VW Update: Trustee Selected
VW funding just took another step closer to becoming available! Announced last week, Wilmington Trust has been designated the trustee that will oversee the administration of the Volkswagen Settlement funds. This starts the states’ timeline, as they must choose a beneficiary within the next 60 days. For some states, this will be an easy decision and for others, they will be working hard over the next couple months to determine the lead agency.
While the beneficiaries are being determined, it is important for you to reach out to your potential agency and introduce yourself (if you haven’t already done so). You can find a list of potential beneficiaries that we have compiled online here. Once the beneficiaries are in place, they will have a couple months to produce a draft plan for how they will use the funds.
Once draft plans are published, that will be the time you need to respond to the proposed program for your state and comment whether you feel they are using the funds adequately or not. Written responses are imperative at this stage, because that is what will drive any changes to the final state plans.
If you need help writing language either in support or recommending changes to the proposed plan, please reach out to Chelsea Uphaus at chelsea.uphaus@roush.com or 734-466-6710 to discuss.
The trustee being nominated is a huge step in the right direction. We feel that we may see funds as early as this fall based on the timelines each state is working within.
