AN ACT Relating to common school construction; amending section 316, chapter 19, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess. (uncodified); amending section 708, chapter 12, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess. (uncodified); adding new sections to Title 28A RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) The State of Washington has, since 1986, amassed over one hundred million dollars in debt to local school districts for its share of school construction modernization projects. In 1990, sixty-two million dollars could be spent for projects already completed, or under way;

(b) Too many of our students are housed in temporary, portable classrooms which are not subject to the same requirements as permanent school rooms. These portable classrooms work against school traffic plans, curricular structure, and add an element of isolation to the already hectic school environment;

(c) Health and safety concerns are growing, due to the hazards of asbestos, radon, and other chemicals in older school buildings;

(d) The recent San Francisco earthquake and the ravaging of South Carolina by hurricane Hugo warns us that schools must meet the most stringent building code standards, in order to cope with natural disasters;

(e) The stream of new school construction projects does not stop with a state board moratorium. At least forty million dollars worth of school construction projects now await new state board rules.

(2) Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to:

(a) Pay off our debt to local school districts; and

(b) Guarantee the health and safety of our children.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. For the purpose of furnishing funds for state assistance to school districts in providing common school plant facilities and modernization of existing common school plant facilities with priority given to projects that improve life safety in natural disasters and health safety for hazards such as asbestos, radon and other chemicals, and to provide for the state administrative cost of such projects, including costs of bond issuance and retirement, salaries and related costs of officials and employees of the state, costs of credit enhancement agreements, and other expenses incidental to the administration of capital projects, the state finance committee is authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the state of Washington in the sum of forty million dollars, or as much thereof as may be required, to finance these projects and all costs incidental thereto.

Bonds authorized in this section shall be sold in such manner, at such time or times, in such amounts, and at such price as the state finance committee shall determine. No such bonds may be offered for sale without prior legislative appropriation of the net proceeds of the sale of the bonds. The state finance committee may obtain insurance or letters of credit and may authorize the execution and delivery of agreements, promissory notes, and other obligations for the purpose of insuring the payment or enhancing the marketability of bonds authorized in this section. Promissory notes or other obligations issued pursuant to this section shall not constitute a debt or the contracting of indebtedness under any constitutional or statutory indebtedness limitation if their payment is conditioned upon the failure of the state to pay the principal of or interest on the bonds with respect to which the same relate.

Bonds authorized under this section shall be sold in accordance with chapter 39.42 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The proceeds from the sale of the bonds authorized in section 2 of this act shall be deposited in the common school construction fund and shall be used exclusively for the purposes specified in section 2 of this act and for the payment of expenses incurred in the issuance and sale of the bonds.

These proceeds shall be administered by the state board of education, subject to legislative appropriation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The state general obligation bond retirement fund shall be used for the payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds authorized in section 2 of this act. The state finance committee may provide that a special account be created in such fund to facilitate payment of such principal and interest.

The state finance committee shall, on or before June 30th of each year, certify to the state treasurer the amount required for principal and interest on such bonds in accordance with the provisions of the bond proceedings. The state treasurer shall withdraw from any general state revenues received in the state treasury and deposit in the general obligation bond retirement fund, or a special account in such fund, such amounts and at such times as are required by the bond proceedings.

Bonds issued under section 2 of this act shall state that they are a general obligation of the state of Washington, shall pledge the full faith and credit of the state to the payment of the principal thereof and the interest thereon, and shall contain an unconditional promise to pay the principal and interest as the same shall become due.

The owner and holder of each of the bonds or the trustee for the owner and holder of any of the bonds may by mandamus or other appropriate proceeding require the transfer and payment of funds as directed in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The legislature may provide additional means for raising moneys for the payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds authorized in section 2 of this act, and section 4 of this act shall not be deemed to provide an exclusive method for the payment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The bonds authorized in section 2 of this act shall be a legal investment for all state funds or funds under state control and for all funds of any other public body.

Sec. 7. Section 316, chapter 19, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess. (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

!tp1FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES‑-COMMON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

The following amounts are appropriated for the acquisition in fee of common school trust lands and timber throughout the state as determined by the board of natural resources:

@i2General Fund Appropriation for fiscal year 1990!w×!tr$!sc ,16

!ae0!tr35,750,000

General Fund Appropriation for the period April 15, 1990, through June 30, 1991!w×!tr$!sc ,16

!ae0!tr((~~35,750,000~~))

!tj2!tr105,750,000

!sc ,10Total Appropriation!w×!tr$!sc ,16

!ae0!tr((~~71,500,000~~))

!tj2!tr141,500,000

The appropriations in this section are subject to the following conditions and limitations:

((~~(2)~~)) (1) The lands and timber purchased under this section shall be managed under either chapter 79.70 or 79.71 RCW, as determined by the board of natural resources.

((~~(3)~~)) (2) The land and timber shall be appraised and purchased at full market value.

((~~(4)~~)) (3) The proceeds of the sales of timber shall be deposited by the department in the same manner as timber revenues from other common school trust lands except that no deductions shall be made for the resource management cost account under RCW 79.64.040.

((~~(5)~~)) (4) The proceeds of the sales of land shall be used by the department to acquire replacement timber land of equal value to be managed as common school trust land and to maintain a sustainable yield.

Sec. 8. Section 708, chapter 12, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess. (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

FOR THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Public school building construction: 1989 (90-2-001)

The appropriation in this section is subject to the following conditions and limitations:

(1) A maximum of $1,050,000 may be spent for state administration of school construction funding.

(2) $66,136,000 is provided solely for modernization projects previously approved by the state board of education.

(3) The appropriation in this section includes proceeds of the issuance of bonds authorized for deposit in the common school construction fund by chapter 3, Laws of 1987 1st ex. sess., and ten million dollars in additional state bonds authorized by chapter 14, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess. Of the proceeds of bonds authorized by chapter 14, Laws of 1989 1st ex. sess., $8,000,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, shall be compensation to the common school construction fund for the sale of timber from common school trust lands sold to the parks and recreation commission pursuant to RCW 43.51.270, and authorized for sale by the legislature prior to January 1, 1989.

(4) The state board shall review current rules and administrative procedures, and shall amend or revise these rules and procedures to address the following concerns:

(a) The discrepancy between the forecasted enrollments used for determining state funding for school construction, and the state-wide growth trends predicted by the office of financial management;

(b) The infrequency of cooperative use of surplus space available in neighboring districts;

(c) The creation of new construction needs by school districts by selling or demolishing schools, or by redesignating grade space or administrative use of school buildings;

(d) The incentive to condemn useable schools to secure state funding, rather than awaiting uncertain support for modernization;

(e) Greater needs for replacement of decaying schools caused by deferral of modernization, at a higher long-term cost to the state and local districts;

(f) The potential of district boundary changes for the purpose of achieving more efficient use of facilities; and

(g) The potential of the state to recover its share of the value of sold school buildings that were built with state matching moneys.

Prior to September 15, 1989, the state board of education shall report to the capital facilities and financing committee of the house of representatives and the ways and means committee of the senate on the actions taken or rules adopted by the board to address these concerns.

!tm4,2,2!tj1!tcReappropriation!tcAppropriation

!ixCommon School Constr Fund!tj2!tc((~~252,097,000~~))

!tj2!tc356,097,000

!tm1,1,1 !tc@bePrior!sc ,1Biennia@ee !tc@beFuture!sc ,1Biennia@ee !tc@beTotal@ee

!tj2!tc((~~252,097,000~~))

!tj2!tc356,097,000

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 2 through 6 of this act are each added to Title 28A RCW.