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2012 SESSION

12103496D
HOUSE BILL NO. 252
Offered January 11, 2012
Prefiled January 10, 2012
A BILL to amend and reenact § 5.1-155 of the Code of Virginia, relating to composition of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
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Patrons-- May, Albo, Anderson, Comstock, Greason, Hugo, LeMunyon, Lingamfelter and Rust
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 5.1-155 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 5.1-155. Membership; terms; officers.

A. The Authority shall consist of thirteen 17 members: five seven appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, three four appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, two three appointed by the Governor of the State of Maryland, and three appointed by the President of the United States. Members representing the Commonwealth of Virginia shall be subject to confirmation by the Virginia General Assembly. For the purposes of doing business, seven nine members shall constitute a quorum. The failure of a single appointing official to appoint one or more members, as herein provided, shall not impair the Authority's creation when the other conditions thereof have been met.

B. Members shall (i) not hold elective or appointive public office, (ii) serve without compensation, and (iii) reside within the Washington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, except that the members appointed by the President of the United States shall be registered voters of states other than Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia. The members of the Authority shall be entitled to reimbursement for their expenses incurred in attendance upon the meetings of the Authority or while otherwise engaged in the discharge of their duties.

C. Appointments to the Authority shall be for a period of six years. However, initial appointments shall be made as follows: each jurisdiction shall appoint one member for a full six-year term, a second member for a four-year term, and, in the case of the Commonwealth and the District of Columbia, a third member for a two-year term. The Governor of Virginia shall make the final two Virginia initial appointments for one two-year and one four-year term. The President shall make subsequent appointments for six-year terms. The President shall make one of the initial appointments pursuant to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Amendments Act of 1996 for a four-year term.

D. Eight Ten affirmative votes shall be required to approve bond issues and the annual budget of the Authority.

E. Each member may be removed or suspended from office only for cause, and in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction from which he is appointed.

F. The Authority shall annually elect one of its members as chairman and another as vice-chairman and shall also elect annually a secretary and a treasurer, or a secretary-treasurer, who may or may not be members of the Authority, and prescribe their powers and duties. The Authority may also appoint from its staff an assistant secretary and an assistant treasurer, or an assistant secretary-treasurer, who shall, in addition to other duties, discharge such functions of the secretary and the treasurer.

G. The members of the Authority shall continue to serve until their successors shall be duly appointed. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term. Any member of the Authority shall be eligible for reappointment for one term. A member shall not serve after the expiration of the member’s term or terms.

H. The members of the Authority, including any nonvoting members, shall not be personally liable for any act done or action taken in their capacities as members of the Authority, nor shall they be personally liable for any bond, note or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the Authority.

2.  That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.