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1997 SESSION

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SB 891 Higher Education Tuition Trust Fund.

Introduced by: Benjamin J. Lambert III | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY:

Virginia Higher Education Tuition Trust Fund. Proposes numerous changes to the structure, management, and administration of the Fund, initially enacted by Chapter 661 of the 1994 Acts. Among the more significant changes, the bill: establishes the Fund as an independent agency of the Commonwealth; exempts the Fund's employees from the Virginia Personnel Act, certain personal information from the Freedom of Information Act, all regulations from the Administrative Process Act, and the selection of services from the Public Procurement Act; permits Virginia residents to purchase prepaid tuition contracts on behalf of nonresident children; removes current restrictions on the application of prepaid tuition benefits toward graduate-level tuition; authorizes the Board to reimburse, at its option, out of funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Board, all or part of the cost of legal counsel and other fees for the acquittal, dismissal of charges, or other disposition concluding the innocence of any Board member, officer, or employee of the Fund who is brought before any regulatory body, summoned before any grand jury, investigated by any law-enforcement agency, arrested, indicted, or otherwise prosecuted on any criminal charge arising out of any act committed in the discharge of his official duties; shields any Board member and any person, investment manager, or committee to whom the Board delegates any of its investment authority from personal liability for losses suffered by the Fund if he acts within the standard of care; subjects Board decisions on disputes, claims, or actions arising out of or related to a prepaid tuition contract or benefits thereunder to certain provisions of the Administrative Process Act; and provides a state income tax subtraction from federal adjusted gross income of any increase in the value of benefits or refunds paid out under a prepaid tuition contract over the purchase price of the contract. The bill also repeals the Code section which requires the Secretary of Finance, prior to making any prepaid tuition contract, to obtain either (i) a no-action letter or an opinion from the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the application of federal securities laws to the Fund or (ii) an opinion of independent legal counsel substantially to the effect that the proposed method of structuring and offering the Fund is in compliance with federal securities laws. This bill is identical to HB 2265.


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