§15301 Establishment, Membership, and Employees

Summary

Creates six regional commissions: the Southeast Crescent, Southwest Border, Northern Border, Great Lakes Authority, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern New England. Each commission has a Federal Cochair chosen by the President with Senate approval and the governors of the participating states. The President also picks an alternate Federal Cochair who fills in and does tasks the Federal Cochair gives. Each governor names one alternate from their cabinet or staff. Alternates vote when the main member is absent or unable to serve. State alternates who cannot vote may name someone else to vote, but must tell the executive director in writing at least 1 week before the vote. Each commission is led by the Federal Cochair and a State Cochair, who is a governor elected by the state members for at least one year. A governor may not serve more than two back-to-back terms as State Cochair. Federal Cochairs are paid at Executive Schedule level III (5 U.S.C. 5314) and their alternates at level V (5 U.S.C. 5316). State members and alternates are paid by their states under state law. Each commission hires an executive director and other staff and sets their pay up to the Senior Executive Service cap (5 U.S.C. 5382), including any allowed locality pay (5 U.S.C. 5304(h)(2)(C)). The executive director runs the commission’s day-to-day work. Except for the Federal Cochair, the alternate Federal Cochair, the Federal Cochair’s staff, and any federal employees assigned to the commission, the other members and staff are not federal employees. If both the Federal Cochair and the alternate cannot serve, the Federal Cochair may name a commission employee to act temporarily, subject to the time limits in 5 U.S.C. 3346.