West Virginia Code 4-11A-3 – Receipt of settlement funds and required deposit in the West Virginia Tobacco Settlement Fund
(a) There is hereby created in the state Treasury a special revenue account, designated the Tobacco Settlement Fund, which shall be an interest-bearing account and may be invested in the manner permitted by the provisions of article six, chapter twelve of this code, with the interest income a proper credit to the fund. Unless contrary to federal law, fifty percent of all revenues received pursuant to the master settlement agreement shall be deposited in this fund. These funds shall be available only upon appropriation by the Legislature as part of the state budget: Provided, That for the fiscal year 2000, the first $5 million received into the fund shall be transferred to the Public Employees Insurance Reserve Fund created in article two, chapter five-a of this code.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 4-11A-3
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Authority: means the Tobacco Settlement Finance Authority created in this article. See West Virginia Code 4-11A-7
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Master settlement agreement: means the master settlement agreement as defined in section one of this article. See West Virginia Code 4-11A-7
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) Appropriations from the Tobacco Settlement Fund are limited to expenditures for the following purposes:
(1) Reserve funds for continued support of the programs offered by the Public Employees Insurance Agency established in article sixteen, chapter five of this code;
(2) Funding for expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program as authorized by the Legislature or mandated by the federal government;
(3) Funding for public health programs, services and agencies; and
(4) Funding for any state-owned or -operated health facilities.
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary, on the effective date of the sale of the state's share to the authority as authorized in this article, the deposits and transfers provided in this section shall cease and no longer be required.