Senate Bill No. 431
(By Senators Jackson, Tomblin, Craigo, Wooton, Chafin, Plymale,
Prezioso, Bailey, Hunter, Minard, Walker, Snyder, Anderson,
Dittmar, Kessler, Edgell, Sharpe, Ross, Schoonover, Love,
Mitchell, Ball, Unger, Redd, McCabe, McKenzie, Sprouse and
Minear)
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[Introduced February 4, 1999; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter eighteen-c of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six, relating to
establishing the "West Virginia Providing Real Opportunities
for Maximizing In-State Student Excellence Scholarship
Program"; setting forth findings and purpose; defining
terms; appointment of board; setting forth the powers of the
board; authorizing the board to promulgate rules; setting
forth the minimum requirements for the scholarship; creating
the scholarship fund; creating the scholarship program
supplemental fund; and severability of provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article six, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 6. WEST VIRGINIA PROVIDING REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR
MAXIMIZING IN-STATE STUDENT EXCELLENCE
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
§18C-6-1. Title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "West
Virginia Providing Real Opportunities for Maximizing In-state
Student Excellence (PROMISE) Scholarship Program".
§18C-6-2. Legislative findings and purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) The state's college going rate does not compare
favorably with the member states of the southern regional
education board average nor with the national average;
(b) West Virginia must have an educated work force in order
to attract and retain the high wage, high skill jobs of the next
century;
(c) The percentage of West Virginia's adult population over
the age of twenty-five with at least a bachelor's degree is only fourteen percent and does not compare favorably with the member
states of the southern regional education board average or with
the national average;
(d) Increases in the level of education increases the income
earned by an individual which enhances his or her quality of
life;
(e) In 1997, an individual holding a bachelor's degree had
an average earned income which was one hundred seventy-seven
percent of the average income earned by a high school graduate;
(f) Students at all levels should have an incentive to
perform at a high academic level;
(g) There is a need to provide parents with all tools
possible to aid them in helping their children understand the
importance of high achievement in high school and college;
(h) There is a financial need for many students who wish to
attend state institutions of higher education within the state;
and
(i) It is the intent of this article to establish a West
Virginia PROMISE scholarship program to effectively deal with the
findings set forth above.
§18C-6-3. Definitions.
For the purpose of this article, the following terms have
the meanings ascribed to them, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise:
(a) "State institution of higher education" means the same
as is defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of
this code.
(b) "Board" means the board of the West Virginia PROMISE
scholarship program as provided in section four of this article.
(c) "Tuition" means the quarter, semester or term charges
imposed by a state institution of higher education and all
mandatory fees required as a condition of enrollment by all
students.
§18C-6-4. Appointment of board of the PROMISE scholarship
program; compensation; proceedings generally.
(a) The board of the PROMISE scholarship program consists of
thirteen members and shall include the chair of the university of
West Virginia board of trustees or his or her designee who is a
member of the board; the chair of the board of directors of the
state college system or his or her designee who is a member of
the board; the state superintendent of schools or his or her
designee; the secretary of education and the arts or his or her designee; the chair of the Senate committee on finance or his or
her designee who is a member of the committee; the chair of the
House of Delegates committee on finance or his or her designee
who is a member of the committee; the chair of the Senate
committee on education or his or her designee who is a member of
the committee; the chair of the House of Delegates committee on
education or his or her designee who is a member of the
committee; and five other appointed members with knowledge, skill
and experience in an academic, business or financial field. The
five appointed members shall be residents of the state. The five
appointed members shall be appointed by the governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate. No more than three of the five
appointed members may be from the same congressional district or
from the same party.
(b) Appointed members shall serve a term of five years and
may be reappointed at the expiration of their terms. In the
event of a vacancy among appointed members, the governor shall
appoint a person representing the same interests to fill the
unexpired term. Of the initial appointments, the governor shall
appoint one member to a one-year term, one member to a two-year
term, one member to a three-year term, one member to a four-year term and one member to a five-year term. Thereafter, all terms
shall be for five years.
(c) Members of the board shall serve without compensation,
but shall be reimbursed by the office of the secretary of
education and the arts for expenses, including travel expenses,
actually incurred by a member in the official conduct of the
business of the board at the same rate as is paid the employees
of the state.
(d) The secretary of education and the arts is the chairman
and presiding officer of the board. A majority of the members of
the board constitute a quorum for the transaction of the board's
business.
§18C-6-5. Powers of the board.
In addition to the powers granted by any other provision of
this article, the board has the powers necessary or convenient to
carry out the purposes and provisions of this article and the
powers delegated by any other law of the state or any executive
order of the state including, but not limited to, the following
express powers:
(a) To adopt and amend bylaws;
(b) To propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three-a, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to effectuate the purposes of this
article:
Provided, That the board shall not promulgate emergency
rules;
(c) To invest any of its funds at the board's discretion,
with the West Virginia investment management board in accordance
with the provisions of article six, chapter twelve of this code.
Any investments made under this article shall be made with the
care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then
prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and
familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an
enterprise of a like character and with like aims. Fiduciaries
shall diversify plan investments to the extent permitted by law
so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the
circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so;
(d) To execute contracts and other necessary instruments;
(e) To impose reasonable requirements for residency for
students applying for the PROMISE scholarship. However, nothing
in this subdivision may be construed to establish residency
requirements for matriculation at state institutions of higher
education;
(f) To contract for necessary goods and services, to employ
necessary personnel and to engage the services of private persons
for administrative and technical assistance in carrying out the
responsibilities of the scholarship program;
(g) To solicit and accept gifts, including bequests or other
testamentary gifts made by will, trust or other disposition,
grants, loans and other aids from any source or to participate in
any other way in any federal, state or local governmental
programs in carrying out the purposes of this article;
(h) To define the terms and conditions, above which are set
forth in this article, under which scholarships shall be awarded
with the minimum requirements being set forth in subsection (b)
of this section;
(i) To establish other policies, procedures and criteria
necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this
article.
§18C-6-6. Requirements for rules promulgated by the board.
(a) The rules shall include at least the following:
(1) A scholarship that will pay the cost of tuition at state
institutions of higher education;
(2) Minimum requirements for the eligibility for the scholarship which include;
(A) For individuals with zero to fifteen credits from an
institution of higher education, the individual attain at least
a "B" average at the secondary level as defined by the board;
(B) For individuals with more than fifteen credits from an
institution of higher education, the individual attain and
maintain at least a "B" average at the undergraduate education
level as defined by the board; and
(C) For all individuals, additional objective standards as
the board considers necessary to maintain the financial stability
of the fund;
(3) An allowance for books and supplies; and
(4) Provisions for making the highest and best use of the
West Virginia prepaid tuition trust act set forth in article
thirty, chapter eighteen of this code.
(b) The board shall use the services of the senior
administrator and any employees of the senior administrator in
drafting the rules. The rules shall be submitted to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability on
or before the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine.
§18C-6-7. West Virginia PROMISE scholarship fund created.
(a) The board shall create an account entitled the "PROMISE
Scholarship Fund" to be administered by the board until and
unless the Legislature determines otherwise.
(b) The location of the fund is the office of the secretary
of education and the arts, and the facilities of the office of
the secretary of education and the arts shall be used and
employed in the administration of the fund including, but without
limitation thereto, the keeping of records, the management of
bank accounts and other investments, the transfer of funds and
the safekeeping of securities evidencing investments.
(c) Amounts received by the board from appropriation by the
Legislature or from any other source, public or private, shall be
placed in the fund.
(d) The fund, through the chairman, is authorized to receive
any gift or transfer of property, real or personal of any nature,
from any source as may be approved by the board, or any terms and
conditions as may be imposed by the board:
Provided, That all
property received by the trust shall be converted into cash
within ninety days of receipt.
(e) The board shall cause an actuarial study to be periodically performed to ensure that sufficient funds are being
deposited to the fund to meet the obligations of the fund.
Specifically, the board shall annually evaluate or cause to be
evaluated, the actuarial soundness of the fund. Additional
moneys that are needed in order to preserve the actuarial
soundness of the fund shall be included in the board's budget
request to the governor. Nothing in this article shall require
an appropriation by the Legislature.
(f) The board shall build and maintain in the fund an
actuarial surplus, at a level recommended by the actuaries, to
ensure appropriate funding for the fund.
(g) In order to fulfill the charitable and public purposes
of this article, neither the income nor the property of the fund
is subject to taxation by the state or any of its political
subdivisions.
§18C-6-8. PROMISE scholarship program supplemental fund.
(a) The Legislature recognizes that the PROMISE scholarship
program may lead to an increased number of individuals attending
the state institutions of higher education, and therefore, it may
lead to increased expenses beyond which the increase in tuition
income will generate. Therefore, there is hereby created the PROMISE scholarship supplemental fund.
(b) The board shall promulgate rules for administering the
fund in accordance with article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code:
Provided, That the board shall not promulgate
emergency rules. The rules shall include the following:
(1) Provisions for distributing the moneys from the fund to
the institutions:
Provided, That the distribution of the moneys
from the fund shall be completely independent of the
distributions in accordance with the resource allocation model
and the resource allocation policies; and
(2) A procedure for submitting a budget request to the
governor:
Provided, That nothing in this article shall require
any appropriation by the Legislature.
§18C-6-9. Severability.
If any provision of this article or the application of the
article shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of
competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not
invalidate the remainder of the article, but shall be confined in
its operation to the provision directly involved in the
controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered, and
the applicability of the provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the "West
Virginia Providing Real Opportunities for Maximizing In-State
Student Excellence Scholarship Program."
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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