In either case, if the Acting 25 Chief Financial Officer serves in an acting capacity 26 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3706 RFS for 180 consecutive days, without further action the 1 Acting Chief Financial Officer shall become the 2 Chief Financial Officer. 3 (b) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The 4 duties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol- 5 lowing: 6 (1) Develop and report on the financial status 7 of the Government of the Virgin Islands not later 8 than 6 months after appointment and quarterly 9 thereafter. Such reports shall be available to the 10 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 15 balanced. 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 Vir- 24 gin Islands and the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3706 RFS of the Virgin Islands shall provide all documents and in- 1 formation under the jurisdiction of that head that the 2 Chief Financial Officer considers required to carry out his 3 or her functions to the Chief Financial Officer. 4 (d) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OF- 5 FICER.— 6 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 7 be appointed for a term of 5 years. 8 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer 9 shall not be removed except for cause. An Acting 10 Chief Financial Officer may be removed for cause or 11 by a Chief Financial Officer appointed with the ad- 12 vice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Is- 13 lands. 14 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Of- 15 ficer is unable to continue acting in that capacity 16 due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another 17 Chief Financial Officer shall be selected in accord- 18 ance with subsection (a). 19 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 20 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 21 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be 22 less than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer 23 of the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3706 RFS Financial Officer serving in any government or semi- 1 autonomous agency. 2 (e) REFERENDUM.—As part of the closest regularly 3 scheduled, islands-wide election in the Virgin Islands to 4 the expiration of the fourth year of the five-year term of 5 the Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Elections of the 6 Virgin Islands shall hold a referendum to seek the ap- 7 proval of the people of the Virgin Islands regarding wheth- 8 er the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Govern- 9 ment of the Virgin Islands shall be made a permanent part 10 of the executive branch of the Government of the Virgin 11 Islands. The referendum shall be binding and conducted 12 according to the laws of the Virgin Islands, except that 13 the results shall be determined by a majority of the ballots 14 cast. 15 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com- 17 mission to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Finan- 18 cial Officer Search Commission’’. 19 (b) DUTY OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 20 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 21 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is- 22 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 23 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac- 24 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3706 RFS ment in governmental or business entities and must have 1 experience in the development, implementation, and oper- 2 ation of financial management systems. 3 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 4 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com- 5 mission shall be composed of eight members ap- 6 pointed not later than 30 days after the date of the 7 enactment of this Act. Persons appointed as mem- 8 bers must have recognized business, government, or 9 financial expertise and experience and shall be ap- 10 pointed as follows: 11 (A) One individual appointed by the Gov- 12 ernor of the Virgin Islands. 13 (B) One individual appointed by the Presi- 14 dent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 15 (C) One individual, who is an employee of 16 the Government of the Virgin Islands, ap- 17 pointed by the Central Labor Council of the 18 Virgin Islands. 19 (D) One individual appointed by the 20 Chamber of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 21 (E) One individual appointed by the Cham- 22 ber of Commerce of St. Croix. 23 (F) One individual appointed by the Presi- 24 dent of the University of the Virgin Islands. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3706 RFS (G) One individual, who is a resident of St. 1 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 2 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 3 (H) One individual appointed by the Presi- 4 dent of AARP Virgin islands. 5 (2) TERMS.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 7 appointed for the life of the Commission. 8 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 9 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 10 the original appointment was made. Any mem- 11 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap- 12 pointed for the remainder of that term. 13 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 14 pay. 15 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commis- 16 sion shall constitute a quorum. 17 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 18 Commission shall be the Chief Justice of the Su- 19 preme Court of the United States Virgin Islands or 20 the designee of the Chief Justice. The Chairperson 21 shall serve as an ex officio member of the Commis- 22 sion and shall vote only in the case of a tie. 23 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 24 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 HR 3706 RFS meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 1 all members have been appointed under this sub- 2 section. 3 (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members 4 may not be current government employees, except 5 for the member appointed under paragraph (1)(C). 6 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 7 shall transmit a report to the Governor, the Committee 8 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 9 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 10 Senate not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The 11 report shall name the Commission’s recommendations for 12 candidates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of 13 the Virgin Islands. 14 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 15 upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Finan- 16 cial Officer. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 19 apply: 20 (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 21 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 22 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial 23 Officer, as the case may be, appointed under section 24 1(a). 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:39 Aug 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3706.RFS H3706 emcdonald on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 HR 3706 RFS (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 2 Search Commission established pursuant to section 3 2. 4 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 5 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 6 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 7 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 8 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds 9 that a reasonable person would find grounds for dis- 10 charge. 11 Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 2012. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. 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