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2017 SESSION
17102169DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 2.2-222.3 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 2.2-222.3. Secure Commonwealth Panel; membership; duties; compensation; staff.
A. The Secure Commonwealth Panel (the Panel) is established as
an advisory board, within the meaning of § 2.2-2100, in the executive branch of
state government. The Panel shall consist of 34 members as follows: three
members of the House of Delegates, one of whom shall be the
chairman of the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety,
and two nonlegislative citizens to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Delegates; three members of the Senate of Virginia, one of
whom shall be the chairman of the Senate Committee on General Laws and
Technology, and two nonlegislative citizens to be appointed
by the Senate Committee on Rules; the Lieutenant Governor; the Attorney
General; the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia; the
Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Health and Human Resources, Technology,
Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Veterans
and Defense Affairs,; the State Coordinator of Emergency
Management of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Adjutant
General of the Virginia National Guard, or their designees;
two local first responders; three two local government
representatives; two physicians with knowledge of public health; four five
members from the business or industry sector; and four two citizens from the
Commonwealth at large. Except for appointments made by the Speaker of the House
of Delegates and the Senate Committee on Rules, all appointments shall be made
by the Governor. Additional ex officio members may be appointed to the Panel by
the Governor. Legislative members shall serve terms coincident with their terms
of office or until their successors shall qualify. Nonlegislative citizen
members shall serve for terms of four years. The Secretary of Public Safety and
Homeland Security shall be the chairman of the Panel.
B. The Panel shall have as its primary focus
emergency management and homeland security within the Commonwealth to ensure
that prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery contingency
plans and procedures, both at the state and local levels, are fully integrated,
suitable, and effective in addressing
both man-made and natural disasters. The Panel shall also monitor
and assess the implementation of statewide prevention, preparedness, response,
and recovery initiatives and where necessary review, evaluate, and make
recommendations relating to the emergency
preparedness of government at all levels in the Commonwealth concerning implementation of such initiatives. The
Panel shall also make such recommendations as it deems necessary
to enhance or improve the resiliency of
public and private critical infrastructure to survive man-made and natural
disasters. The
C. On or before October 1 of
each year, the Panel shall make annual reports report to the Governor, the Senate
Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, the
House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Militia, Police
and Public Safety
concerning the state's state of
the Commonwealth's emergency preparedness, response,
recovery, and prevention efforts and the resources necessary
to implement them. Such report may, with the
concurrence of the Governor, include a classified annex containing sensitive or
classified information, which information is
excluded from disclosure in accordance with subdivisions 2, 3, 4, and 6 of §
2.2-3705.2 and which, if revealed
publicly, would jeopardize or
compromise security plans and procedures in the Commonwealth designed
to protect (i) the public or (ii) public or private critical
infrastructure. Any information in the classified annex presented to any committee
of the General Assembly shall be discussed in a closed meeting as
provided in subdivision 19 of § 2.2-3711.
D. The Panel shall designate an Emergency Management Awareness Council (the Council) consisting of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Lieutenant Governor, the Attorney General, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology to facilitate communication between the executive and legislative branches of state government. The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security during an emergency management situation to review critical information concerning such situation. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall (i) advise the Panel whenever the Council meets and (ii) facilitate communication between the Council and the Panel. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall assist, to the extent provided by law, in obtaining access to classified information for the Council when such information is necessary to enable the Council to perform its duties.
C. E. Members
of the Panel shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable
and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties as provided in
§ 2.2-2825.
D. F. Staff
support for the Panel and funding for the costs of expenses of the members
shall be provided by the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
E. G. The
Secretary shall facilitate cabinet-level coordination among the various
agencies of state government related to emergency preparedness and shall
facilitate private sector preparedness and communication.