Virginia Law

A. The Commission shall consist of 23 members that include eight legislative members, five nonlegislative citizen members, and 10 ex officio members. Members shall be appointed as follows: five members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; three nonlegislative citizen members, at least one of whom shall have a background in community competence building and one of whom shall have a significant background in health and wellness within the private sector equivalent to that of ex officio members of the Commission, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; two nonlegislative citizen members, one of whom shall have a background in community competence building and one of whom shall have a significant background in health and wellness within the private sector equivalent to that of ex officio members of the Commission, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and the Secretaries of Health and Human Resources, Commerce and Trade, Agriculture and Forestry, Education, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Natural and Historic Resources, Transportation, and Labor, the Commissioner of Health, and the Executive Director of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, or their designees, to serve ex officio with nonvoting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Commission shall be citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the Commission and the respective Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of attending meetings.

B. Legislative members and ex officio members of the Commission shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of two years. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Legislative members and nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed. However, no nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.

The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.

2020, c. 1036; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 401, 453.