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Committee approves technical change to fund Millennium Scholarship administrative costs
Summary
AB 582 raises the statutory cap used to calculate allowable administrative spending for the Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship program from 3% to 13% of the referenced tobacco settlement calculation to help pay for a new system and program administration as settlement revenues decline.
CARSON CITY — The Senate Committee on Government Affairs voted to pass Assembly Bill 582, a technical adjustment to how the state calculates allowable administrative costs for the Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship program.
Kirsten Vanwright, chief of staff for the Nevada State Treasurer’s Office, told the committee the statute currently limits administrative costs to 3 percent of certain calculated tobacco settlement dollars tied to the scholarship program. She said annual tobacco settlement receipts have declined and that the Treasurer’s Office expects the larger 13 percent cap will cover a new system implementation and program administrative needs for the upcoming biennium.
Vanwright said the statutory reference appears in NRS 353B.350 and that the change aligns with a budget account closing. She told the committee the MSA (Master Settlement Agreement) receipts used in the statutory calculation have trended downward and that the office expects the proposed 13 percent cap will be sufficient to fund administrative costs in Fiscal Year 2026.
Senators asked technical questions about account flows and the relationship among endowment, administrative and trust accounts used by the college savings and scholarship programs. Vanwright and other staff clarified that endowment‑account receipts and trust accounts are separate and that the MSA figure is used as a basis for the administrative calculation.
The committee voted to do pass AB 582; Senator Daley moved and Vice Chair Orangewell seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
