§15301 Establishment, Membership, and Employees

Summary

Creates six regional commissions and sets who runs them and how they hire staff. The six are the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the Southwest Border Regional Commission, the Northern Border Regional Commission, the Great Lakes Authority, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Commission, and the Southern New England Regional Commission. Each commission has a Federal Cochair picked by the President with the Senate’s approval and the governors of the participating States. The President also names an alternate Federal Cochair. Each State member may have one alternate chosen by that State’s Governor from the Governor’s cabinet or staff. Alternates vote when the main member is absent, dead, disabled, removed, or resigns. A State alternate who cannot vote may give that vote to a designee, but the executive director must get a written notice at least 1 week before the vote. The Federal Cochair works as the link to the Federal Government. The State Cochair is a Governor chosen by the State members for a term of not less than 1 year. A Governor may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms as State Cochair. The Federal Cochair is paid at Executive Schedule level III (see section 5314 of title 5); the alternate Federal Cochair is paid at Executive Schedule level V (see section 5316 of title 5). State members and their alternates are paid by their State under State law. Each commission hires an executive director and staff and sets their pay, which cannot go above the Senior Executive Service maximum in section 5382 of title 5, including any allowed locality pay under section 5304(h)(2)(C). The executive director runs the commission’s day-to-day work and staff. Except for the Federal Cochairs, their staff, and any Federal employees detailed to a commission, members and staff are not Federal employees. If both the Federal Cochair and the alternate are gone or unable to act, the Federal Cochair may name a commission employee to serve temporarily in that role, subject to the time limits in section 3346 of title 5.