Bill Text: WV HB2696 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creating the fire service equipment and training fund
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-23 - To House Finance [HB2696 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2021-HB2696-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2021 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2696
By Delegates Steele, Statler, Skaff, Fluharty, Maynard, Barrett,
Lovejoy, Diserio, Garcia, and D. Kelly
[BY REQUEST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY]
[Introduced February 23, 2021; Referred to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §15A-11-11 of the Code of West Virginia 1931, as amended, relating to creating the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund, restricting the use of grant funds to specified purposes; specifying disposition of grant funds remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year; requiring the Fire Commission to establish an equipment and training grant program for volunteer and part volunteer companies based upon certain circumstances; specifying the criteria the State Fire Marshal shall consider when making grants; authorizing the Fire Commission to propose emergency legislative rules and legislative rules; requiring the legislative auditor notify the Fire Commission of any volunteer or part volunteer department that is ineligible to receive grant funds; requiring that volunteer or part volunteer department or companies are ineligible until the Legislative Auditor informs the Fire Commission that the company or department has come into compliance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 11. FIRE COMMISSION.
§15A-11-11. Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund; creation of fire service equipment and training grant; reports of ineligibility to State Fire Marshal.
(a) Definitions. — For
the purposes of this section:
“Equipment and training
grant” means a grant of money to a volunteer fire company or a part-volunteer
fire department from the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund created in
§15A-11-11 of this code;
“Formula distribution”
means a distribution of money to volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies or
departments made pursuant to §33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and §33-12C-7 of this code;
and
“State funds account”
means a bank account established by a volunteer or part-volunteer fire company
or department and maintained for the exclusive use and accounting of money from
formula distributions and equipment and training grants.
(b) Filing required
documentation. — Every volunteer and part-volunteer fire company or department
seeking to receive formula distributions or an equipment and training grant
shall file copies of bank statements and check images from the company’s or
department’s state funds account for the previous calendar year with the
Legislative Auditor on or before February 1 of each year.
(c) Reviews and audits.
— The Legislative Auditor is authorized to conduct regular reviews or audits of
deposits and expenditures from formula distribution and equipment and training
grant funds by volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies or departments. The
Legislative Auditor may assign an employee or employees to perform audits or
reviews at his or her direction. The State Treasurer shall provide the
Legislative Auditor information, in the manner designated by the Legislative
Auditor, concerning formula distributions and equipment and training grants
paid to volunteer or part-volunteer fire companies and departments. The
volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department shall cooperate with the
Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor’s employees, and the State Auditor
in performing their duties under the laws of this state.
(d) State Auditor. — Whenever
the State Auditor performs an audit of a volunteer or part-volunteer fire
company or department for any purpose, the Auditor shall also conduct an audit
of other state funds received by the company or department pursuant to
§33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and §33-12C-7 of this code. The Auditor shall send a copy
of the audit to the Legislative Auditor. The Legislative Auditor may accept an
audit performed by the Auditor in lieu of performing an audit under this
section.
(e) Withholding of
funds. —The Treasurer is authorized to withhold payment of a formula
distribution or an equipment and training grant from a volunteer or
part-volunteer fire company or department, when properly notified by the
Legislative Auditor pursuant to this section, of any of the following
conditions:
(1) Failure to file, in
a timely manner, copies of bank statements and check images with the
Legislative Auditor;
(2) Failure to cooperate
with a review or audit conducted by the Legislative Auditor;
(3) Misapplication of
state funds; or
(4) Failure to file a
report or a sworn statement of expenditures as required by §12-4-14 of this
code for a state grant other than an equipment and training grant.
(f) Delinquency in
filing. — If, after February 1, a volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or
department has failed to file the required bank statements and check images
with the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor shall notify the
delinquent company or department at two separate times in writing of the
delinquency and of possible forfeiture of its Fire Service Equipment and
Training Fund distribution for the year. If the required bank statements and
check images are not filed with the Legislative Auditor by March 31, unless the
time period is extended by the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor
shall then notify the Treasurer who shall withhold payment of any amount that
would otherwise be distributed to the company or department. Prior to each
subsequent quarterly disbursement of funds by the Treasurer, the Legislative
Auditor shall notify each delinquent company or department twice per each
quarter in which the company or department is delinquent. The Legislative
Auditor may choose the method or methods of notification most likely to be
received by the delinquent company or department.
(g) Noncooperation. —
If, in the course of an audit or review by the Legislative Auditor, a volunteer
or part-volunteer fire company or department fails to provide documentation of
its accounts and expenditures in response to a request of the Legislative
Auditor, the Legislative Auditor shall notify the State Treasurer who shall
withhold payment of any amount that would otherwise be distributed to the
company or department under the provisions of §33-3-14d, §33-3-33, and
§33-12C-7 of this code until the Legislative Auditor informs the State
Treasurer that the company or department has cooperated with the review or
audit.
(h) Reporting of other
grants. — Nothing in this section alters the duties and responsibilities of a volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department imposed
under §12-4-14 of this code if that company or department has received funds
from any state grant program other than from the Fire Service Equipment and
Training Fund. If the Legislative Auditor is notified by a grantor that a
volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department has failed to file a
report or a sworn statement of expenditures for a state grant it received, the
Legislative Auditor shall notify the State Treasurer who shall withhold further
distributions to the company or department in the manner provided in this
section.
(i) Escrow and
forfeiture of moneys withheld. — The Volunteer Fire Department Audit Account
previously created in the Treasury is hereby continued. When the State
Treasurer receives notice to withhold the distribution of money to a volunteer
or part-volunteer fire company or department pursuant to this section, the
Treasurer shall instead deposit the amounts withheld into the Volunteer Fire
Department Audit Account. If the Treasurer receives notice that the volunteer
or part-volunteer fire company or department has come into compliance in less
than one year from the date of deposit into this special revenue account, then
the Treasurer shall release and distribute the withheld amounts to the company
or department, except that any interest that has accrued thereon shall be
credited to the general revenue of the state. If, after one year from payment
of the amount withheld into the special revenue account, the Legislative
Auditor informs the State Treasurer of continued noncooperation by the company
or department, the delinquent company or department forfeits the amounts
withheld and the State Treasurer shall pay the amounts withheld into Fire
Service Equipment and Training Fund created in §29-3-5f of this code.
(j) Misuse of state
money. — If the Legislative Auditor determines that a volunteer or
part-volunteer fire company or department has used formula distribution money
for purposes not authorized by §8-15-8b of this code or has used equipment and
training grant money for purposes not authorized by the grant program, the
Legislative Auditor shall give a written notice of noncompliance to the company
or department. If a volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department
disagrees or disputes the finding, the company or department may contest the
finding by submitting a written objection to the Legislative Auditor within
five working days of receipt of the Legislative Auditor’s finding. The
department or company shall then have 60 days from the date of the Legislative
Auditor’s finding to provide documentation to substantiate that the
expenditures were made for authorized purposes. If the volunteer or
part-volunteer fire company or department does not dispute the findings of the
Legislative Auditor or if the company or department is not able to substantiate
an authorized purpose for the expenditure, the Legislative Auditor shall notify
the Treasurer of the amount of misapplied money and the Treasurer shall deduct
that amount from future distributions to that company or department until the
full amount of unauthorized expenditure is offset.
(a) There is hereby continued in the Treasury a special revenue fund to be known as the Fire Service Equipment and Training Fund. Expenditures from the fund by the State Fire Commission are authorized from collections. The fund may only be used for the purpose of providing grants to equip volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments and their members, and to train volunteer and part-volunteer firefighters. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year does not revert to the General Revenue Fund, but remains in the Special Revenue Fund.
(b) The State Fire Commission shall establish a grant program for equipment and training for volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments. Such grant program shall be open to all volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments. In making grants pursuant to this section, the State Fire Marshal shall consider:
(1) The number of emergency and nonemergency calls responded to by the company or department;
(2) The activities and responses of the company or department;
(3) The revenues received by the company or department from federal, state, county, municipal, local, and other sources; and
(4) The company’s or department’s assets, expenditures, and other liabilities, including whether the fire company or department has availed itself of available statewide contracts.
(c) The State Fire Commission may promulgate emergency rules and shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with § 29A-3-1 et seq. of this code as may be necessary to implement and comply with the provisions of this section.
(d) The Legislative Auditor shall notify the State Fire Marshal of any volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department that is ineligible to receive grant funds due to the company’s or department’s failure to file required bank statements or financial reports or failure to comply with an audit or review by the Legislative Auditor. A volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department reported by the Legislative Auditor shall be ineligible to receive funds under this section until the Legislative Auditor notifies the State Fire Marshal that the company or department has come into compliance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to fix a drafting error that occurred in the 2020 regular session. This returns the language of the repealed 29-3-5f to code, which was mistakenly overwritten by another, still existing code section.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
