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IB Union Calendar No. 389 108TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3589 [Report No. 108–645] To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 21, 2003 Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources SEPTEMBER 7, 2004 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 November 21, 2003] A BILL To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands. 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 2 •HR 3589 RH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the Virgin 1 Islands shall appoint a Chief Financial Officer, with 2 the advice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin 3 Islands, from the names on the list required under 4 section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated a person 5 for Chief Financial Officer but the Legislature of the 6 Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nominee within 7 90 days after receiving the list pursuant to section 8 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from such list a 9 Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis until the 10 Legislature consents to a Chief Financial Officer. 11 (2) ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—If a 12 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed under 13 paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date of the 14 enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands Chief Fi- 15 nancial Officer Search Commission, by majority vote, 16 shall appoint from the names on the list submitted 17 under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Financial Officer 18 to serve in that capacity until a Chief Financial Offi- 19 cer is appointed under the first sentence of paragraph 20 (1). In either case, if the Acting Chief Financial Offi- 21 cer serves in an acting capacity for 180 consecutive 22 days, without further action the Acting Chief Finan- 23 cial Officer shall become the Chief Financial Officer. 24 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.— 25 3 •HR 3589 RH (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the appointment of a 1 Chief Financial Officer under subsection (a), the 2 functions of the Director of the Office of Management 3 and Budget established under the laws of the Virgin 4 Islands shall be transferred to the Chief Financial Of- 5 ficer. All employees of the Office of Management and 6 Budget become employees of the Office of the Chief Fi- 7 nancial Officer. 8 (2) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of each 9 department of the Government of the Virgin Islands, 10 in particular the head of the Department of Finance 11 of the Virgin Islands and the head of the Internal 12 Revenue Bureau of the Virgin Islands shall provide 13 all documents and information under the jurisdiction 14 of that head that the Chief Financial Officer considers 15 required to carry out his or her functions to the Chief 16 Financial Officer. 17 (c) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The du- 18 ties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol- 19 lowing: 20 (1) Assume the functions and authority of the of- 21 fice of the Office of Management and Budget estab- 22 lished under the laws of the Virgin Islands as trans- 23 ferred under subsection (b). 24 4 •HR 3589 RH (2) Develop a report on the financial status of 1 the Government of the Virgin Islands not later than 2 6 months after appointment and quarterly thereafter. 3 Such reports shall be available to the public and shall 4 be submitted to the Committee on Resources in the 5 House of Representatives and the Committee on En- 6 ergy and Natural Resources in the Senate. 7 (3) Each year certify spending limits of the an- 8 nual budget and whether or not the annual budget is 9 balanced. 10 (4) Monitor operations of budget for compliance 11 with spending limits, appropriations, and laws, and 12 direct adjustments where necessary. 13 (5) Develop standards for financial management, 14 including inventory and contracting, for the govern- 15 ment of the Virgin Islands in general and for each 16 agency in conjunction with the agency head. 17 (6) Oversee all aspects of the implementation of 18 the financial management system provided pursuant 19 to section 3 to ensure the coordination, transparency, 20 and networking of all agencies’ financial, personnel, 21 and budget functions. 22 (7) Provide technical staff to the Governor and 23 legislature of the Virgin Islands for development of a 24 deficit reduction and financial recovery plan. 25 5 •HR 3589 RH (d) DEPUTY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—Until the 1 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 2 Act, the position of the Director of the Office of Management 3 and Budget of the Virgin Islands shall— 4 (1) have the duties, salary (as specified in sub- 5 section (f)(3)), and other conditions of the Deputy 6 Chief Financial Officer in lieu of the duties, salary, 7 and other conditions of the Director of the Office of 8 Management and Budget of the Virgin Islands as 9 such functions existed before the appointment of the 10 Chief Financial Officer; and 11 (2) assist the Chief Financial Officer in carrying 12 out the duties of the Chief Financial Officer. 13 (e) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFI- 14 CER.— 15 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall be 16 appointed for a term of 5 years. 17 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 18 not be removed except for cause. An Acting Chief Fi- 19 nancial Officer may be removed for cause or by a 20 Chief Financial Officer appointed with the advice 21 and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 22 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Offi- 23 cer is unable to continue acting in that capacity due 24 to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another Chief 25 6 •HR 3589 RH Financial Officer shall be selected in accordance with 1 subsection (a). 2 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 3 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 4 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be less 5 than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer of 6 the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief Fi- 7 nancial Officer serving in any government or semi- 8 autonomous agency. 9 (f) CONDITIONS RELATED TO DEPUTY CHIEF FINAN- 10 CIAL OFFICER.— 11 (1) TERM; REMOVAL.—The Deputy Chief Finan- 12 cial Officer shall serve at the pleasure of the Chief Fi- 13 nancial Officer. 14 (2) REPLACEMENT.—If the Deputy Chief Finan- 15 cial Officer is unable to continue acting in that ca- 16 pacity due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, an- 17 other person shall be selected by the Governor of the 18 Virgin Islands to serve as Deputy Chief Financial Of- 19 ficer. 20 (3) SALARY.—The Deputy Chief Financial Offi- 21 cer shall be paid at a salary to be determined by the 22 Chief Financial Officer, except such rate may not be 23 less than the rate of pay of the Director of the Office 24 of Management and Budget. 25 7 •HR 3589 RH (g) RESUMPTION OF FUNCTIONS.—On the date that is 1 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the func- 2 tions of the Chief Financial Officer shall be transferred to 3 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the 4 Virgin Islands. 5 (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have effect 6 after the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 7 of this Act. 8 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a commis- 10 sion to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Financial 11 Officer Search Commission’’. 12 (b) DUTY OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 13 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 14 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is- 15 lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 16 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac- 17 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage- 18 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 19 experience in the development, implementation, and oper- 20 ation of financial management systems. Candidates shall 21 not have served in a policy making or unclassified position 22 of the Government of the Virgin Islands in the 10 years 23 immediately preceding appointment as Chief Financial Of- 24 ficer. 25 8 •HR 3589 RH (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commis- 2 sion shall be composed of 9 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 appointed by the Chief 21 Judge of the Virgin Islands Territorial Court. 22 (H) 1 individual, who is a resident of St. 23 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 24 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 25 9 •HR 3589 RH (I) 1 individual appointed by the Advocates 1 for the Preservation of the Retirement System. 2 (2) TERMS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 4 appointed for the life of the Commission. 5 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 6 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 7 the original appointment was made. Any mem- 8 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap- 9 pointed for the remainder of that term. 10 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 11 pay. 12 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commission 13 shall constitute a quorum. 14 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 15 Commission shall be the Chief Judge of the Territorial 16 Court or her designee and shall serve as an ex officio 17 member of the Commission and shall vote only in the 18 case of a tie. 19 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 20 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 21 meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 22 all members have been appointed under this sub- 23 section. 24 10 •HR 3589 RH (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members may 1 not be current government employees, except for the 2 member appointed under paragraph (1)(C); and 3 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 4 shall transmit a report to the Governor and the Resources 5 Committee of the House of Representatives and the Com- 6 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate not 7 later than 60 days after its first meeting. The report shall 8 name the Commission’s recommendations for candidates for 9 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is- 10 lands. 11 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 12 210 days after its first meeting. 13 SEC. 3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. 14 It is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 15 as necessary for the installation of a Financial Manage- 16 ment System, including appropriate computer hardware 17 and software, to the Government of the Virgin Islands. 18 Upon becoming available, the financial management system 19 shall be available to the Chief Financial Officer and, after 20 the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 21 this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 22 Budget of the Virgin Islands, to assist the Chief Financial 23 Officer or the Director of the Office of Management and 24 11 •HR 3589 RH Budget of the Virgin Islands, as the case may be, to carry 1 out the official duties of that office. 2 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 3 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 4 apply: 5 (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 6 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 7 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial Of- 8 ficer, as the case may be, appointed under section 9 1(a). 10 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 11 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 12 Search Commission established pursuant to section 2. 13 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 14 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 15 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 16 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 17 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds that 18 a reasonable person would find grounds for discharge. 19 SEC. 5. NO ABROGATION OF POWERS. 20 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit the 21 Governor and Legislature of the Virgin Islands to dilute, 22 delegate, or otherwise alter or weaken the powers and au- 23 thority of the Office of Management and Budget established 24 under the laws of the Virgin Islands. 25 Union Calendar No. 389 108TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3589 [Report No. 108–645] A BILL To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands. SEPTEMBER 7, 2004 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed