A local telephone exchange company may send reported money to a qualifying rural scholarship fund instead of the comptroller, but it must file verification, follow claim procedures, and stop transfers once the yearly cap is reached.
Sec. 74.3011. DELIVERY OF MONEY TO RURAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND. (a) Notwithstanding and in addition to any other provision of this chapter or other law, a local telephone exchange company may deliver reported money to a scholarship fund for rural students instead of delivering the money to the comptroller as prescribed by Section 74.301. (b) A local telephone exchange company may deliver the money under this section only to a scholarship fund established by one or more local telephone exchange companies in this state to enable needy students from rural areas to attend college, technical school, or another postsecondary educational institution. (c) A local telephone exchange company shall file with the comptroller a verification of money delivered under this section that complies with Section 74.302. (d) A claim for money delivered to a scholarship fund under this section must be filed with the local telephone exchange company that delivered the money. The local telephone exchange company shall forward the claim to the administrator of the scholarship fund to which the money was delivered. The scholarship fund shall pay the claim if the fund determines in good faith that the claim is valid. A person aggrieved by a claim decision may file a suit against the fund in a district court in the county in which the administrator of the scholarship fund is located in accordance with Section 74.506. (e) The comptroller shall prescribe forms and procedures governing this section, including forms and procedures relating to: (1) notice of presumed abandoned property; (2) delivery of reported money to a scholarship fund; and (3) filing of a claim. (f) In this section, "local telephone exchange company" means a telecommunications utility certificated to provide local exchange service within the state and that is a telephone cooperative or has fewer than 50,000 access lines in service in this state. (g) During a state fiscal year, the total amount of money that may be transferred by all local telephone exchange companies under this section may not exceed $800,000. The comptroller shall keep a record of the total amount of money transferred annually. When the total amount of money transferred during a state fiscal year equals the amount allowed by this subsection, the comptroller shall notify each local telephone exchange company that the company may not transfer any additional money to the company's scholarship fund during the remainder of that state fiscal year. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 50(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1037, Sec. 23, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 16.14, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 163 (S.B. 947), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.