Bill Text: WV HB4143 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Creating the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-23 - To House Finance [HB4143 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2020-HB4143-Introduced.html

FISCAL NOTEWEST virginia legislature

2020 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 4143

By Delegates Higginbotham, Ellington, Summers, Lavender-Bowe, Atkinson, Evans, Hambrick, Toney and Hanna

[Introduced January 13, 2020; Referred to the Committee on Education then Finance ]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18C-7-8, relating to creation of the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship; establishing the scholarship under the management of the Higher Education Policy Commission; creating a special revenue account; explaining funding for the scholarship; authorizing the issuance of tax credits for certain businesses; authorizing legislative rules by the Higher Education Policy Commission and the Tax Commissioner; setting student eligibility; noting business benefits and requirements; creating a process for awarding a specific amount of funds; detailing student requirements upon receipt of the scholarship; and requiring the creation of a deferral and waiver program for certain requirements.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:


ARTICLE 7. WEST VIRGINIA PROVIDING REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAXIMIZING IN-STATE STUDENT EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

§18C-7-8. Business PROMISE+ Scholarship.

(a) Findings – The Legislature finds that the business community recognizes the critical link between education and economic development and that providing students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the workplace enables businesses and communities to prosper. The Legislature further finds that many employers in the state desire to aid in efforts to bolster the development of a highly-qualified workforce. Providing the employers with an opportunity to fund premium scholarships for PROMISE scholarship-eligible students would encourage highly-qualified students to attend college and become employed in West Virginia.   

(b) Scholarship. – To that end, there is hereby established the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship program, which allows employers in the state to fund premium scholarship awards for certain PROMISE-eligible applicants. The Business PROMISE+ Scholarship shall be managed by the Higher Education Policy Commission pursuant to the terms of this section and any necessary rules. The Business PROMISE+ Scholarship is awarded to PROMISE-eligible students in lieu of the PROMISE Scholarship as determined by the commission. The commission shall establish a method and criteria for scholarship award and student placement, which shall provide for the following:

(1) Priority ranking of eligible scholarship recipients when the number of business sponsors or available funding is insufficient to provide Business PROMISE+ Scholarships to all eligible students;

(2) Priority ranking of eligible businesses when multiple eligible businesses select an individual recipient to sponsor;

(3) Determining whether to maximize the number of awards available to all eligible students or the award amount offered to individual students; and

(4) Any additional provisions the commission determines are necessary to implement the provisions of this section and administer the scholarship program.

(c) Duration – An eligible student may receive an award from either the PROMISE Scholarship program or the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship program, but not both, in any single academic term. A student who elects to participate in the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship program remains eligible to participate in the PROMISE Scholarship program if the student’s business sponsorship ends before the student has received a Business PROMISE+ award for eight semesters and the student remains otherwise eligible for PROMISE Scholarship renewal.  In any event, a student may not receive any PROMISE funding for more than eight total semesters.

(d) Funding – All funds associated with the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship shall be kept separate and distinct from funds associated with the PROMISE Scholarship. There is hereby created a special revenue fund in the State Treasury designated as the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship Fund to be administered by the commission. The fund consists of all gifts, grants or contributions received for the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship, any legislative appropriations made to the fund, any repayments collected from recipients who fail to satisfy the requirement to work in the state contained in §18C-7-8 (h) of this code, and all interest or other income earned from investment in the fund.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship will be funded through donations by West Virginia businesses. Although the Legislature may make an appropriation into the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship Fund, it is anticipated that no such appropriation will be made. Instead, West Virginia businesses may make donations to the fund and receive tax credits for such donations pursuant to §18C-7-8 (e) of this code.

(e) Tax Credits – Any West Virginia business that makes a donation to the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship Fund shall receive a credit against the taxes due under §11-24-1 et seq. of this code in an amount equal to 50 percent of the donation.  A business that makes a donation of $10,000 or greater becomes an eligible business under this section. The Tax Commissioner may propose rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to effectuate the purpose of this section.

(f) Eligible students – Any student who meets the eligibility requirements for the PROMISE Scholarship is also eligible to receive the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship. In order to apply for the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship the student shall complete an application form created by the commission that includes questions designed to identify compatible eligible businesses. In addition, the application shall include an option for the student to list up to three eligible businesses where the student has an independent interest in working. The commission shall maintain a list of eligible businesses that contribute to the fund on its website.

(g) Business benefits – In addition to the tax credit contained in subsection (e) of this section, any business that makes a donation of $10,000 or greater to the fund becomes an eligible business for the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship program. An eligible business may sponsor one or more eligible students for Business PROMISE+ Scholarships. The commission shall provide a list of interested eligible students to the eligible business and the eligible business may interview students and choose which student or students it sponsors through the Business PROMISE+ program in accordance with criteria established by the commission. The sponsored student shall receive a scholarship award through the Business PROMISE+ program as detailed in subsection (h) of this section. By sponsoring the student, the business agrees to provide work experience to the student during the summers between years enrolled in college.

(h) Scholarship award – A sponsored student shall receive a Business PROMISE+ Scholarship in an amount of up to $15,000 annually, but the amount of each individual award may not exceed the amount donated by the eligible business sponsoring the student to the Business PROMISE+ Fund.  In order to receive the award, the sponsored student shall agree to:

(1) Maintain all of the eligibility and renewal requirements for a PROMISE Scholarship;

(2) Work for the sponsoring business during the summers between years enrolled in college;

(3) Work in West Virginia following graduation from college for a period equal to the number of years the student receives the scholarship funding, unless granted a waiver or deferral by the commission pursuant to §18C-7-8 (i) of this code; and

(4) Repay to the Business PROMISE+ Scholarship Fund the amount of any annual award received for which the recipient did not satisfy the requirement to work in the state following graduation, unless granted a waiver or deferral by the commission pursuant to subsection (i) of this section.

(i) Repayment, waiver and deferral – (1) The commission shall establish standards for granting waiver or deferral of the requirement that a recipient work in West Virginia following graduation if the student is unable to find employment in the state. A deferral may be granted because the student is enrolled at an institution of higher education for an advanced degree or other reasons determined appropriate by the commission.

(2) Annually by July 1, the Tax Commissioner shall provide to the commission any data necessary to document recipients’ compliance with the requirement to work in the state following graduation, and shall implement a procedure for collecting repayment from recipients who are not in compliance and have not been granted a repayment waiver or deferral.

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to implement the Business PROMISE+ scholarship.

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

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