Senate Bill No. 366
(By Senators Chernenko and Holliday)
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[Introduced; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-nine-e,
relating to the creation of a self-sufficiency trust fund to
provide for the care, support or treatment of one or more
developmentally disabled persons.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article twenty-nine-e,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29E. SELF-SUFFICIENCY TRUST FUND.
§16-29E-1. Short title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Self-
Sufficiency Trust Fund Act".
§16-29E-2. Self-sufficiency trust fund.
(a) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
fund to be known as the self-sufficiency trust fund. The state
treasurer, ex officio, shall be custodian of the trust fund and
the auditor shall direct payments from the trust fund upon
vouchers properly certified by the commissioner of the bureau of
public health. The treasurer shall credit interest on the trust
fund to the trust fund and the commissioner shall allocate the
interest pro rata to the respective accounts of the named
beneficiaries of the trust fund.
(b) The bureau of public health may accept moneys from a
self-sufficiency trust for deposit in the trust fund pursuant to
an agreement with the trust naming one or more beneficiaries who
are developmentally disabled persons or persons otherwise
eligible for public health services residing in this state and
specifying the care, support or treatment to be provided for
them. The bureau shall maintain a separate account in the trust
fund for each named beneficiary. The moneys in these accounts
shall be spent by the bureau, pursuant to its rules, only to
provide care, support and treatment for the named beneficiaries
in accordance with the terms of the agreement. In the event that
the commissioner determines that the moneys in the account of a
named beneficiary cannot be used for the care, support or
treatment of that beneficiary in a manner consistent with the
rules of the bureau and the agreement, or upon request of the
self-sufficiency trust, the remaining moneys in the account,
together with any accumulated interest thereon, shall be promptlyreturned to the self-sufficiency trust which deposited the moneys
in the trust fund.
(c) The bureau of public health shall adopt such rules and
procedures as may be necessary or useful for the administration
of the trust fund.
(d) The receipt by a beneficiary of money from the trust
fund, or of care, treatment or support provided with that money,
shall not in any way reduce, impair or diminish the benefits to
which the beneficiary is otherwise entitled by law.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "self-
sufficiency trust" means a trust created by a not for profit
corporation which is exempt from federal income taxation under
Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and which is organized under the nonprofit corporations
provisions of article one, chapter thirty-one of this code for
the purpose of providing for the care, support or treatment of
one or more developmentally disabled persons or persons otherwise
eligible for public health services.
§16-29E-3. Fund for the developmentally disabled.
(a) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
fund to be known as the fund for the developmentally disabled.
The commissioner of the bureau of public health may accept moneys
from any source for deposit into the fund. The moneys in the
fund shall be used by the bureau, subject to appropriation, for
the purpose of providing for the care, support and treatment of
low-income developmentally disabled persons or low-income personsotherwise eligible for bureau services, as defined by the bureau.
(b) Moneys may be accepted from grants, gifts or legacies of
money or property, federal moneys and other moneys, either public
or private and shall be paid into the fund.
(c) Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of the
state's fiscal year shall not revert to the state treasury, but
shall remain in the indigent care fund and be used consistent
with subsection (a) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to approve the creation
of a self-sufficiency trust fund to provide for the care, support
or treatment of one or more developmentally disabled persons by
the Bureau of Public Health.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.