ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 217

(Senators Redd, Burnette, Caldwell, Hunter, Minard, Rowe, Snyder, Wooton, Facemyer, Mitchell, Love, Unger and Edgell, original sponsors)

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[Passed March 9; in effect ninety days from passage.]

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AN ACT to amend article fourteen, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, relating to credit cards for college students; providing definitions; requiring the governing boards of institutions of higher education propose rules to regulate the marketing practices used on campuses by credit card companies; and limiting liability of parents or guardians.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fourteen, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14. MISCELLANEOUS.
§18B-14-10. Credit card solicitation on college campuses; regulation of credit card marketing.

(a) Definitions. -- For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "College campus" includes the premises and grounds of an institution of higher education;
(2) "Credit card debt education brochure" means the information developed by a college or university, by a registered nonprofit corporation or by other sources as identified and approved by the institution of higher education, that details the appropriate use, benefits and risks of incurring debt through the use of credit cards;
(3) "Credit card marketer" includes a person, corporation, financial institution or business entity that promotes, offers or accepts applications for a credit card;
(4) "Institution of higher education" means any of the following:
(i) A community college or technical college as defined in subsection (e), section two, article one of this chapter; and
(ii) Bluefield state college, Concord college, Glenville state college, Fairmont state college, Marshall university, West Virginia northern community college, West Liberty state college, Potomac state college of West Virginia university, Shepherd college, West Virginia university institute of technology, southern West Virginia community institute of technology, West Virginia university at Parkersburg, West Virginia school of osteopathic medicine, West Virginia state college, West Virginia university and all branch campuses of these institutions of higher education; and
(5) "Student" means a person who is at least eighteen years of age and who attends an institution of higher education whether on a full-time or part-time basis.
(b) The governing boards of each institution shall propose rules in accordance with the rule adopted by the higher education policy commission pursuant to the provisions of section six, article one of this chapter no later than the first day of July, two thousand three, to regulate the marketing practices used on campuses by credit card companies. In proposing these rules, the governing boards shall consider the following requirements:
(1) Registering on-campus credit card marketers;
(2) Limiting credit card marketers to specific institutional campus sites designated by the president or administrative head of the institution or his or her designee;
(3) Prohibiting credit card marketers from offering tangible gifts to students in exchange for completing a credit card application;
(4) Requiring that no application for the extension of debt through a credit card may be made available to a student unless the application is accompanied by a credit card debt education brochure;
(5) Whether or not to use or the appropriate use of student lists for the purpose of soliciting applications for credit cards; and
(6) Developing a credit card debt education presentation to be incorporated into orientation programs offered to new students.
(c) Unless a student's parent or guardian has agreed in writing to be liable as a cosigner for credit card debts of the student, no person may initiate a debt collection action against the parent or guardian regarding any credit card debt incurred by the student.