Senate Bill No. 432
(By Senator Minard, Sharpe, Minear, Caldwell, Kessler,
Mitchell, Hunter, Rowe, Burnette and Unger)
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[Introduced January 28, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL 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 registration of persons
soliciting applications for credit cards; requiring
institutions of higher education to propose a rules policy
for legislative approval to regulate the marketing
practices used on campuses by credit card companies; and
requiring colleges provide personal financial education
including credit education.
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; and
regulation of credit card marketing.
(a) Definitions. -- For the purposes of this section the
following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Board" means the institutional boards of governors
created pursuant to subsection (b), section one, article two-a
of this chapter;
(2) "College campus" includes the premises and grounds of
an institution of higher education;
(3) "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;
(4) "Credit card marketer" includes a person, corporation,
financial institution or business entity that promotes, offers
or accepts applications for a credit card;
(5) "Institution of higher education" means any of the following:
(i) A community college or technical college as defined in
section two (e), 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, Potomac State College of
West Virginia, Shepherd College, 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
(6) "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 board shall require that the president or other
administrative head of each institution of higher education
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine of this code to
regulate the marketing practices used on campuses by credit card
companies. In proposing these rules, the institutions of higher
education 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;
(3) Prohibiting credit card marketers from offering gifts
to students in exchange for completing a credit card application
unless the student has been provided a credit card debt
education brochure;
(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; and
(5) Developing a credit card debt education presentation to
be incorporated into orientation programs offered to new
students.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
regulate credit cards
for college students. It provides definitions and requires
registration of persons soliciting applications for credit
cards. It also requires institutions of higher education to
propose a rules policy for legislative approval to regulate the
marketing practices used on campuses by credit card companies
and requires colleges to provide personal financial education to
include credit education.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.