A. There is hereby established in the legislative branch of state government the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Committee, hereinafter referred to as the “Committee,” to evaluate applications for and select recipients of the Brown v. Board of Education scholarships, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B. The Committee shall consist of 11 members that include six legislative members and five nonlegislative citizen members. Members shall be appointed as follows: (i) four members of the House of Delegates and two members of the Senate to be appointed by the Joint Rules Committee and (ii) five nonlegislative citizen members of whom one shall represent college admissions personnel, one shall have expertise in academic and career counseling, and three shall represent residents of the affected jurisdictions, to be appointed by the Governor. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Committee shall be citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the Committee and the Joint Rules Committee, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of attending meetings.
C. Legislative members of the Committee 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 and nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed. However, no House member shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms, no Senate member shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, and no nonlegislative citizen member shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a nonlegislative citizen 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 Committee shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.