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1998 SESSION

986902811
HOUSE BILL NO. 372
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Governor
on April 16, 1998)
(Patron Prior to Substitute-Delegate Councill)
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-163, 22.1-175.1, 22.1-175.2, and 22.1-175.3 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-167.2, relating to the Virginia Public School Authority.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 22.1-163, 22.1-175.1, 22.1-175.2, and 22.1-175.3 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 22.1-167.2 as follows:

§ 22.1-163. Authority created; public body corporate and agency of State.

The Virginia Public School Authority is created as a public body corporate and as a political subdivision and an agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth.

§ 22.1-167.2. Security for payment; appropriations.

A. The Authority is authorized to issue bonds to finance and refinance acquisition of bonds, notes and other obligations of counties, cities and towns (local school bonds) issued for the purpose of financing and refinancing capital projects for school purposes and to pledge to the bonds all or any combination of the following sources: (i) payments of principal and interest on the local school bonds purchased by the Authority; (ii) payments to the localities by the Commonwealth as contemplated under the provisions of § 15.2-2659 (state aid intercept) of the Code of Virginia; (iii) funds in the Literary Fund available and appropriated for such purpose; and (iv) any funds in the general fund of the Commonwealth appropriated for such purpose.

B. Each budget bill submitted pursuant to subsection A of § 2.1-399 and each set of gubernatorial amendments to the general appropriation act submitted pursuant to subsection B of § 2.1-399 shall include an appropriation to the Authority of a sum sufficient, as provided in the general appropriation act, first, from funds in the Literary Fund available for such purpose, and second, from the general fund of the Commonwealth, to cure any shortfall in pledged primary revenues on any debt service payment date on the bonds of the Authority described by this section. A shortfall in pledged primary revenues shall exist when the sum of the payments made on local school bonds due on or before such date and any proceeds derived from the implementation of § 15.2-2659 (state aid intercept) of the Code of Virginia as of such date is less than required to pay the debt service due on the Authority's bonds on such date.

C. The Literary Fund and the general fund of the Commonwealth shall be subrogated to the rights of the Authority to the extent of any such funds paid to the Authority and shall be entitled to enforce the Authority's remedies with respect to the local school bonds and to full recovery of the amount of such shortfall.

D. On or before September 30 of each year, the Authority shall submit to the Governor and the chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee a report as of the end of the prior fiscal year detailing the total amount of the Authority's outstanding bonds secured by appropriations as described in subsection B. The report shall also describe any instances where any such appropriation has been used.

§ 22.1-175.1. Virginia Public School Construction Grants Program established.

The Virginia Public School Construction Grants Program is hereby established to provide grants to eligible school divisions for school construction, additions, and infrastructure, site acquisition for public school buildings and facilities, and renovations, including the costs of retrofitting or enlarging public school buildings; further, if a school division has completed any such projects during the previous ten years, the grants may be used for debt service payments or a portion thereof. The Program shall be administered by the Board of Education.

§ 22.1-175.2. Virginia Public School Construction Grants Fund created.

A. From such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose and from such gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds as may be received on its behalf, there is hereby created in the Department of the Treasury a special nonreverting fund known as the Virginia Public School Construction Grants Fund. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and any moneys remaining in such Fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Interest earned on such funds shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Funds may be paid disbursed to any eligible school division that has been awarded is eligible for financial assistance pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or eligibility and needs criteria established by the Board of Education.

B. The Department of the Treasury State Treasurer shall administer and manage the Virginia Public School Construction Fund, subject to the authority of the Board of Education to provide for its disbursement. The Fund shall be disbursed to award grants as determined by eligibility and needs criteria established by the Board. The amount of each grant awarded to a qualifying school division in any fiscal year shall not exceed 100 percent of the cost of school division's aggregate annual expenditures for school construction, additions, or infrastructure, site acquisition for public school buildings or and facilities, renovations, including the costs of retrofitting or enlarging public school buildings, and debt service payments on such school projects which have been completed during the last ten years.

§ 22.1-175.3. Board to issue guidelines.

A. The Board shall issue guidelines governing the Program as it may deem necessary and appropriate establish specific eligibility and needs criteria to govern the disbursement and apportionment of funds under the Program. The guidelines eligibility and needs criteria shall include, but shall need not be limited to, provisions which address the following:

1. Procedures for obtaining the approval by the local governing body of the construction, addition, or site acquisition for which grant moneys are sought and of the application for a grant from the Fund; eligibility criteria for school divisions demonstrating need based on local ability to pay for public school construction; eligibility criteria for school divisions demonstrating need based on population growth rates and;

2. Factors to be applied to all localities to measure actual need;

3. Factors to be applied to all localities to measure local effort to meet actual need;

4. Factors to be applied to all localities to measure local ability to pay for actual need;

5. Factors to be applied to all localities to recognize local innovations and activities to improve the quality of and options for education, including, but not limited to, efforts to reduce class sizes and establish charter schools;

6. Appropriate combinations of funding resources for the eligible projects, including grant funds, local funds, Literary Fund loans, and bonds or other funding through the Virginia Public School Authority, and moneys obtained from any other public or private funding sources;

7. Restrictions on the use of grant funds, if any;

8. Requirements for the availability and pledge of local matching funds; and

9. procedures Procedures for determining priority for awarding grants to qualifying school divisions.

B. Prior to the establishment of eligibility and needs criteria by the Board of Education pursuant to this section, all available funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter shall be apportioned and distributed as follows: (i) fifty percent of all available funds shall be apportioned and distributed equally to each school division and (ii) fifty percent of all available funds shall be apportioned and distributed to each school division on a pro rata basis according to the school division's average daily membership adjusted by the locality's composite index.

2. That, from July 1, 1998, to June 1, 1999, the Board of Education shall conduct public hearings in all regions of the Commonwealth and shall receive public comment on local public school construction issues; no later than June 30, 1999, the Board shall issue guidelines for the eligibility and needs criteria, in accordance with the requirements of § 22.1-175.3, to govern disbursement and apportionment of grants awarded pursuant to the Virginia Public School Construction Grants Program.

3. That, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the provisions of this act relating to the Virginia Public School Construction Grants Program shall be deemed to constitute the plan for school construction funding contained in the 1998-2000 Appropriation Act.