N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 1285-o: Pipeline for jobs fund

§ 1285-o. Pipeline for jobs fund. The corporation shall undertake to

provide financial assistance to recipients to encourage and support the

planning, design and construction of eligible projects which provide an

economic development benefit to the state.

1. There is hereby established in the custody of the corporation a

"pipeline for jobs fund". The purpose of the pipeline for jobs fund

shall be to provide financial assistance, as determined by the

corporation in consultation with the department of economic development,

to recipients for the planning, design and construction of eligible

projects.

2. For purposes of this section, and notwithstanding any provision of

law to the contrary, as used in this section:

(a) "Construction" means the erection, building, acquisition,

alteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement or extension of an

eligible project; the inspection and supervision thereof; and the

engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and economic investigations

and studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications,

procedures, and other actions necessary thereto.

(b) "Eligible municipality" means any county, city, town or village

located within the state.

(c) "Eligible project" means a project intended to create, improve or

extend water supply facilities, including, but not limited to, drinking

water facilities and cold water supply facilities for economic

development purposes on behalf of businesses, which may include projects

that may be eligible for financing under or designed to comply with the

requirements of the federal safe drinking water act or other applicable

federal laws and state drinking water quality goals and standards.

(d) "Financial assistance" means state assistance payments for the

state share of the cost of an eligible project, or any one or more of

the following types of financial assistance:

(i) loans to recipients for construction of eligible projects on such

terms as the corporation may determine, subject to any applicable

provisions of federal or state law;

(ii) buying or refinancing debt obligations of recipients at market or

below market rates, subject to any applicable provisions of federal or

state law;

(iii) guarantying, or purchasing insurance or other credit enhancement

for municipal obligations where such action would improve credit market

access for or reduce interest rates on such municipal obligations;

(iv) providing a source of revenue or security for payment of

principal and interest on bonds or notes issued by the corporation if

the proceeds of the sale of such bonds or notes will be deposited in the

fund; and

(v) providing interest rate subsidies from investment earnings on

corpus allocations to subsidize loans to recipients made from the

proceeds of the corporation's bonds or notes.

(e) "Fund" means the pipeline for jobs fund established by this

section.

(f) "Recipient" means any eligible municipality, public utility,

public benefit corporation, or person, including any individual, firm,

partnership, association, not-for-profit corporation or other

corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state or any

other state which is empowered to construct and operate an eligible

project, or any two or more of the foregoing which are acting jointly in

connection with an eligible project.

3. Moneys in the fund shall be segregated from all other funds of or

in the custody of the corporation. Moneys in the fund shall be used for

any authorized purpose of the fund as provided and in accordance with

the provisions of this section.

4. The fund shall consist of:

(a) moneys appropriated by the legislature pursuant to a chapter of

the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-nine, or any reappropriation

thereof, for the purpose of such fund or otherwise transferred by the

state for deposit therein by the comptroller as required by law;

(b) payments of principal and interest made by recipients pursuant to

loan or other financing agreements entered into pursuant to this

section; provided, however, if financial assistance made pursuant to

financing agreements is financed by the issuance of bonds or notes of

the corporation, deposit of such payments into the fund shall be subject

to the rights of the holders of such bonds or notes to receive such

moneys;

(c) investment earnings on the amounts in such fund; and

(d) the proceeds of bonds or notes issued by the corporation for

purposes of providing financial assistance to recipients.

5. Moneys in the fund may be invested by the corporation in accordance

with this title and pursuant to guidelines from time to time issued by

the corporation.

6. The corporation shall request applications from recipients to

receive financial assistance from the fund for eligible projects. The

corporation shall provide a list of the eligible projects and the

amounts available for financial assistance to the department of economic

development, which department shall recommend to the corporation

projects to be financed from the moneys available. In making such

recommendations, the department of economic development shall give

consideration to eligible projects which have the potential to enhance

the state's technology industry development efforts.

7. The corporation shall promulgate regulations, developed in

consultation with the commissioner of economic development, the

commissioner of environmental conservation and the commissioner of

health for the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities under this

section, including establishing the criteria and standards for

evaluating the projects to be financed and determining the amount and

kind of financial assistance to a recipient for an eligible project as

well as the terms of any financing agreement evidencing such financial

assistance.

8. The provisions of subdivision eleven of section twelve hundred

eighty-five-m of this title shall be available to the corporation in the

event of a default under any financing agreement entered into by an

eligible municipality pursuant to this section.

9. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to

the contrary, the corporation and the director of the budget are hereby

authorized to enter into a pipeline for jobs fund service contract or

contracts providing for the administration of the pipeline for jobs fund

and the financing by such corporation of the contributions made by the

state to the pipeline for jobs fund. Any such contract or contracts

shall be upon such terms and conditions as the corporation and the

director of the budget shall determine to be reasonable, including, but

not limited to, provisions relating to the respective obligations of the

state and the corporation with respect to providing for the payment of

(i) all fees and other charges of, and expenses incurred by, the

corporation in connection with the issuance and administration of bonds

to provide funds to the state or reimburse the state for contributions

to the pipeline for jobs fund and (ii) all debt service payments and

related expenses on such bonds.

(b) Any such contract entered into pursuant to paragraph (a) of this

subdivision shall provide that the obligation of the state to fund or to

pay the amounts therein provided for shall not constitute a debt of the

state within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision

and shall be deemed executory only to the extent of moneys available

therefore and that no liability shall be incurred by the state beyond

the moneys available for such purpose, and that such obligation is

subject to annual appropriation by the legislature.

(c) Any such contract or any payments made or to be made thereunder

may be assigned and pledged by the corporation as security for its bonds

and notes issued for the purpose of financing the state contribution to

the pipeline for jobs fund.

(d) The comptroller is hereby authorized to receive from the

corporation any portion of bond proceeds paid to provide funds to or

reimburse the state for its contribution to the pipeline for jobs fund

and to credit such amounts to the capital projects fund.