USVI Public Records

Document text

108TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3589 AN ACT To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands. 108TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3589 AN ACT 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 2 •HR 3589 EH 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 3 •HR 3589 EH for 180 consecutive days, without further action the 1 Acting Chief Financial Officer shall become the 2 Chief Financial Officer. 3 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the appointment of a 5 Chief Financial Officer under subsection (a), the 6 functions of the Director of the Office of Manage- 7 ment and Budget established under the laws of the 8 Virgin Islands shall be transferred to the Chief Fi- 9 nancial Officer. All employees of the Office of Man- 10 agement and Budget become employees of the Office 11 of the Chief Financial Officer. 12 (2) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of 13 each department of the Government of the Virgin Is- 14 lands, in particular the head of the Department of 15 Finance of the Virgin Islands and the head of the 16 Internal Revenue Bureau of the Virgin Islands shall 17 provide all documents and information under the ju- 18 risdiction of that head that the Chief Financial Offi- 19 cer considers required to carry out his or her func- 20 tions to the Chief Financial Officer. 21 (c) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The 22 duties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol- 23 lowing: 24 4 •HR 3589 EH (1) Assume the functions and authority of the 1 office of the Office of Management and Budget es- 2 tablished under the laws of the Virgin Islands as 3 transferred under subsection (b). 4 (2) Develop a report on the financial status of 5 the Government of the Virgin Islands not later than 6 6 months after appointment and quarterly there- 7 after. Such reports shall be available to the public 8 and shall be submitted to the Committee on Re- 9 sources in the House of Representatives and the 10 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the 11 Senate. 12 (3) Each year certify spending limits of the an- 13 nual budget and whether or not the annual budget 14 is balanced. 15 (4) Monitor operations of budget for compliance 16 with spending limits, appropriations, and laws, and 17 direct adjustments where necessary. 18 (5) Develop standards for financial manage- 19 ment, including inventory and contracting, for the 20 government of the Virgin Islands in general and for 21 each agency in conjunction with the agency head. 22 (6) Oversee all aspects of the implementation of 23 the financial management system provided pursuant 24 to section 3 to ensure the coordination, trans- 25 5 •HR 3589 EH parency, and networking of all agencies’ financial, 1 personnel, and budget functions. 2 (7) Provide technical staff to the Governor and 3 legislature of the Virgin Islands for development of 4 a deficit reduction and financial recovery plan. 5 (d) DEPUTY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—Until the 6 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 7 this Act, the position of the Director of the Office of Man- 8 agement and Budget of the Virgin Islands shall— 9 (1) have the duties, salary (as specified in sub- 10 section (f)(3)), and other conditions of the Deputy 11 Chief Financial Officer in lieu of the duties, salary, 12 and other conditions of the Director of the Office of 13 Management and Budget of the Virgin Islands as 14 such functions existed before the appointment of the 15 Chief Financial Officer; and 16 (2) assist the Chief Financial Officer in car- 17 rying out the duties of the Chief Financial Officer. 18 (e) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OF- 19 FICER.— 20 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 21 be appointed for a term of 5 years. 22 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer 23 shall not be removed except for cause. An Acting 24 Chief Financial Officer may be removed for cause or 25 6 •HR 3589 EH by a Chief Financial Officer appointed with the ad- 1 vice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Is- 2 lands. 3 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Of- 4 ficer is unable to continue acting in that capacity 5 due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another 6 Chief Financial Officer shall be selected in accord- 7 ance with subsection (a). 8 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 9 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 10 of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be 11 less than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer 12 of the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief 13 Financial Officer serving in any government or semi- 14 autonomous agency. 15 (f) CONDITIONS RELATED TO DEPUTY CHIEF FI- 16 NANCIAL OFFICER.— 17 (1) TERM; REMOVAL.—The Deputy Chief Fi- 18 nancial Officer shall serve at the pleasure of the 19 Chief Financial Officer. 20 (2) REPLACEMENT.—If the Deputy Chief Fi- 21 nancial Officer is unable to continue acting in that 22 capacity due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, 23 another person shall be selected by the Governor of 24 7 •HR 3589 EH the Virgin Islands to serve as Deputy Chief Finan- 1 cial Officer. 2 (3) SALARY.—The Deputy Chief Financial Offi- 3 cer shall be paid at a salary to be determined by the 4 Chief Financial Officer, except such rate may not be 5 less than the rate of pay of the Director of the Of- 6 fice of Management and Budget. 7 (g) RESUMPTION OF FUNCTIONS.—On the date that 8 is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 9 the functions of the Chief Financial Officer shall be trans- 10 ferred to the Director of the Office of Management and 11 Budget of the Virgin Islands. 12 (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have effect 13 after the date that is 5 years after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this Act. 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 8 •HR 3589 EH ment in governmental or business entities and must have 1 experience in the development, implementation, and oper- 2 ation of financial management systems. Candidates shall 3 not have served in a policy making or unclassified position 4 of the Government of the Virgin Islands in the 10 years 5 immediately preceding appointment as Chief Financial Of- 6 ficer. 7 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 8 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com- 9 mission shall be composed of 9 members appointed 10 not later than 30 days after the date of the enact- 11 ment of this Act. Persons appointed as members 12 must have recognized business, government, or fi- 13 nancial expertise and experience and shall be ap- 14 pointed as follows: 15 (A) 1 individual appointed by the Governor 16 of the Virgin Islands. 17 (B) 1 individual appointed by the Presi- 18 dent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 19 (C) 1 individual, who is an employee of the 20 Government of the Virgin Islands, appointed by 21 the Central Labor Council of the Virgin Is- 22 lands. 23 (D) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 24 of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 25 9 •HR 3589 EH (E) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 1 of Commerce of St. Croix. 2 (F) 1 individual appointed by the Presi- 3 dent of the University of the Virgin Islands. 4 (G) 1 individual appointed by the Chief 5 Judge of the Virgin Islands Territorial Court. 6 (H) 1 individual, who is a resident of St. 7 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 8 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 9 (I) 1 individual appointed by the Advocates 10 for the Preservation of the Retirement System. 11 (2) TERMS.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 13 appointed for the life of the Commission. 14 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 15 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 16 the original appointment was made. Any mem- 17 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap- 18 pointed for the remainder of that term. 19 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 20 pay. 21 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commis- 22 sion shall constitute a quorum. 23 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 24 Commission shall be the Chief Judge of the Terri- 25 10 •HR 3589 EH torial Court or her designee and shall serve as an ex 1 officio member of the Commission and shall vote 2 only in the case of a tie. 3 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 4 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 5 meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 6 all members have been appointed under this sub- 7 section. 8 (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members 9 may not be current government employees, except 10 for the member appointed under paragraph (1)(C); 11 and 12 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 13 shall transmit a report to the Governor and the Resources 14 Committee of the House of Representatives and the Com- 15 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 16 not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The report 17 shall name the Commission’s recommendations for can- 18 didates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the 19 Virgin Islands. 20 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 21 210 days after its first meeting. 22 SEC. 3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. 23 It is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 24 as necessary for the installation of a Financial Manage- 25 11 •HR 3589 EH ment System, including appropriate computer hardware 1 and software, to the Government of the Virgin Islands. 2 Upon becoming available, the financial management sys- 3 tem shall be available to the Chief Financial Officer and, 4 after the date that is 5 years after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Manage- 6 ment and Budget of the Virgin Islands, to assist the Chief 7 Financial Officer or the Director of the Office of Manage- 8 ment and Budget of the Virgin Islands, as the case may 9 be, to carry out the official duties of that office. 10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 11 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 12 apply: 13 (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 14 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 15 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial 16 Officer, as the case may be, appointed under section 17 1(a). 18 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 19 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 20 Search Commission established pursuant to section 21 2. 22 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 23 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 24 12 •HR 3589 EH (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 1 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 2 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds 3 that a reasonable person would find grounds for dis- 4 charge. 5 SEC. 5. NO ABROGATION OF POWERS. 6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit the 7 Governor and Legislature of the Virgin Islands to dilute, 8 delegate, or otherwise alter or weaken the powers and au- 9 thority of the Office of Management and Budget estab- 10 lished under the laws of the Virgin Islands. 11 Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 2004. Attest: Clerk.