Authority: Discretionary Inclusion.

A. The standards upon which the public institutions of higher education are deemed certified to receive the payment of interest earnings from the tuition and fees and other nongeneral fund Educational and General revenues shall be based upon the standards provided in § 4-9.02 of this act, as approved by the General Assembly.

B. The estimated interest earnings and other revenues shall be distributed to those specific public institutions of higher education that have been certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia as having met the standards provided in § 4-9.02 of this act, based on the distribution methodology developed pursuant to Chapter 933, Enactment 2, Acts of Assembly of 2005 and reported to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee.

C. In accordance with § 2.2-5004 and 5005, Code of Virginia, this Item provides $7,296,755 the first year and $6,549,505 the second year from the general fund, and $2,118,543  from nongeneral funds in the first year for the estimated total payment to individual institutions of higher education of the interest earned on tuition and fees and other nongeneral fund Education and General Revenues deposited to the state treasury. Upon certification by the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia that all available performance benchmarks have been successfully achieved by the individual institutions of higher education, the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall transfer the appropriation in this Item for such estimated interest earnings to the general fund appropriation of each institution's Educational and General program.

D. This Item also includes $1,116,582 in the first year and $1,314,485 the second year from the general fund for the payment to individual institutions of higher education of a pro rata amount of the rebate paid to the State Commonwealth on credit card purchases not exceeding $5,000 during the previous fiscal year. The State Comptroller shall determine the amount owed to each certified institution, net of any payments due to the federal government, using a methodology that equates a pro rata share based upon the total transactions of $5,000 or less made by the institution using the state-approved credit card in comparison to all transactions of $5,000 or less using said approved credit card. By October 15, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate, following the year of certification, the Comptroller shall reimburse each institution its estimated pro rata share.

E. Once actual financial data from the year of certification are available, the State Comptroller and the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall compare the actual data with estimates used to determine the distribution of the interest earnings, nongeneral fund Educational and General revenues, and the pro rata amounts to the certified institutions of higher education. In those cases where variances exist, the Governor shall include in his next introduced budget bill recommended appropriations to make whatever adjustments to each institution's distributed amount to ensure that each institution's incentive payments are accurate based on actual financial data.