§ 1285-O — Pipeline for jobs fund

§ 1285-o. Pipeline for jobs fund. The corporation shall undertake to\nprovide financial assistance to recipients to encourage and support the\nplanning, design and construction of eligible projects which provide an\neconomic development benefit to the state.\n 1. There is hereby established in the custody of the corporation a\n"pipeline for jobs fund". The purpose of the pipeline for jobs fund\nshall be to provide financial assistance, as determined by the\ncorporation in consultation with the department of economic development,\nto recipients for the planning, design and construction of eligible\nprojects.\n 2. For purposes of this section, and notwithstanding any provision of\nlaw to the contrary, as used in this section:\n (a) "Construction" means the erection, building, acquisition,\nalteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement or extension of an\neligible project; the inspection and supervision thereof; and the\nengineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and economic investigations\nand studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications,\nprocedures, and other actions necessary thereto.\n (b) "Eligible municipality" means any county, city, town or village\nlocated within the state.\n (c) "Eligible project" means a project intended to create, improve or\nextend water supply facilities, including, but not limited to, drinking\nwater facilities and cold water supply facilities for economic\ndevelopment purposes on behalf of businesses, which may include projects\nthat may be eligible for financing under or designed to comply with the\nrequirements of the federal safe drinking water act or other applicable\nfederal laws and state drinking water quality goals and standards.\n (d) "Financial assistance" means state assistance payments for the\nstate share of the cost of an eligible project, or any one or more of\nthe following types of financial assistance:\n (i) loans to recipients for construction of eligible projects on such\nterms as the corporation may determine, subject to any applicable\nprovisions of federal or state law;\n (ii) buying or refinancing debt obligations of recipients at market or\nbelow market rates, subject to any applicable provisions of federal or\nstate law;\n (iii) guarantying, or purchasing insurance or other credit enhancement\nfor municipal obligations where such action would improve credit market\naccess for or reduce interest rates on such municipal obligations;\n (iv) providing a source of revenue or security for payment of\nprincipal and interest on bonds or notes issued by the corporation if\nthe proceeds of the sale of such bonds or notes will be deposited in the\nfund; and\n (v) providing interest rate subsidies from investment earnings on\ncorpus allocations to subsidize loans to recipients made from the\nproceeds of the corporation's bonds or notes.\n (e) "Fund" means the pipeline for jobs fund established by this\nsection.\n (f) "Recipient" means any eligible municipality, public utility,\npublic benefit corporation, or person, including any individual, firm,\npartnership, association, not-for-profit corporation or other\ncorporation organized and existing under the laws of the state or any\nother state which is empowered to construct and operate an eligible\nproject, or any two or more of the foregoing which are acting jointly in\nconnection with an eligible project.\n 3. Moneys in the fund shall be segregated from all other funds of or\nin the custody of the corporation. Moneys in the fund shall be used for\nany authorized purpose of the fund as provided and in accordance with\nthe provisions of this section.\n 4. The fund shall consist of:\n (a) moneys appropriated by the legislature pursuant to a chapter of\nthe laws of nineteen hundred ninety-nine, or any reappropriation\nthereof, for the purpose of such fund or otherwise transferred by the\nstate for deposit therein by the comptroller as required by law;\n (b) payments of principal and interest made by recipients pursuant to\nloan or other financing agreements entered into pursuant to this\nsection; provided, however, if financial assistance made pursuant to\nfinancing agreements is financed by the issuance of bonds or notes of\nthe corporation, deposit of such payments into the fund shall be subject\nto the rights of the holders of such bonds or notes to receive such\nmoneys;\n (c) investment earnings on the amounts in such fund; and\n (d) the proceeds of bonds or notes issued by the corporation for\npurposes of providing financial assistance to recipients.\n 5. Moneys in the fund may be invested by the corporation in accordance\nwith this title and pursuant to guidelines from time to time issued by\nthe corporation.\n 6. The corporation shall request applications from recipients to\nreceive financial assistance from the fund for eligible projects. The\ncorporation shall provide a list of the eligible projects and the\namounts available for financial assistance to the department of economic\ndevelopment, which department shall recommend to the corporation\nprojects to be financed from the moneys available. In making such\nrecommendations, the department of economic development shall give\nconsideration to eligible projects which have the potential to enhance\nthe state's technology industry development efforts.\n 7. The corporation shall promulgate regulations, developed in\nconsultation with the commissioner of economic development, the\ncommissioner of environmental conservation and the commissioner of\nhealth for the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities under this\nsection, including establishing the criteria and standards for\nevaluating the projects to be financed and determining the amount and\nkind of financial assistance to a recipient for an eligible project as\nwell as the terms of any financing agreement evidencing such financial\nassistance.\n 8. The provisions of subdivision eleven of section twelve hundred\neighty-five-m of this title shall be available to the corporation in the\nevent of a default under any financing agreement entered into by an\neligible municipality pursuant to this section.\n 9. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to\nthe contrary, the corporation and the director of the budget are hereby\nauthorized to enter into a pipeline for jobs fund service contract or\ncontracts providing for the administration of the pipeline for jobs fund\nand the financing by such corporation of the contributions made by the\nstate to the pipeline for jobs fund. Any such contract or contracts\nshall be upon such terms and conditions as the corporation and the\ndirector of the budget shall determine to be reasonable, including, but\nnot limited to, provisions relating to the respective obligations of the\nstate and the corporation with respect to providing for the payment of\n(i) all fees and other charges of, and expenses incurred by, the\ncorporation in connection with the issuance and administration of bonds\nto provide funds to the state or reimburse the state for contributions\nto the pipeline for jobs fund and (ii) all debt service payments and\nrelated expenses on such bonds.\n (b) Any such contract entered into pursuant to paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision shall provide that the obligation of the state to fund or to\npay the amounts therein provided for shall not constitute a debt of the\nstate within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision\nand shall be deemed executory only to the extent of moneys available\ntherefore and that no liability shall be incurred by the state beyond\nthe moneys available for such purpose, and that such obligation is\nsubject to annual appropriation by the legislature.\n (c) Any such contract or any payments made or to be made thereunder\nmay be assigned and pledged by the corporation as security for its bonds\nand notes issued for the purpose of financing the state contribution to\nthe pipeline for jobs fund.\n (d) The comptroller is hereby authorized to receive from the\ncorporation any portion of bond proceeds paid to provide funds to or\nreimburse the state for its contribution to the pipeline for jobs fund\nand to credit such amounts to the capital projects fund.\n