School facilities: California School Finance Authority: definitions.

(1) Existing law authorizes the California School Finance Authority to, among other things, determine the location and character of any project to be financed or refinanced under the California School Finance Authority Act. Existing law defines the term "project" as the acquisition, construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, improvement, furnishing, or equipping of an educational facility to be financed or refinanced pursuant to the act. This bill would provide that the term "project" may also include reimbursement for the costs of acquisition, construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, improvement, furnishing, or equipping of an education facility to be financed or refinanced pursuant to the act, provided that reimbursement from bond proceeds is required to comply with federal tax law in accordance with an opinion of counsel that supports special treatment under federal tax law, as specified. (2) Existing law authorizes a public credit provider, as defined, to require a participating party, with regard to providing credit enhancement for bonds, notes, certificates of participation, or other evidences of indebtedness of a participating party, to agree to specified conditions, including allowing the Controller to allocate specified school district, county office of education, or charter school apportionments to the public credit provider if the public credit provider is required to make principal or interest payments, or both, pursuant to the credit enhancement agreement. This bill would delete this provision. (3) Existing law limits the total amount of revenue bonds that may be issued and outstanding at any time for purposes of the California School Finance Authority Act, other than up to $4,000,000,000 in revenue bonds issued under a specified provision of that act, to $400,000,000. This bill would delete the distinction between the limits of the total amounts of revenue bonds that may be issued and outstanding at any time for purposes of the California School Finance Authority Act and under the specified provision of the act. The bill would instead set the limit of the total amount of revenue bonds that may be issued and outstanding at any time for purposes of the act at $4,400,000,000. (4) Existing law, the California School Finance Authority Act, authorizes a participating party, as defined, in connection with securing financing or refinancing of projects, as defined, to elect to guarantee or provide for payment of the bonds and related obligations in accordance with specified conditions. This bill would generally revise and recast this provision of the act to authorize participating parties to provide for the funding of specified costs related to the issuance of the bonds, as well as the payment of the bonds, in accordance with prescribed requirements. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 17199.4 of the Education Code proposed by SB 971 that would become operative if this bill and SB 971 are both enacted on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is enacted last.