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91_SB0453
LRB9101863NTsb
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act by
2 changing Section 35.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act is amended
6 by changing Section 35 as follows:
7 (110 ILCS 979/35)
8 Sec. 35. Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund.
9 (a) The Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund is created
10 as the repository of all moneys received by the Commission in
11 conjunction with the Illinois prepaid tuition program. The
12 Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund also shall be the
13 official repository of all contributions, appropriations,
14 interest and dividend payments, gifts, or other financial
15 assets received by the Commission in connection with
16 operation of the Illinois prepaid tuition program. All such
17 moneys shall be deposited in the Illinois Prepaid Tuition
18 Trust Fund and held by the State Treasurer as ex-officio
19 custodian thereof, outside of the State Treasury, separate
20 and apart from all public moneys or funds of this State.
21 All interest or other earnings accruing or received on
22 amounts in the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund shall be
23 credited to and retained by the Fund. Moneys, interest, or
24 other earnings paid into the Fund shall not be transferred or
25 allocated by the Commission, the State Treasurer, or the
26 State Comptroller to any other fund, nor shall the Governor
27 authorize any such transfer or allocation, while any
28 contracts are outstanding. In addition, no moneys, interest,
29 or other earnings paid into the Fund shall be used,
30 temporarily or otherwise, for interfund borrowing or be
31 otherwise used or appropriated except as expressly authorized
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1 in this Act.
2 The Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund and each
3 individual participant account that may be created in that
4 Fund in conjunction with the Illinois prepaid tuition program
5 shall be subject to audit in the same manner as funds and
6 accounts belonging to the State of Illinois and shall be
7 protected by the official bond given by the State Treasurer.
8 (b) The Commission from time to time shall direct the
9 State Treasurer to invest moneys in the Illinois Prepaid
10 Tuition Trust Fund that are not needed for immediate
11 disbursement, in accordance with provisions of the investment
12 plan approved by the Commission.
13 (c) The Executive Director of the Commission shall, at
14 such times and in such amounts as shall be necessary, prepare
15 and send to the State Comptroller vouchers requesting payment
16 from the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund for: (i) tuition
17 and fee payments to MAP-eligible institutions on behalf of
18 qualified beneficiaries of Illinois prepaid tuition
19 contracts, and (ii) payments associated with administration
20 of the Illinois prepaid tuition program.
21 (d) The Governor shall indicate in a separate document
22 submitted concurrent with each annual State budget the
23 estimated amount of moneys in the Illinois Prepaid Tuition
24 Trust Fund which shall be necessary and sufficient, during
25 that State fiscal year, to discharge all obligations
26 anticipated under Illinois prepaid tuition contracts. The
27 Governor also shall indicate in a separate document submitted
28 concurrent with each annual State budget the amount of moneys
29 from the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund necessary to
30 cover anticipated expenses associated with administration of
31 the program. The Commission shall obtain concurrence from a
32 nationally recognized actuary as to all amounts necessary for
33 the program to meet its obligations. These amounts shall be
34 certified annually to the Governor by the Commission no later
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1 than January 30.
2 During the first 18 months of operation of the Illinois
3 prepaid tuition program, the Governor shall request an
4 appropriation to the Commission from general funds sufficient
5 to pay for start-up costs associated with establishment of
6 the program. This appropriation constitutes a loan that shall
7 be repaid to the General Revenue Fund within 5 years by the
8 Commission from prepaid tuition program contributions.
9 Subsequent program administrative costs shall be provided
10 from reasonable fees and charges equitably assessed to
11 purchasers of prepaid tuition contracts.
12 (e) If the Commission determines that there are
13 insufficient moneys in the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust
14 Fund to pay contractual obligations in the next succeeding
15 fiscal year, the Commission shall certify the amount
16 necessary to meet these obligations to the Board of Higher
17 Education, the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
18 Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Governor shall
19 submit the amount so certified to the General Assembly as
20 soon as practicable, but no later than the end of the current
21 State fiscal year. This Act constitutes a continuing and
22 irrevocable appropriation from the General Revenue Fund to
23 the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund for all amounts
24 necessary for the purposes of this Act and the irrevocable
25 and continuing authority for and direction to the Board of
26 Higher Education, the Commission, the Executive Director of
27 the Commission, the State Treasurer, and the State
28 Comptroller to make the necessary transfers and payments for
29 those purposes. This continuing appropriation is secured by
30 the full faith and credit of the State of Illinois.
31 (f) In the event the Commission, with the concurrence of
32 the Governor, determines the program to be financially
33 infeasible, the Commission may discontinue, prospectively,
34 the operation of the program. Any qualified beneficiary who
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1 has been accepted by and is enrolled or will within 5 years
2 enroll at a MAP-eligible institution shall be entitled to
3 exercise the complete benefits specified in the Illinois
4 prepaid tuition contract. All other contract holders shall
5 receive an appropriate refund of all contributions and
6 accrued interest up to the time that the program is
7 discontinued.
8 (Source: P.A. 90-546, eff. 12-1-97.)
9 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10 becoming law.