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IB Union Calendar No. 78 113TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 85 [Report No. 113–110] To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2013 Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources JUNE 17, 2013 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 85 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 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 85 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 Vir- 8 gin Islands, from the names on the list required 9 under section 2(d). If the Governor has nominated 10 a person for Chief Financial Officer but the Legisla- 11 ture of the Virgin Islands has not confirmed a nomi- 12 nee within 90 days after receiving the list pursuant 13 to section 2(d), the Governor shall appoint from 14 such list a Chief Financial Officer on an acting basis 15 until the Legislature consents to a Chief Financial 16 Officer. 17 (2) ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—If a 18 Chief Financial Officer has not been appointed 19 under paragraph (1) within 180 days after the date 20 of the enactment of this Act, the Virgin Islands 21 Chief Financial Officer Search Commission, by ma- 22 jority vote, shall appoint from the names on the list 23 submitted under section 2(d), an Acting Chief Fi- 24 nancial Officer to serve in that capacity until a Chief 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 85 RH Financial Officer is appointed under the first sen- 1 tence of paragraph (1). In either case, if the Acting 2 Chief Financial Officer serves in an acting capacity 3 for 180 consecutive days, without further action the 4 Acting Chief Financial Officer shall become the 5 Chief Financial Officer. 6 (b) DUTIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The 7 duties of the Chief Financial Officer shall include the fol- 8 lowing: 9 (1) Develop and report on the financial status 10 of the Government of the Virgin Islands not later 11 than 6 months after appointment and quarterly 12 thereafter. Such reports shall be available to the 13 public. 14 (2) Each year prepare and certify spending lim- 15 its of the annual budget, including annual estimates 16 of all revenues of the territory without regard to 17 sources, and whether or not the annual budget is 18 balanced. 19 (3) Revise and update standards for financial 20 management, including inventory and contracting, 21 for the Government of the Virgin Islands in general 22 and for each agency in conjunction with the agency 23 head. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 85 RH (c) DOCUMENTS PROVIDED.—The heads of each de- 1 partment of the Government of the Virgin Islands, in par- 2 ticular the head of the Department of Finance of the Vir- 3 gin Islands and the head of the Internal Revenue Bureau 4 of the Virgin Islands shall provide all documents and in- 5 formation under the jurisdiction of that head that the 6 Chief Financial Officer considers required to carry out his 7 or her functions to the Chief Financial Officer. 8 (d) CONDITIONS RELATED TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OF- 9 FICER.— 10 (1) TERM.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 11 be appointed for a term of 5 years. 12 (2) REMOVAL.—The Chief Financial Officer 13 shall not be removed except for cause. An Acting 14 Chief Financial Officer may be removed for cause or 15 by a Chief Financial Officer appointed with the ad- 16 vice and consent of the Legislature of the Virgin Is- 17 lands. 18 (3) REPLACEMENT.—If the Chief Financial Of- 19 ficer is unable to continue acting in that capacity 20 due to removal, illness, death, or otherwise, another 21 Chief Financial Officer shall be selected in accord- 22 ance with subsection (a). 23 (4) SALARY.—The Chief Financial Officer shall 24 be paid at a salary to be determined by the Governor 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 85 RH of the Virgin Islands, except such rate may not be 1 less than the highest rate of pay for a cabinet officer 2 of the Government of the Virgin Islands or a Chief 3 Financial Officer serving in any government or semi- 4 autonomous agency. 5 (e) REFERENDUM.—As part of the closest regularly 6 scheduled, islands-wide election in the Virgin Islands to 7 the expiration of the fourth year of the five-year term of 8 the Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Elections of the 9 Virgin Islands shall hold a referendum to seek the ap- 10 proval of the people of the Virgin Islands regarding wheth- 11 er the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Govern- 12 ment of the Virgin Islands shall be made a permanent part 13 of the executive branch of the Government of the Virgin 14 Islands. The referendum shall be binding and conducted 15 according to the laws of the Virgin Islands, except that 16 the results shall be determined by a majority of the ballots 17 cast. 18 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com- 20 mission to be known as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Chief Finan- 21 cial Officer Search Commission’’. 22 (b) DUTY OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 23 recommend to the Governor not less than 3 candidates for 24 nomination as Chief Financial Officer of the Virgin Is- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 85 RH lands. Each candidate must have demonstrated ability in 1 general management of, knowledge of, and extensive prac- 2 tical experience at the highest levels of financial manage- 3 ment in governmental or business entities and must have 4 experience in the development, implementation, and oper- 5 ation of financial management systems. 6 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 7 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com- 8 mission shall be composed of 8 members appointed 9 not later than 30 days after the date of the enact- 10 ment of this Act. Persons appointed as members 11 must have recognized business, government, or fi- 12 nancial expertise and experience and shall be ap- 13 pointed as follows: 14 (A) 1 individual appointed by the Governor 15 of the Virgin Islands. 16 (B) 1 individual appointed by the Presi- 17 dent of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 18 (C) 1 individual, who is an employee of the 19 Government of the Virgin Islands, appointed by 20 the Central Labor Council of the Virgin Is- 21 lands. 22 (D) 1 individual appointed by the Chamber 23 of Commerce of St. Thomas-St. John. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 85 RH (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, who is a resident of St. 5 John, appointed by the At-Large Member of the 6 Legislature of the Virgin Islands. 7 (H) 1 individual appointed by the Presi- 8 dent of AARP Virgin islands. 9 (2) TERMS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be 11 appointed for the life of the Commission. 12 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com- 13 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 14 the original appointment was made. Any mem- 15 ber appointed to fill a vacancy shall be ap- 16 pointed for the remainder of that term. 17 (3) BASIC PAY.—Members shall serve without 18 pay. 19 (4) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commis- 20 sion shall constitute a quorum. 21 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 22 Commission shall be the Chief Justice of the Su- 23 preme Court of the United States Virgin Islands or 24 the designee of the Chief Justice. The Chairperson 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 85 RH shall serve as an ex officio member of the Commis- 1 sion and shall vote only in the case of a tie. 2 (6) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 3 the call of the Chairperson. The Commission shall 4 meet for the first time not later than 15 days after 5 all members have been appointed under this sub- 6 section. 7 (7) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.—Members 8 may not be current government employees, except 9 for the member appointed under paragraph (1)(C). 10 (d) REPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission 11 shall transmit a report to the Governor, the Committee 12 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 13 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 14 Senate not later than 60 days after its first meeting. The 15 report shall name the Commission’s recommendations for 16 candidates for nomination as Chief Financial Officer of 17 the Virgin Islands. 18 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 19 upon the nomination and confirmation of the Chief Finan- 20 cial Officer. 21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 22 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 23 apply: 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 85 RH (1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—In sections 1 1 and 2, the term ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ means a 2 Chief Financial Officer or Acting Chief Financial 3 Officer, as the case may be, appointed under section 4 1(a). 5 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 6 means the Virgin Islands Chief Financial Officer 7 Search Commission established pursuant to section 8 2. 9 (3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 10 the Governor of the Virgin Islands. 11 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The term ‘‘removal 12 for cause’’ means removal based upon misconduct, 13 failure to meet job requirements, or any grounds 14 that a reasonable person would find grounds for dis- 15 charge. 16 VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 78 113TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 85 [Report No. 113–110] A BILL To create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. JUNE 17, 2013 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H85.RH H85 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS