H. B. 4547


(By Delegates Campbell, Williams, Perry, Paxton,
Tabb, Spencer, Wysong and Beach)
[Introduced February 14, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §18-30-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund; increasing the funds available for transfer to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow Fund in certain circumstances.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-30-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 30. WEST VIRGINIA COLLEGE PREPAID TUITION AND SAVINGS PROGRAM ACT.

§18-30-6. West Virginia prepaid tuition trust.
(a) The "Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund" is continued within the accounts held by the State Treasurer for administration by the board.
(b) The Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall continue to receive all payments from account owners on behalf of beneficiaries of prepaid tuition contracts or from any other source, public or private. Earnings derived from the investment of moneys in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall remain in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund held in trust in the same manner as payments, except as refunded, applied for purposes of the beneficiaries, and applied for purposes of maintaining and administering the prepaid tuition plan.
(c) The corpus, assets and earnings of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund do not constitute public funds of the state and are available solely for carrying out the purposes of this article. Any contract entered into by or any obligation of the board on behalf of and for the benefit of the prepaid tuition plan does not constitute a debt of the state, but is solely an obligation of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund. The state has no obligation to any designated beneficiary or any other person as a result of the prepaid tuition plan. All amounts payable from the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund are limited to amounts available in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund.
(d) Nothing in this article or in any prepaid tuition contract is a promise or guarantee of admission to, continued enrollment in, or graduation from an eligible educational institution.
(e) The requirements of the provisions of chapter thirty-two of this code do not apply to the sale of a prepaid tuition contract by the board, its employees and agents.
(f) The prepaid tuition plan and the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall continue in existence until terminated by the Legislature as it determines or by the board upon determining that continued operation is infeasible. Upon termination of the plan and after payment of all fees, charges, expenses and penalties, the assets of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund are paid to current account owners, to the extent possible, on a pro rata basis as their interests may appear, and any assets presumed abandoned are reported and remitted to the unclaimed property administrator in accordance with the uniform unclaimed property act in article eight, chapter thirty-six of this code. Any assets then remaining in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall revert to the State General Revenue Fund.
(g) Effective the eighth day of March, two thousand three, the prepaid tuition plan is closed to new contracts until the Legislature authorizes the plan to reopen. Closing the plan to new contracts shall does not mean the prepaid tuition plan is closed and shall does not affect any prepaid tuition plan contracts in effect on the eighth day of March, two thousand three. All contract owners shall continue to pay any amounts due, including without limitation monthly installments, penalties and fees. Earnings derived from the investment of moneys in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall continue to accrue to the fund until the fund is closed in accordance with this article.
(h) The board shall continue to have the actuarial soundness of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund evaluated annually.
(I) (1) On or before the first day of December, two thousand three, and each year thereafter annually, the chairman of the board shall submit to the Governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Delegates, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and the unclaimed property administrator a report certified by an actuary of the actuarial status of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund at the end of the fiscal year immediately preceding the date of the report. In the event the report for fiscal year two thousand three states there is a projected unfunded liability in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the report shall also state the amount needed for the next fiscal year to eliminate the projected unfunded liability in equal payments over a period of ten fiscal years, concluding the thirtieth day of June, two thousand thirteen. In the event the projected unfunded liability of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund increases in subsequent reports, the actuary shall calculate the amount needed, less any amount in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund, to eliminate the projected unfunded liability over a period the actuary determines is fiscally responsible.
(2) The Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury to guarantee payment of prepaid tuition plan contracts. The board shall invest the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund in accordance with the provisions of this article in fixed income securities, and all earnings of the Escrow account Fund shall remain in the Escrow account Fund.
(3) In the event the actuary determines an unfunded liability exists in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the report shall certify the amount of money needed for the next fiscal year to eliminate the projected unfunded liability pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection. The certified amount may not exceed five hundred thousand one million dollars each year. On or before the fifteenth day of December in which the chairman submitted a report stating the amount needed for the next fiscal year to eliminate a projected unfunded liability, the unclaimed property administrator shall transfer the amount requested, not to exceed five hundred thousand one million dollars each year, from the unclaimed property trust fund to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund.
(4) In the event the money in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund is insufficient to cover the amount of money needed to meet the current obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the board may withdraw from the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund the amount of money needed to meet current obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the Governor, after consultation with the budget section of the finance division of the department of administration Office of the Department of Revenue, may request an appropriation to the board in the amount of the deficiency to meet the current obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, in the budget presented to the next session of the Legislature for its consideration. The Legislature is not required to make any appropriation pursuant to this subsection, and the amount of the deficiency is not a debt or a liability of the state.
(6) As used in this section, "current obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund" means amounts required for the payment of contract distributions or other obligations of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund, the maintenance of the fund, and operating expenses for the current fiscal year.
(7) Nothing in this subsection creates an obligation of state general revenue funds or nor requires any level of funding by the Legislature.
(8) After the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund has been closed and all moneys paid in accordance with this section, any moneys remaining in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow account Fund shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund and the account closed.
(j) To fulfill the charitable and public purpose of this article, neither the earnings nor the corpus of the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund is subject to taxation by the state or any of its political subdivisions.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, money in the Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund is exempt from creditor process and not subject to attachment, garnishment or other process; is not available as security or collateral for any loan, or otherwise subject to alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance or charge; and is not subject to seizure, taking, appropriation or application by any legal or equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability of any account owner, beneficiary or successor in interest.
(1) No provision of This section may not be construed to interfere with the operation of the savings plan authorized under this article.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the funds available for transfer to the Prepaid Tuition Trust Escrow Fund in certain circumstances.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.