(a) The commission's board of directors shall be composed of eleven (11) members, three (3) of whom shall be the state treasurer, ex officio; the commissioner of financial institutions, ex officio; and the commissioner of education, ex officio.

(b) The non-ex officio members shall be appointed as follows: four (4) members shall be chosen by the speaker of the senate and four (4) members shall be chosen by the speaker of the house of representatives. In making appointments to the board, the speaker of the house of representatives and the speaker of the senate shall appoint individuals who are actively involved in financial literacy; provided, however, that one (1) such individual appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives shall be a teacher or administrator of a Tennessee public elementary school. The speaker of the house of representatives may consider for appointment the names of individuals recommended by the following boards: Tennessee Bankers Association board of directors; Tennessee Credit Union League board of directors; Tennessee Consumer Finance Association board of directors; and Tennessee Education Association board of directors. The speaker of the senate may consider for appointment the names of individuals recommended by the following boards: Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants board of directors; Tennessee Jump$tart Coalition board of directors; Tennessee Cash Advance Association board of directors; and Tennessee State Parent Teacher Association board or other governing board of a Tennessee state parent-teacher organization or association. The speaker of the house of representatives and the speaker of the senate shall strive to ensure that at least one (1) person serving on the board is sixty (60) years of age or older or is female and that at least one (1) person serving on the board is a member of a racial minority.

(c) The term of office for each appointed director shall be four (4) years; provided, however, that in order to stagger such terms, two (2) of the speaker of the senate's initial appointees shall serve terms of four (4) years, two (2) of the speaker of the house of representatives' initial appointees shall serve terms of four (4) years, one (1) of the speaker of the senate's initial appointees shall serve a term of three (3) years, one (1) of the speaker of the house of representatives' initial appointees shall serve a term of three (3) years, one (1) of the speaker of the senate's initial appointees shall serve a term of two (2) years, and one (1) of the speaker of the house of representatives' initial appointees shall serve a term of two (2) years. Each director shall serve until the director's successor is appointed, and if a vacancy occurs on the board, it shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. An appointment to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of a term is for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(d) Each ex officio member of the board may designate a member of the ex officio member's respective staff to attend meetings of the commission or its committees and to exercise the ex officio member's right to vote in the ex officio member's absence.

(e) The state treasurer shall serve as the chair of the commission. The board shall annually elect a vice chair, a secretary and such other officers as it deems necessary from its membership to perform the business of the commission. Such officers and the ex-officio members, or the ex-officios' designees, shall comprise the executive committee. The board may also appoint advisory boards or committees to report to the executive committee as deemed necessary.

(f) A majority of the members of the board serving shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the board. Voting upon action taken by the board shall be conducted by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting of the board. The board shall meet at the call of the chair and as may be otherwise provided in any bylaws, rules or regulations promulgated by the board. Meetings of the board may be held anywhere within the state.

(g) The business of the board shall be conducted at meetings of the board held in compliance with title 8, chapter 44. All records of the board shall be made available to the public in compliance with title 10, chapter 7.

(h) The board is attached to the department of the treasury for all administrative purposes, including fiscal and personnel operations. Further, nothing in this part or any other law, except title 9, chapter 8, shall be construed as a waiver of the state's eleventh amendment immunity or of the state's sovereign immunity for the commission, the corporation, its directors, officers or employees.

(i) The directors shall serve without compensation but shall receive reasonable reimbursement for actual and necessary travel expenses in accordance with the travel regulations promulgated by the department of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter.