Louisiana Student Tuition Assistance and Revenue Trust Program; creation; purpose; legislative intent

A. In order to help make education affordable and accessible to all citizens of Louisiana, to assist in the maintenance of state institutions of postsecondary education by helping to provide a more stable financial base to these institutions, to provide the citizens of Louisiana with financing assistance for education at an institution of postsecondary education and protection against rising tuition costs, to encourage saving to enhance the ability of citizens to obtain access to institutions of postsecondary education, to encourage academic excellence, to promote a well-educated and financially secure population to the ultimate benefit of all citizens of the state, and to encourage a recognition that financing an education is an investment in the future, there is hereby created the Louisiana Student Tuition Assistance and Revenue Trust Program which may hereafter be referred to as the "START" Program. The program shall consist of the establishment of education savings accounts by individuals, groups, or organizations and provisions for the routine deposit of funds to cover the future educational costs of a designated beneficiary. B. The legislature hereby finds that the Louisiana Student Tuition Assistance and Revenue Trust Program created by this Chapter is an official state function, offered through an agency of the state which receives state appropriations. C. (1) It is the intention of the legislature that the START Program shall be a qualified tuition program as defined in Section 529 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, as amended. Any provision of this Chapter determined to be in conflict with any requirement of the code as applicable to a qualified tuition program shall be superseded by such code provision to the extent necessary to assure that the START Program continues to meet the code's definition of a qualified tuition program. (2) Any requirement of this Chapter determined to be more restrictive than the requirements of the federal Internal Revenue Code as applicable to a qualified tuition program may be modified to conform with code requirement by the Louisiana Tuition Trust Authority in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.