GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 364

Short Title:  Voc. Rehab. Trans. Vehicles.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Representatives Flaherty; Buchanan, Fletcher, Robinson, and Smith.
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Appropriations.
─────────────────────────────────────── 

March 28, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ALLOW THE DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION TO PURCHASE MOTOR VEHICLES TO TRANSPORT CLIENTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-341(8) reads as rewritten:
"(8)	General Services:
a.	To locate, maintain and care for public buildings and grounds; to establish, locate, maintain, and care for walks, driveways, trees, shrubs, flowers, fountains, monuments, memorials, markers, and tablets on public grounds; and to beautify the public grounds.
b.	To provide necessary and adequate cleaning and janitorial service, elevator operation service, and other operation or maintenance services for the public buildings and grounds.
c.	To provide necessary night watchmen for the public buildings and grounds.
d.	To make prompt repair of all public buildings and the equipment, furniture, and fixtures thereof; and to establish and operate shops for that purpose.
e.	To keep in repair, out of funds appropriated for that purpose, the furniture of the halls of the Senate and House of Representatives and the rooms of the Capitol used by the officers, clerks, and other employees of the General Assembly.
f.	Struck out by Session Laws 1959, c. 68, s. 3.
g.	To establish and operate a central mailing system for all State agencies, and in connection therewith and in the discretion of the Secretary, to make application for and procure a post-office substation for that purpose, and to do all things necessary in connection with the maintenance of the central mailing system. The Secretary may allocate and charge against the respective departments and agencies their proportionate parts of the cost of the maintenance of the central mailing system.
h.	To provide necessary and adequate messenger service for the State agencies served by the Department. However, this may not be construed as preventing the employment and control of messengers by any State agency when those messengers are compensated out of the funds of the employing agency.
i.	To establish and operate a central motor pool and such subsidiary related facilities as the Secretary may deem necessary, and to that end:
1.	To establish and operate central facilities for the maintenance, repair, and storage of state-owned passenger motor vehicles for the use of State agencies; to utilize any available State facilities for that purpose; and to establish such subsidiary facilities as the Secretary may deem necessary.
2.	To acquire passenger motor vehicles by transfer from other State agencies and by purchase. All motor vehicles transferred to or purchased by the Department shall become part of a central motor pool.
3.	To require on a schedule determined by the Department all State agencies to transfer ownership, custody or control of any or all passenger motor vehicles within the ownership, custody or control of that agency to the Department, except those motor vehicles under the ownership, custody or control of the Highway Patrol or the State Bureau of Investigation which are used primarily for law-enforcement purposes, and except those motor vehicles under the ownership, custody or control of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety for Butner Public Safety which are used primarily for law-enforcement, fire, or emergency purposes, and except those motor vehicles under the ownership, custody, or control of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services of the Department of Human Resources that are used primarily to transport clients being served under The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Public Law 93-112, as amended.
4.	To maintain, store, repair, dispose of, and replace state-owned motor vehicles under the control of the Department.
5.	Upon proper requisition, proper showing of need for use on State business only, and proper showing of proof that all persons who will be driving the motor vehicle have valid drivers' licenses, to assign suitable transportation, either on a temporary or permanent basis, to any State employee or agency. An agency assigned a motor vehicle may not allow a person to operate that motor vehicle unless that person displays to the agency and allows the agency to copy that person's valid driver's license.  Notwithstanding G.S. 20-30(6), persons or agencies requesting assignment of motor vehicles may photostat or otherwise reproduce drivers' licenses for purposes of complying with this subpart.
		   As used in this subpart, 'suitable transportation' means the standard vehicle in the State motor fleet, unless special towing provisions are required by the employee or agency. The Department may not assign any employee or agency a motor vehicle that is not suitable.
6.	To allocate and charge against each State agency to which transportation is furnished, on a basis of mileage or of rental, its proportionate part of the cost of maintenance and operation of the motor pool.
  The amount allocated and charged by the Department of Administration to State agencies to which transportation is furnished shall be at least as follows:
I.	Pursuit vehicles and full size 4-wheel drive vehicles – $.24/mile.
II.	Vans and compact 4-wheel drive vehicles – $.22/mile.
III.	All other vehicles – $.20/mile.
7.	To adopt, with the approval of the Governor, reasonable rules for the efficient and economical operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of all state-owned motor vehicles under the control of the Department, and to enforce those rules; and to adopt, with the approval of the Governor, reasonable rules regulating the use of private motor vehicles upon State business by the officers and employees of State agencies, and to enforce those rules. The Department, with the approval of the Governor, may delegate to the respective heads of the agencies to which motor vehicles are permanently assigned by the Department the duty of enforcing the rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this paragraph. Any person who violates a rule adopted by the Department and approved by the Governor is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable in the discretion of the court.
7a.	To adopt with the approval of the Governor and to enforce rules and to coordinate State policy regarding (i) the permanent assignment of state-owned passenger motor vehicles and (ii) the use of and reimbursement for those vehicles for commuting. For the purpose of this subdivision 7a, "state-owned passenger motor vehicle" includes any state-owned passenger motor vehicle, whether or not owned, maintained or controlled by the Department of Administration, and regardless of the source of the funds used to purchase it. Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 20-190 or any other provisions of law, all state-owned passenger motor vehicles are subject to the provisions of this subdivision 7a; no permanent assignment shall be made and no one shall be exempt from payment of reimbursement for commuting or from the other provisions of this subdivision 7a except as provided by this subdivision 7a.
	   A State-owned passenger motor vehicle shall not be permanently assigned to an individual who is likely to drive it on official business at a rate of less than 12,600 miles per year unless (i) the individual's duties are routinely related to public safety or (ii) the individual's duties are likely to expose him routinely to life-threatening situations. A State-owned passenger motor vehicle shall also not be permanently assigned to an agency that is likely to drive it on official business at a rate of less than 12,600 miles per year unless the agency can justify to the Division of Motor Fleet Management the need for permanent assignment because of the unique use of the vehicle. The Department of Administration shall verify, on a quarterly basis, that each motor vehicle has been driven at the minimum allowable rate. If it has not and if the department by whom the individual to which the car is assigned is employed or the agency to which the car is assigned cannot justify the lower mileage for the quarter in view of the minimum annual rate, the permanent assignment shall be revoked immediately.
   Every individual who uses a State-owned passenger motor vehicle, pickup truck, or van to drive between his official work station and his home, shall reimburse the State for these trips at a rate computed by the Department. This rate shall approximate the benefit derived from the use of the vehicle as prescribed by federal law. Reimbursement shall be for 20 days per month regardless of how many days the individual uses the vehicle to commute during the month. Reimbursement shall be made by payroll deduction. Funds derived from reimbursement on vehicles owned by the Motor Fleet Management Division shall be deposited to the credit of the Division; funds derived from reimbursements on vehicles initially purchased with appropriations from the Highway Fund and not owned by the Division shall be deposited in a Special Depository Account in the Department of Transportation, which shall revert to the Highway Fund; funds derived from reimbursement on all other vehicles shall be deposited in a Special Depository Account in the Department of Administration which shall revert to the General Fund. Commuting, for purposes of this paragraph, does not include those individuals whose office is in their home, as determined by the Department of Administration, Division of Motor Fleet Management. Also, this paragraph does not apply to the following vehicles: (i) clearly marked police and fire vehicles, (ii) delivery trucks with seating only for the driver, (iii) flatbed trucks, (iv) cargo carriers with over a 14,000 pound capacity, (v) school and passenger buses with over 20 person capacities, (vi) ambulances, (vii) hearses, (viii) bucket trucks, (ix) cranes and derricks, (x) forklifts, (xi) cement mixers, (xii) dump trucks, (xiii) garbage trucks, (xiv) specialized utility repair trucks (except vans and pickup trucks), (xv) tractors, (xvi) unmarked law-enforcement vehicles that are used in undercover work and are operated by full-time, fully sworn law-enforcement officers whose primary duties include carrying a firearm, executing search warrants, and making arrests, and (xvii) any other vehicle exempted under Section 274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and Federal Internal Revenue Services regulations based thereon. The Department of Administration, Division of Motor Fleet Management, shall report quarterly to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and to the Fiscal Research Division of the Legislative Services Office on individuals who use State-owned passenger motor vehicles, pickup trucks, or vans between their official work stations and their homes, who are not required to reimburse the State for these trips.
		The Department of Administration shall revoke the assignment or require the Department owning the vehicle to revoke the assignment of a State-owned passenger motor vehicle, pick-up truck or van to any individual who:
	I.	Uses the vehicle for other than official business except in accordance with the commuting rules;
	II.	Fails to supply required reports to the Department of Administration, or supplies incomplete reports, or supplies reports in a form unacceptable to the Department of Administration and does not cure the deficiency within 30 days of receiving a request to do so;
III.	Knowingly and willfully supplies false information to the Department of Administration on applications for permanent assignments, commuting reimbursement forms, or other required reports or forms;
IV.	Does not personally sign all reports on forms submitted for vehicles permanently assigned to him and does not cure the deficiency within 30 days of receiving a request to do so;
V.	Abuses the vehicle; or
VI.	Violates other rules or policy promulgated by the Department of Administration not in conflict with this act.
A new requisition shall not be honored until the Secretary of the Department of Administration is assured that the violation for which a vehicle was previously revoked will not recur.
   The Department of Administration, with the approval of the Governor, may delegate, or conditionally delegate, to the respective heads of agencies which own passenger motor vehicles or to which passenger motor vehicles are permanently assigned by the Department, the duty of enforcing all or part of the rules adopted by the Department of Administration pursuant to this subdivision 7a. The Department of Administration, with the approval of the Governor, may revoke this delegation of authority.
   Prior to adopting rules under this paragraph, the Secretary of Administration may consult with the Advisory Budget Commission.
8.	To adopt and administer rules for the control of all state-owned passenger motor vehicles and to require State agencies to keep all records and make all reports regarding motor vehicle use as the Secretary deems necessary.
9.	To acquire motor vehicle liability insurance on all State-owned motor vehicles under the control of the Department.
10.	To contract with the appropriate State prison authorities for the furnishing, upon such conditions as may be agreed upon from time to time between such State prison authorities and the Secretary, of prison labor for use in connection with the operation of a central motor pool and related activities.
11.	To report annually to the General Assembly on any rules adopted, amended or repealed under paragraphs 3, 7, or 7a of this subdivision.
j.	To establish and operate a central telephone system, central mimeographing and duplicating services, central stenographical and clerical pools, and other central services, if the Governor after appropriate investigation deems it advisable from the standpoint of efficiency and economy in operation to establish any or all such services. The Secretary may allocate and charge against the respective agencies their proportionate part of the cost of maintenance and operation of the central services which are established, in accordance with the rules adopted by him and approved by the Governor and Council of State pursuant to paragraph k, below. Upon the establishment of central mimeographing and duplicating services, the Secretary may, with the approval of the Governor, require any State agency to be served by those central services to transfer to the Department ownership, custody, and control of any or all mimeographing and duplicating equipment and supplies within the ownership, custody, or control of such agency.
k.	To require the State agencies and their officers and employees to utilize the central facilities and services which are established; and to adopt, with the approval of the Governor and Council of State, reasonable rules and procedures requiring the utilization of such central facilities and services, and governing their operation and the charges to be made for their services.
l.	To provide necessary information service for visitors to the Capitol.
m.	To perform such additional duties and exercise such additional powers as may be assigned to it by statute or by the Governor."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.