Amendment ID: S1813-22

Amendment 22

Clarify Clean Energy Center Bonding Authority

Mr. Downing moves to amend the amendment by inserting after section 2E the following new section:-

SECTION XX. Section 3 of chapter 23 J of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 170 and 171, the words "and (31) to administer the trust fund in accordance with section 9" and inserting in place thereof the following words:-

(31) to administer the trust fund in accordance with section 9; and

(32) to borrow and repay money by issuing bonds or notes of the center, to apply their proceeds in furtherance of its purposes under this chapter and to pledge or assign or create security interests in any revenues, receipts or other assets or funds of the center to secure bonds or notes, including without limitation amounts received or held in the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund established pursuant to section 9.

(B) Subsection (g) of section 9 of said chapter 23 J, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The amounts collected pursuant to section 20 of chapter 25 shall be impressed with a trust for the benefit of the trust fund. To facilitate the center's ability to issue bonds and notes secured by amounts in the trust fund, the commonwealth shall covenant with the holders of those bonds and notes that the amounts collected under said section 20 of said chapter 25 shall not be diverted from the trust fund and that the rates of the mandatory charges under said section 20 of said chapter 25 shall not be reduced while any such bonds or notes are outstanding. In furtherance of the public purposes of the trust fund, income derived from the investment of amounts collected under said section 20 of said chapter 25 shall be expended by the center as provided in subsection (a) and, in the discretion of the center, in furtherance of the public purposes of the center and for the costs of departments and agencies that support or are otherwise consistent with the purposes of the trust fund.