Wyoming Military Department

CERTIFICATION PAGE FOR RULES

Adoption date: March 11, 2008

To guarantee review by the Secretary of State within the 75 day deadline, this package must be submitted to the Secretary of State by: May 23, 2008

GENERAL INFORMATION:

1. Agency: Adjutant General

Address: 5500 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82009-2330

Agency Contact for these Rules: Doug Shope

Work Telephone: (307) 421-3112

2. Are these new rules? Yes _X__ No ______

3. Chapter # and name of rules being created: Chapter 4, Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Premiums Assistance Plan

4. Does this rule replace an existing rule? YES ____ NO _X_ If yes, which chapters?_________

NOTICE OF INTENDED RULEMAKING TO AG, LSO AND SECRETARY OF STATE

5. Notice of intended rulemaking containing all of the information required by W.S. 16-3-103(a) was filed with the Secretary of State on: __January 11, 2008___

6. Notice of intended rulemaking and proposed rules in strike and underscore format were provided to the Legislative Service Office and courtesy copies of the notice and proposed rules were provided to the Attorney General and the Governor on: _January 11, 2008___

PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENDED RULEMAKING:

7. YES____NO___ (If applicable) Notice was mailed 45 days in advance to all persons who made a timely request for advance notice.

8. YES___NO_X__ A public hearing was held on the proposed rules on:_____________________.

FINAL FILING ON RULES:

9. YES_X__NO___An electronic copy was sent via electronic mail to the Secretary of State on _ ___March 11, 2008_________.

10. Final rules with original signatures were sent to the Attorney General’s office for the Governor’s signature on __March 11, 2008___.

11. Final rules were sent to the Legislative Service Office on____March 11, 2008___.

CERTIFICATION BY AGENCY:

The undersigned certifies that the foregoing information is correct.

Date____March 11, 2008___________ __/s/_______________________________________

Title:___The Adjutant General__________________

GOVERNOR’S CERTIFICATION

I have reviewed these rules and determined that they:

(1) are within the scope of the statutory authority delegated to the adopting agency; and

(2) appear to be within the scope of the legislative purpose of the statutory authority.

Therefore, I approve the same.

______________________________ _________________________________

Date Approved Governor

WYOMING MILITARY DEPARTMENT

COMMENT SUMMARY SHEET

CHAPTER 4, Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Premium Assistance Plan

No comments were received and no public hearing was requested.

March 10, 2008

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPAL REASONS

WYOMING MILITARY DEPARTMENT

CHAPTER 4, Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

Premium Assistance Plan

Pursuant to W.S. § 19-9-601, the Wyoming Military Department is mandated to promulgate rules for the administration, implementation and proper utilization of the Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Premium Assistance Plan. Because of that mandate, these rules are proposed.

These rules provide for plan implementation, eligibility requirements, application process, appeals and reporting requirements.

January 2, 2008

Wyoming Military Department

Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

Premium Assistance Plan

CHAPTER 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 1. Authority. 4-1

Section 2. Purpose. 4-1

Section 3. Plan Implementation. 4-1

Section 4. Qualified Members. 4-1

Section 5. Application Process. 4-2

Section 6. Rejected Payment. 4-3

Section 7. Appeals. 4-3

Section 8. Reporting Requirements. 4-3

Wyoming Military Department

Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

Premium Assistance Plan

CHAPTER 4

Section 1. Authority. These rules are promulgated by authority of W.S. 19-9-601.

Section 2. Purpose. The Wyoming National Guard Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Premium Assistance Plan provides reimbursement to qualified members of the Wyoming National Guard for group life insurance premiums.

Section 3. Plan Implementation.

(a) The Adjutant General of the State of Wyoming shall fully implement the intent of the legislature in enacting the Wyoming National Guard SGLI Premium Assistance Plan as contained in W.S. 19-9-601 through 19-9-603. As the Wyoming National Guard SGLI Premium Assistance Plan may be available only as funds are provided by the Wyoming legislature, the plan will be administered to fully utilize the authorized funds. The Adjutant General is the final authority in administering the Wyoming National Guard SGLI Premium Assistance Plan.

(b) The Adjutant General, or his designee, is permitted to exercise wide latitude of good faith discretion in administering the rules set forth herein. Moreover, except for “qualified member” requirements as set forth in Section 4 of these rules and W.S. 19-9-603, the Adjutant General, and designee possess discretion to waive the requirements set forth herein.

(c) The Deputy Director of the Wyoming Military Department is designated as the paying authority for all premium reimbursements and may authorize payment of premiums for qualified members annually no later than May 1 of the following year and shall be responsible to:

(i) Assess the amount of legislative appropriation available and reimburse the full amount of premium payments for the statutory coverage amount. If the appropriation amount is less than an amount required to reimburse all members, a prorated amount shall be determined and paid.

(ii) Review documentation submitted by the Wyoming Army National Guard (WY ARNG) and Wyoming Air National Guard (WY ANG) validating that a member is qualified for reimbursement for completeness and maintain for audit purposes.

(d) Appeal & Waiver Authority. The Adjutant General is the final appeal authority for any request.

Section 4. Qualified Members. Members of the Wyoming National Guard are considered qualified who:

(a) Have completed basic military training or officer training unless waived by the adjutant general for good cause shown;

(b) Meet the standards for satisfactory participation in the active Wyoming National Guard at the beginning of and throughout the entire term for which premium is reimbursed;

(c) Are committed through an enlistment contract or other written agreement to membership in the active Wyoming National Guard for not less than six (6) years, including initial enlistment and any previous contract or contracts.

Section 5. Application Process.

(a) The respective WY ARNG and WY ANG Finance or Personnel Officer shall certify those members qualified for reimbursement of premiums and submit certified documentation to the Deputy Director of the Wyoming Military Department by February 28 of each year for processing reimbursement of premiums paid by the member the previous calendar year. The following information for each member shall be certified:

(i) Name, current address, phone number, social security number for each qualified member (information must match WOLFS 109 form);

(ii) The total amount of SGLI reimbursement for each member for the previous calendar year. The amount will only be for those SGLI premium payments for insurance on the Guard member and will not include any amount for family members. If the same monthly premium was not paid for the full year, then the amounts actually paid shall be listed with any changes annotated to show the month of any change. The reimbursement amount shall be shown for payments which occurred January 1 through June 30 and those which occurred July 1 through December 31. No amount shall be included that has been or will be reimbursed by the Federal Government;

(iii) Completion of basic military training or officer training. A written waiver of training for good cause shown issued by the Adjutant General may be substituted;

(iv) Met the standards for satisfactory participation in the active Wyoming National Guard at the beginning of and throughout the entire term for which the premium is being reimbursed; and

(v) Is committed through an enlistment contract or other written agreement to membership in the active Wyoming National Guard for not less than six (6) years, including initial enlistment and any previous contract or contracts. Documentation showing this information may be submitted, but is not required, if the National Guard Certifying official certifies the member listed meets this requirement.

(b) Wyoming State Auditor Form (WOLFS 109) shall be completed and submitted for each member for direct deposit.

(c) In the alternative to the National Guard Finance or Personnel Officer certifying the required information as in (a) above, individual members of the Wyoming National Guard may provide the information required in (a) above and must include payment documentation, such as Leave and Earning Statements, to show the SGLI payments the member actually made during the relevant period. The Deputy Director of the Wyoming Military Department may produce a standard, required form, to be signed by individual member and unit commander or designee to make these submissions. Individual WY ARNG members shall submit this documentation through the army national guard military personal office [DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, PERSONNEL (DCSPER)] and individual WY ANG members shall submit this documentation through the air national guard finance office [FINANCE]. These offices will then submit the documents to the Deputy Director for review and processing.

(d) The address for the Deputy Director for all required submissions is: Wyoming Military Department, ATTN: Deputy Director, 5500 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82009-3320.

Section 6. Rejected Payment. If a reimbursement payment is rejected or otherwise cannot be completed due to circumstances outside of agency control, the Wyoming Military Department will research and correct the issue in the most reasonable manner:

(a) by the agency accounting office if local correction is possible;

(b) by the agency accounting office in direct cooperation with the member; or

Section 7. Appeals.

(a) Applicants may appeal reimbursement decisions by requesting an appeal in writing stating the basis for the reconsideration. Send all appeals to: Wyoming Military Department, ATTN: Deputy Director, 5500 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82009-3320, whose office will then research the appeal issues and submit the appeal to the Adjutant General.

(b) Final appeal authority is the Adjutant General.

Section 8. Reporting Requirements. The Wyoming Military Department Deputy Director shall compile an annual report to the Adjutant General containing number of members and payment amounts disbursed as well as any other information directed by the Adjutant General.