00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 237(FIN) 01 "An Act establishing a formula and a fund for school construction grant funding for 02 regional educational attendance areas; extending the deadline for authorizing school 03 construction debt reimbursed by the state; and requiring a report from the 04 commissioner of revenue." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 07 to read: 08 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 09 (1) the Alaska Superior Court, Third Judicial District, in Kasayulie v. State of 10 Alaska, Case No. 3AN-97-3782 (1999), determined that 11 (A) the method of funding capital projects for school construction and 12 major maintenance does not provide rural schools with adequate or equitable funding 13 opportunities; and 14 (B) while urban schools are adequately funded through existing 01 mechanisms including bond debt, taxes, and appropriations, a comparable mechanism 02 for funding rural schools does not exist; 03 (2) the mechanisms that currently exist in statute to provide construction 04 funding to regional educational attendance areas have not resulted in sufficient funding for 05 projects approved for those districts. 06  * Sec. 2. AS 14.11 is amended by adding new sections to read: 07 Sec. 14.11.025. State aid for school construction in regional educational  08 attendance areas. (a) In addition to other appropriations and funding sources, the 09 department shall annually provide grant funding from the fund established under 10 AS 14.11.030 to a school district that is a regional educational attendance area in an 11 amount determined under (b) of this section for a project approved under 12 AS 14.11.005 - 14.11.020. 13 (b) The amount of money available each fiscal year for expenditure under (a) 14 of this section shall be the outstanding debt amount required to be reimbursed by the 15 state under AS 14.11.100, multiplied by 0.28, the product of which is to be multiplied 16 by the percentage of students in the state enrolled in and attending a school located in 17 a regional educational attendance area. 18 Sec. 14.11.030. Regional educational attendance area school fund. (a) The 19 regional educational attendance area school fund is created as an account in the 20 general fund to be used, in addition to other funding sources, to fund projects 21 approved under AS 14.11.025 for the costs of school construction in regional 22 educational attendance areas. 23 (b) Legislative appropriations, including appropriations of interest earned on 24 the fund, shall be deposited in the fund established under this section. The fund 25 balance may not exceed $100,000,000. 26 (c) Money appropriated to the fund does not lapse except to the extent money 27 in the fund exceed the maximum fund balance specified in (b) of this section. 28  * Sec. 3. AS 14.11.100(a) is amended to read: 29 (a) During each fiscal year, the state shall allocate to a municipality that is a 30 school district the following sums: 31 (1) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year two years 01 earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 02 indebtedness incurred before July 1, 1977, to pay costs of school construction; 03 (2) 90 percent of 04 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 05 two years earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding 06 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred after June 30, 1977, and before 07 July 1, 1978, to pay costs of school construction; 08 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1976, and before July 1, 09 1978, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 10 of school construction; 11 (3) 90 percent of 12 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 13 two years earlier for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding 14 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred after June 30, 1978, and before 15 January 1, 1982, to pay costs of school construction projects approved under 16 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 17 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1978, and before July 1, 18 1982, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 19 of school construction projects approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 20 (4) subject to (h) and (i) of this section, up to 90 percent of 21 (A) payments made by the municipality during the current 22 fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, 23 notes, or other indebtedness incurred after December 31, 1981, and authorized 24 by the qualified voters of the municipality before July 1, 1983, to pay costs of 25 school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects that 26 exceed $25,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 27 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1982, and before July 1, 28 1983, by the municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs 29 of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects 30 that exceed $25,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); and 31 (C) payments made by the municipality during the current 01 fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, 02 notes, or other indebtedness to pay costs of school construction, additions to 03 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are 04 submitted to the department for approval under AS 14.07.020(a)(11) before 05 July 1, 1983, and approved by the qualified voters of the municipality before 06 October 15, 1983, not to exceed a total project cost of (i) $6,600,000 if the 07 annual growth rate of average daily membership of the municipality is more 08 than seven percent but less than 12 percent, or (ii) $20,000,000 if the annual 09 growth rate of average daily membership of the municipality is 12 percent or 10 more; payments made by a municipality under this subparagraph on total 11 project costs that exceed the amounts set out in (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph 12 are subject to (5)(A) of this subsection; 13 (5) subject to (h) - (j) of this section, 80 percent of 14 (A) payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 15 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or 16 other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality 17 (i) after June 30, 1983, but before March 31, 1990, to 18 pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 19 rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are approved under 20 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); or 21 (ii) before July 1, 1989, and reauthorized before 22 November 1, 1989, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 23 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $25,000 and are 24 approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); and 25 (B) cash payments made after June 30, 1983, by the 26 municipality during the fiscal year two years earlier to pay costs of school 27 construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed 28 $25,000 and are approved by the department before July 1, 1990, under 29 AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 30 (6) subject to (h) - (j) and (m) of this section, 70 percent of payments 31 made by the municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and 01 interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified 02 voters of the municipality on or after April 30, 1993, but before July 1, 1996, to pay 03 costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects 04 that exceed $200,000 and are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 05 (7) subject to (h) - (j) and (m) of this section, 70 percent of payments 06 made by the municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and 07 interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified 08 voters of the municipality after March 31, 1990, but before April 30, 1993, to pay 09 costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects; 10 (8) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (n) of this section and after 11 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 12 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 13 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 14 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after July 1, 15 1995, but before July 1, 1998, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 16 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000 and are approved 17 under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 18 (9) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (n) of this section and after 19 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 20 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 21 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 22 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after July 1, 23 1998, but before July 1, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 24 schools, and major rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000 and are approved 25 under AS 14.07.020(a)(11); 26 (10) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (o) of this section, and after 27 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 28 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by the municipality during the fiscal year 29 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 30 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 31 1998, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 01 rehabilitation projects that exceed $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), 02 and are not reimbursed under (n) of this section; 03 (11) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2) - (5) of this section, and after projects 04 funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 05 commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year 06 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 07 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 08 1999, but before January 1, 2005, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 09 schools, and major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed 10 $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) 11 or (o) of this section; 12 (12) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2), (3), and (5) of this section, 60 percent 13 of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of 14 principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by 15 the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but before January 1, 16 2005, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and major 17 rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are 18 reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this 19 section; 20 (13) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (p) of this section, and after 21 projects funded by the tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been 22 approved by the commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during 23 the fiscal year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt 24 bonds, notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the 25 municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of 26 school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects and 27 education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are approved under 28 AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this section; 29 (14) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2), (3), and (5), and (p) of this section, 60 30 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement 31 of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness 01 authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 1999, but 02 before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to schools, and 03 major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are 04 reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this 05 section; 06 (15) subject to (h), (i), (j)(2) - (5), and (q) of this section, and after 07 projects funded by the bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by the 08 commissioner, 90 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year 09 for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding bonds, notes, or other 10 indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after June 30, 11 1999, but before October 31, 2006, to pay costs of school construction, additions to 12 schools, and major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities that exceed 13 $200,000, are approved under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), meet the 10 percent participating 14 share requirement for a municipal school district under AS 14.11.008(b), and are not 15 reimbursed under (n) or (o) of this section; 16 (16) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2) - (5) of this section, and after projects 17 funded by the tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness have been approved by 18 the commissioner, 70 percent of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal 19 year for the retirement of principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, 20 notes, or other indebtedness authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on 21 or after October 1, 2006, [BUT BEFORE NOVEMBER 30, 2010,] to pay costs of 22 school construction, additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects and 23 education-related facilities that exceed $200,000, are approved under 24 AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not reimbursed under (o) of this section; 25 (17) subject to (h), (i), and (j)(2), (3), and (5) of this section, 60 percent 26 of payments made by a municipality during the fiscal year for the retirement of 27 principal and interest on outstanding tax exempt bonds, notes, or other indebtedness 28 authorized by the qualified voters of the municipality on or after October 1, 2006, 29 [BUT BEFORE NOVEMBER 30, 2010,] to pay costs of school construction, 30 additions to schools, and major rehabilitation projects and education-related facilities 31 that exceed $200,000, are reviewed under AS 14.07.020(a)(11), and are not 01 reimbursed under (o) of this section. 02  * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 03 read: 04 REPORT ON STATE BOND RATING. The commissioner of revenue shall review 05 the effect of AS 14.11.100(a), as amended by sec. 3 of this Act, on the state's bond rating and 06 provide a report to the legislature within 30 days of the date that is five years after the 07 effective date of this Act.