AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING THE POWERS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE BUILDING AUTHORITY.
Whereas , The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to issue forthwith bonds and notes by the Massachusetts State College Building Authority, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 703 of the acts of 1963 is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (b), as appearing in section 1 of chapter 800 of the acts of 1985, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
(b) "Trustees", the higher education coordinating council, established by section 4 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, or if such council shall be abolished, such council, board, body or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers given by said chapter 15A with respect to state colleges shall be given by law.
SECTION 2. Said chapter 703 is hereby further amended by striking out section 3, as appearing in section 5 of said chapter 800, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 3. Purposes. The Authority is created for the general purposes of aiding and contributing to the performance of the educational and other purposes of the state colleges by providing dormitories, dining commons and other buildings, structures and facilities designed primarily for housing, feeding, medical care, parking, athletics and cultural and extracurricular and other student life activities and services primarily: (i) for the use of one or more state colleges, students, staff and their dependents; (ii) for lease to or use by an organization or association, in any form, of students or others the activities of which are a part of the activities at one or more state colleges and subject to regulation by the trustees; or (iii) for lease to or use by any other entity the activities of which are approved by the trustees as furthering the purposes of one or more of the state colleges, any of the foregoing of which may be located at such places as the trustees may designate and may be provided in collaboration with, and for joint use by, other agencies, boards, commissions or departments and authorities created by the laws of the commonwealth. The Authority shall not initiate any project except upon written request made by authority of the trustees and upon written approval from the commissioner of administration and the chancellor of the system of public higher education. Before the trustees authorize such written request with respect to any project that would cause an increase in the fees required to be paid by students as a condition for enrolling in a state college, the trustees, the board of trustees of the state college for the benefit of which the project is being undertaken and the authority shall review, analyze and take into account monies available to pay the costs of and debt service with respect to such project from sources other than financing provided by the Authority and such fees charged to students in the applicable state college, including without limitation grants, endowments, contributions from alumni, state college foundations and others and charges to users of such project. In no event shall monies appropriated to any such state college be used to pay the costs of or debt service for any such project, except as provided in section 18A and except for contract assistance agreements entered into with the commonwealth pursuant to section 10 or unless a specific appropriation has been made therefor.
SECTION 3. Section 7 of said chapter 703 is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph, as appearing in section 9 of said chapter 800, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
The Authority may provide by resolution at one time or from time to time for the issue of bonds of the Authority to achieve any of its corporate purposes or for the purpose of refunding outstanding indebtedness of the Authority incurred under this act or incurred under any other similar act or any other authority, including the payment of all or any part of the cost of projects, the payment of interest on notes and bonds of the Authority, the establishment of reserves to secure such bonds and notes, including the reserve funds created pursuant to section 10, and the payment of all other expenditures of the Authority incident to and necessary or convenient to carry out its corporate purposes and powers and any refunding; provided, however, that the Authority shall not issue bonds guaranteed by the commonwealth under said section 10, the principal amount of which, when added to the principal amount of bonds and notes guaranteed by the commonwealth under said section 10 theretofore issued hereunder, excluding bonds and notes guaranteed by the commonwealth under said section 10 previously refunded or being or to be refunded thereby, shall exceed in the aggregate the amount of $105,000,000; and provided further, that the Authority shall not issue bonds and notes other than those guaranteed by the commonwealth under said section 10, the principal amount of which, when added to the principal amount of bonds and notes other than those guaranteed by the commonwealth under said section 10 theretofore issued and then outstanding hereunder, excluding bonds and notes previously refunded or being or to be refunded thereby, shall exceed in the aggregate the amount of $500,000,000. The Authority shall not issue notes or bonds for the purpose of refunding bonds theretofore issued and then outstanding hereunder except with the prior written approval of the trustees of such refunding issue, which approval need not be of the interest rate, the maturity or any of the other terms thereof; provided, however, that the Authority shall not issue such notes or bonds until a majority of the members of the Authority shall certify in writing to the secretary of administration and finance: (1) that they have notified all qualified managing underwriters based in the commonwealth of the Authority's intention to issue such notes or bonds; and (2) that such underwriters have been given an equal opportunity to submit proposals.
SECTION 4. Section 16 of said chapter 703 is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
The commonwealth shall indemnify present and past members, officers and employees of the Authority against liabilities, claims, costs and expenses, including legal expenses, in connection with an actual or threatened suit or proceeding, including any settlement thereof approved by the Authority, arising by reason of any act or omission of such person within the scope of his duties for the Authority; provided, however, that no indemnification shall be provided concerning a matter as to which such person is adjudicated to have acted either without the good faith belief that his conduct was in the best interest of the Authority or with the knowledge that his conduct was unlawful.
SECTION 5. Section 18A of said chapter 703, inserted by section 118 of chapter 653 of the acts of 1989, is hereby amended by inserting before the first paragraph the following paragraph:-
To provide for the expenses of the Authority and for the payment of indebtedness incurred by it in carrying out the provisions of this act, the trustees may, in the name and on behalf of the commonwealth, in connection with any financing or refunding provided by the Authority, or in connection with any transfer to the Authority of buildings or other property under the provisions of section 5, transfer or pledge that they will periodically transfer to the Authority, or any other state college affiliate under terms permitting further transfer or pledge to the Authority: (i) any part or all of any funds held as trust funds for a state college under the provisions of section 14 of chapter 73 of the General Laws; (ii) any part or all of any funds administered on behalf of a state college as gifts, grants or trusts under the provisions of clause (e) of section 22 of chapter 15A of the General Laws; or (iii) in an instance where such funds have been pledged as security for such financing are exhausted in meeting such expenses, any part or all of any funds made available for expenditure on behalf of a state college pursuant to an appropriation made by the general court or otherwise available for expenditure by the trustees. No such appropriation or other spending authorization shall be so transferred except to prevent a default by the Authority for any indebtedness incurred on behalf of a state college making such transfer. Said trustees also may contract with the Authority or any other state college affiliate with respect thereto under terms permitting further transfer or pledge by the Authority to a trustee under any trust agreement entered into by the Authority; provided, however, that in the case of any funds expected to be available for expenditure by the trustees pursuant to subsequent appropriation or other spending authorization by the general court, the trustees may only pledge that they will so transfer such funds subject to such subsequent appropriation or other spending authorization. The trustees may impose such terms and conditions as to the application of the funds so transferred as said trustees deem appropriate for the carrying out of the provisions of this act. Any such pledge shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made, the funds so pledged shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act and the lien of any such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against a state college, the Authority or any other state college affiliate, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Neither the resolution nor a trust agreement by which such a pledge is created need be filed or recorded except in the records of the Authority.