ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
REVISED
bonding authority; board of
regents
Removes the requirement that
the Legislature authorize the level of bonds the Arizona Board of Regents
(ABOR) can issue and instead stipulates that ABOR is authorized to issue bonds
if it does not spend more than eight percent of its annual capital debt
expenditures and receives approval from the Joint Legislative Committee on
Capital Review (JCCR).
Background
Statute authorizes JCCR to
develop and approve formulas for computing annual building renewal funding,
approve building systems for capital improvement plans and review current
capital improvement plans (A.R.S. §41-1252). JCCR is required to report to the
Legislature concerning funding for land acquisition, capital projects and
building renewal and must review the scope, purpose and estimated costs when
projects are estimated over $250,000.
ABOR has the authority to
issue bonds to acquire projects for university institutions if approved by the
Legislature. ABOR also has the power to refund bonds issued to acquire projects
and refund any such refunding bonds (A.R.S. §15-1683). The interest rate and
form of the bond, dates of issue and other matters relating to bond issuance
are determined by ABOR. However, statute specifies that bonds must mature
within 40 years of the initial date of issue.
S.B. 1257 changes the
authority to approve ABOR issued bonds from the Legislature to JCCR provided
that ABOR does not spend beyond a cap of eight percent of ABOR’s annual
expenditures for capital debt and receives approval from JCCR.
Any fiscal impact to the
state general fund is unknown at this time. A Joint Legislative Budget
Committee staff fiscal note has been requested.
Provisions
1. Changes the authority to approve ABOR issued bonds from the Legislature to JCCR, provided that ABOR does not spend beyond a cap of eight percent of ABOR’s annual expenditures for capital debt.
2. Provides for a general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
· Lowers the cap from ten to eight percent that ABOR may spend of its annual expenditures for capital debt as one of the conditions of issuing bonds.
Senate Action
ED 3/14/02 DP 5-0-3-0
FIN 3/25/02 DP 4-3-1-0
3rd Read 4/4/02 19-6-5-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 4, 2002