Senate Bill No. 305
(By Senator Wooton)
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[Introduced February 9, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter twenty-four of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine, relating to prohibiting Bell Atlantic of West Virginia
from paying dividends to its parent holding company in
excess of the return on shareholder equity paid by Bell
Atlantic to its shareholders.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter twenty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF PUBLIC UTILITIES SUBJECT TO
REGULATIONS OF COMMISSION.
§24-3-9. Restrictions on payment of dividends by Bell Atlantic
of West Virginia.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in no
event may Bell Atlantic of West Virginia be permitted to pay any
dividend or other payment to its parent holding company,
representing a return on shareholder equity, which exceeds the
ratio of return on investment in relation to shareholder equity
that is paid by Bell Atlantic to holders of common shares of
stock purchased on the New York stock exchange.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit Bell Atlantic
of West Virginia from paying a higher ratio of dividend returns,
relative to equity, to its parent-holder company than the ratio
that is paid by Bell Atlantic to holders of common stock
purchased on the New York stock exchange.
Section 9 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.