HB 363: "An Act providing for and relating to the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purpose of paying the cost of construction and major maintenance for certain public school facilities; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 363 01 "An Act providing for and relating to the issuance of general obligation bonds for the 02 purpose of paying the cost of construction and major maintenance for certain public 03 school facilities; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 06 to read: 07 FINDINGS; INTENT. (a) The legislature finds that 08 (1) art. VII, sec. 1, Constitution of the State of Alaska, provides that the 09 legislature shall establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the 10 state; 11 (2) adequate public school facilities that provide a safe and effective 12 atmosphere for learning are integral to the success of the initiative for quality schools in this 13 state; 14 (3) every single school-age child in this state deserves the opportunity to
01 attend an adequate public school facility; 02 (4) the current value of public school and school-related facilities statewide is 03 nearly $4,000,000,000; 04 (5) the state must protect its investment in our public school facilities by 05 recognizing where new public school facilities are needed and repairing and maintaining the 06 existing public school facilities that are deficient; 07 (6) the Department of Education and Early Development compiles a statewide 08 list of projects for which grant applications are submitted under AS 14.11.011 and ranks those 09 projects according to priority needs; 10 (7) the current statewide lists of public school construction, repair, and 11 maintenance needs include over 150 school projects at a total cost to the state of over 12 $640,000,000; 13 (8) the state must continue its efforts to build, repair, and maintain public 14 schools with a comprehensive plan, including three phases covering six years, with the goal of 15 completing all projects on the major maintenance and construction lists of the Department of 16 Education and Early Development; 17 (9) the lists of major maintenance and construction needs for public schools in 18 the state that are in the comprehensive plan will be adjusted by the Department of Education 19 and Early Development, in accordance with state statutes and regulations, to accommodate 20 changes in priorities of need; and 21 (10) bondholders must be assured that the school construction and major 22 maintenance project lists described in sec. 4 of this Act will remain unchanged until project 23 grants have been awarded in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 under sec. 4 of this Act; to provide 24 this assurance, sec. 5 of this Act provides that no new grant applications for school 25 construction or major maintenance projects may be submitted under AS 14.11.011 until 26 July 1, 2003. 27 (b) It is the intent of the legislature that, of the $210,000,000 appropriated in sec. 4 of 28 this Act, approximately $101,000,000 be used for grants under sec. 4 of this Act in fiscal year 29 2003 and approximately $109,000,000 be used for grants under sec. 4 of this Act in fiscal year 30 2004. 31 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to
01 read: 02 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS. For the purpose of paying the cost of school 03 construction and major maintenance grants under AS 14.11, general obligation bonds of the 04 state in the principal amount of not more than $212,000,000, if ratified by a majority of the 05 qualified voters of the state who vote on the question, shall be issued and sold. The full faith, 06 credit, and resources of the state are pledged to the payment of the principal of and interest 07 and redemption premium, if any, on the bonds. The bonds shall be issued under the 08 provisions of AS 37.15 as those provisions read at the time of issuance. 09 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 ALASKA SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE FUND. If the 12 issuance of the bonds is ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of the state who vote on 13 the question, a special fund of the state to be known as the "Alaska School Construction and 14 Maintenance Fund" shall be established, to which shall be credited the proceeds of the sale of 15 the bonds described in sec. 2 of this Act except for the accrued interest and premiums. 16 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17 read: 18 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT. The amount of 19 $210,000,000 is appropriated from the Alaska School Construction and Maintenance Fund to 20 the Department of Education and Early Development to be awarded in fiscal years 2003 and 21 2004 as grants for construction and major maintenance for public schools of this state and, 22 subject to reallocation between projects in accordance with AS 37.07.080(e), used by the 23 listed municipality that is a school district, or the listed regional educational attendance area, 24 in the amount listed and in the order of priority set by the Department of Education and Early 25 Development in 26 (1) the list of school construction projects ranked for fiscal year 2003 in 27 accordance with AS 14.11; and 28 (2) the list of school major maintenance projects for fiscal year 2003 ranked in 29 accordance with AS 14.11. 30 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 31 read:
01 DEFERRAL OF NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND MAJOR 02 MAINTENANCE GRANT APPLICATIONS. Beginning on the effective date of this Act, 03 and continuing through June 30, 2003, the provisions of AS 14.11.011, 14.11.013, 14.11.015, 04 and 14.11.016 do not apply, and no new grant applications may be submitted or accepted 05 under AS 14.11.011. 06 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 07 read: 08 STATE BOND COMMITTEE. If the issuance of the bonds is ratified by a majority 09 of the qualified voters of the state who vote on the question, the amount of $2,000,000 or as 10 much of that amount as is found necessary is appropriated from the proceeds of the sale of the 11 bonds authorized by this Act to the state bond committee to carry out the provisions of this 12 Act and to pay expenses incident to the sale and issuance of the bonds authorized by this Act. 13 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 14 read: 15 ADVANCE PLANNING. Any amount withdrawn from the public facility planning 16 fund (AS 35.10.135) for the purpose of advance planning for the capital improvements 17 financed under this Act shall be reimbursed to the fund from the proceeds of the sale of bonds 18 authorized by this Act. 19 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 20 read: 21 LAPSE; REDEMPTION; REIMBURSEMENT. The unexpended and unobligated 22 balance of the appropriation made in sec. 4 of this Act lapses under AS 37.25.020 and is 23 appropriated to the state bond committee to redeem bonds sold under this Act. The amounts 24 expended from the general fund to pay the principal, interest, and redemption premium on 25 bonds issued under this Act shall be reimbursed to the general fund from the appropriation 26 made under this section to the extent that the money is not needed to redeem the bonds. 27 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 28 read: 29 BALLOT QUESTION. The question whether the bonds authorized by this Act are to 30 be issued shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state at the next general election and 31 shall read substantially as follows:
01 PROPOSITION 02 State General Obligation Alaska School Construction and Major 03 Maintenance Bonds $212,000,000 04 Shall the State of Alaska issue its general obligation bonds in the 05 principal amount of not more than $212,000,000 for the purpose of 06 paying for the cost of construction and major maintenance of public 07 schools of this state as ranked by priority by the Department of 08 Education and Early Development in accordance with AS 14.11? 09 Bonds Yes [ ] 10 Bonds No [ ] 11 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).