AB 1012

This bill creates a WisKids savings accounts program under which the

Department of Financial Institutions establishes a master college savings account

from which money may be distributed to pay for qualified higher education expenses

of children born or adopted in this state. The bill also requires the Department of

Health Services to provide information to DFI related to the WisKids savings account

program and better aligns with federal law the purposes for which college savings

account expenditures may be made.

Under current law, the College Savings Program Board, which is attached to

DFI, administers the state's college savings program, commonly referred to by its two

program options “Edvest” and “Tomorrow's Scholar.” The state's college savings

program is a qualified tuition program authorized under federal law, more generally

known as a 529 plan. Under the program, a person may establish a college savings

account to cover, consistent with federal law, a beneficiary's 1) tuition, fees, room and

board, and other costs required to attend an eligible educational institution; and 2)

tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school.

Current law requires DFI to select a vendor for the college savings program

through a competitive bidding process, based on factors determined by DFI. The

contract between DFI and the vendor must contain certain requirements, including

that the vendor reimburse the state for administrative program costs.

The bill creates a WisKids savings account program under which DFI

establishes a master college savings account that holds money that may be

distributed to pay for qualified higher education expenses of children born or adopted

in this state. Under the bill, DHS is granted an exception to existing disclosure

prohibitions allowing the state registrar of vital records to provide DFI with

information related to the birth or adoption of a child in this state and requiring that

the state registrar provide DFI with at least the name of the child and, as applicable,

the name and address of the child's birth parent or, to the extent available, the name

and address of each adoptive parent. In the case of adoption, if the state registrar

has prepared a new birth record for the subject of the adoption, the information

provided to DFI may not include a copy of the original birth record registered for the

subject of the adoption. The state registrar is also not required to disclose adoption

information the disclosure of which is prohibited by federal law or other state law.

Upon receiving the information from DHS, DFI must deposit at least $25 on

behalf of the child into the master college savings account or a sub-account, except

that DFI must first provide a notice to the child's parents and allow the child to opt

out of the program. If DFI makes a deposit on behalf of a child, DFI must maintain

an accounting that includes the name of the child, the names of the child's parents,

and the principal and earnings in the account attributable to the child. The deposit

for the child (the “program participant”) is made from an appropriation from the

college savings program's segregated fund or is made from program contributions