H. B. 4547
(By Delegates Campbell, Williams, Perry, Paxton,
Tabb, Spencer, Wysong and Beach)
[Introduced February 14, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-30-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund;
increasing the funds available for transfer to the Prepaid
Tuition Trust Escrow Fund in certain circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-30-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 30. WEST VIRGINIA COLLEGE PREPAID TUITION AND SAVINGS
PROGRAM ACT.
§18-30-6. West Virginia prepaid tuition trust.
(a) The "Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund" is continued within the
accounts held by the State Treasurer for administration by the
board.
(b) The Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall continue to receive
all payments from account owners on behalf of beneficiaries of prepaid tuition contracts or from any other source, public or
private. Earnings derived from the investment of moneys in the
Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall remain in the Prepaid Tuition
Trust Fund held in trust in the same manner as payments, except as
refunded, applied for purposes of the beneficiaries, and applied
for purposes of maintaining and administering the prepaid tuition
plan.
(c) The corpus, assets and earnings of the Prepaid Tuition
Trust Fund do not constitute public funds of the state and are
available solely for carrying out the purposes of this article.
Any contract entered into by or any obligation of the board on
behalf of and for the benefit of the prepaid tuition plan does not
constitute a debt of the state, but is solely an obligation of the
Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund. The state has no obligation to any
designated beneficiary or any other person as a result of the
prepaid tuition plan. All amounts payable from the Prepaid Tuition
Trust Fund are limited to amounts available in the Prepaid Tuition
Trust Fund.
(d) Nothing in this article or in any prepaid tuition contract
is a promise or guarantee of admission to, continued enrollment in,
or graduation from an eligible educational institution.
(e) The requirements of the provisions of chapter thirty-two
of this code do not apply to the sale of a prepaid tuition contract
by the board, its employees and agents.
(f) The prepaid tuition plan and the Prepaid Tuition Trust
Fund shall continue in existence until terminated by the
Legislature as it determines or by the board upon determining that
continued operation is infeasible. Upon termination of the plan
and after payment of all fees, charges, expenses and penalties, the
assets of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund are paid to current
account owners, to the extent possible, on a pro rata basis as
their interests may appear, and any assets presumed abandoned are
reported and remitted to the unclaimed property administrator in
accordance with the uniform unclaimed property act in article
eight, chapter thirty-six of this code. Any assets then remaining
in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall revert to the State General
Revenue Fund.
(g) Effective the eighth day of March, two thousand three, the
prepaid tuition plan is closed to new contracts until the
Legislature authorizes the plan to reopen. Closing the plan to new
contracts
shall does not mean the prepaid tuition plan is closed
and
shall does not affect any prepaid tuition plan contracts in
effect on the eighth day of March, two thousand three. All
contract owners shall continue to pay any amounts due, including
without limitation monthly installments, penalties and fees.
Earnings derived from the investment of moneys in the Prepaid
Tuition Trust Fund shall continue to accrue to the fund until the
fund is closed in accordance with this article.
(h) The board shall continue to have the actuarial soundness
of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund evaluated annually.
(I) (1) On or before the first day of December,
two thousand
three, and each year thereafter annually, the chairman of the board
shall submit to the Governor, the president of the Senate, the
speaker of the House of Delegates,
the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance and the unclaimed property administrator a
report certified by an actuary of the actuarial status of the
Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund at the end of the fiscal year
immediately preceding the date of the report. In the event the
report for fiscal year two thousand three states there is a
projected unfunded liability in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the
report shall also state the amount needed for the next fiscal year
to eliminate the projected unfunded liability in equal payments
over a period of ten fiscal years, concluding the thirtieth day of
June, two thousand thirteen. In the event the projected unfunded
liability of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund increases in subsequent
reports, the actuary shall calculate the amount needed, less any
amount in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow
account Fund, to
eliminate the projected unfunded liability over a period the
actuary determines is fiscally responsible.
(2) The Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow
account Fund is hereby
created in the State Treasury to guarantee payment of prepaid
tuition plan contracts. The board shall invest the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow
account Fund in accordance with the provisions of this
article in fixed income securities, and all earnings of the Escrow
account Fund shall remain in the Escrow
account Fund.
(3) In the event the actuary determines an unfunded liability
exists in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the report shall certify
the amount of money needed for the next fiscal year to eliminate
the projected unfunded liability pursuant to the provisions of
subdivision (1) of this subsection. The certified amount may not
exceed
five hundred thousand one million dollars each year. On or
before the fifteenth day of December in which the chairman
submitted a report stating the amount needed for the next fiscal
year to eliminate a projected unfunded liability, the unclaimed
property administrator shall transfer the amount requested, not to
exceed
five hundred thousand one million dollars each year, from
the unclaimed property trust fund to the Prepaid Tuition Trust
Escrow
account Fund.
(4) In the event the money in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund
is insufficient to cover the amount of money needed to meet the
current obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the board
may withdraw from the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow
account Fund the
amount of money needed to meet current obligations of the Prepaid
Tuition Trust Fund.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the Governor, after consultation with the budget
section of the finance division of the department of administration Office
of the Department of Revenue, may request an appropriation to the
board in the amount of the deficiency to meet the current
obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, in the budget
presented to the next session of the Legislature for its
consideration. The Legislature is not required to make any
appropriation pursuant to this subsection, and the amount of the
deficiency is not a debt or a liability of the state.
(6) As used in this section, "current obligations of the
Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund" means amounts required for the payment
of contract distributions or other obligations of the Prepaid
Tuition Trust Fund, the maintenance of the fund, and operating
expenses for the current fiscal year.
(7) Nothing in this subsection creates an obligation of state
general revenue funds
or nor requires any level of funding by the
Legislature.
(8) After the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund has been closed and
all moneys paid in accordance with this section, any moneys
remaining in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow
account Fund shall be
transferred to the General Revenue Fund and the account closed.
(j) To fulfill the charitable and public purpose of this
article, neither the earnings nor the corpus of the Prepaid Tuition
Trust Fund is subject to taxation by the state or any of its
political subdivisions.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, money in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund is exempt from
creditor process and not subject to attachment, garnishment or
other process; is not available as security or collateral for any
loan, or otherwise subject to alienation, sale, transfer,
assignment, pledge, encumbrance or charge; and is not subject to
seizure, taking, appropriation or application by any legal or
equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability
of any account owner, beneficiary or successor in interest.
(1)
No provision of This section may
not be construed to
interfere with the operation of the savings plan authorized under
this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the funds
available for transfer to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow Fund in
certain circumstances.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.