HB2626enr 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB2626 Enrolled LRB093 08783 RCE 09014 b

AN ACT concerning bonds.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The General Obligation Bond Act is amended by changing Section 9 as follows:

(30 ILCS 330/9) (from Ch. 127, par. 659)

Sec. 9. Conditions for Issuance and Sale of Bonds - Requirements for Bonds.

(a) Bonds shall be issued and sold from time to time, in one or more series, in such amounts and at such prices as may be directed by the Governor, upon recommendation by the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget. Bonds shall be in such form (either coupon, registered or book entry), in such denominations, payable within 30 years from their date, subject to such terms of redemption with or without premium, bear interest payable at such times and at such fixed or variable rate or rates, and be dated as shall be fixed and determined by the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget in the order authorizing the issuance and sale of any series of Bonds, which order shall be approved by the Governor and is herein called a "Bond Sale Order"; provided however, that interest payable at fixed or variable rates shall not exceed that permitted in the Bond Authorization Act, as now or hereafter amended. Bonds shall be payable at such place or places, within or without the State of Illinois, and may be made registrable as to either principal or as to both principal and interest, as shall be specified in the Bond Sale Order. Bonds may be callable or subject to purchase and retirement or tender and remarketing as fixed and determined in the Bond Sale Order.

In the case of any series of Bonds bearing interest at a variable interest rate ("Variable Rate Bonds"), in lieu of determining the rate or rates at which such series of Variable Rate Bonds shall bear interest and the price or prices at which such Variable Rate Bonds shall be initially sold or remarketed (in the event of purchase and subsequent resale), the Bond Sale Order may provide that such interest rates and prices may vary from time to time depending on criteria established in such Bond Sale Order, which criteria may include, without limitation, references to indices or variations in interest rates as may, in the judgment of a remarketing agent, be necessary to cause Variable Rate Bonds of such series to be remarketable from time to time at a price equal to their principal amount, and may provide for appointment of a bank, trust company, investment bank, or other financial institution to serve as remarketing agent in that connection. The Bond Sale Order may provide that alternative interest rates or provisions for establishing alternative interest rates, different security or claim priorities, or different call or amortization provisions will apply during such times as Variable Rate Bonds of any series are held by a person providing credit or liquidity enhancement arrangements for such Bonds as authorized in subsection (b) of this Section. The Bond Sale Order may also provide for such variable interest rates to be established pursuant to a process generally known as an auction rate process and may provide for appointment of one or more financial institutions to serve as auction agents and broker-dealers in connection with the establishment of such interest rates and the sale and remarketing of such Bonds.

(b) In connection with the issuance of any series of Bonds, the State may enter into arrangements to provide additional security and liquidity for such Bonds, including, without limitation, bond or interest rate insurance or letters of credit, lines of credit, bond purchase contracts, or other arrangements whereby funds are made available to retire or purchase Bonds, thereby assuring the ability of owners of the Bonds to sell or redeem their Bonds. The State may enter into contracts and may agree to pay fees to persons providing such arrangements, but only under circumstances where the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget certifies that he or she reasonably expects the total interest paid or to be paid on the Bonds, together with the fees for the arrangements (being treated as if interest), would not, taken together, cause the Bonds to bear interest, calculated to their stated maturity, at a rate in excess of the rate that the Bonds would bear in the absence of such arrangements.

The State may, with respect to Bonds issued or anticipated to be issued, participate in and enter into arrangements with respect to interest rate protection or exchange agreements, guarantees, or financial futures contracts for the purpose of limiting, reducing, or managing or restricting interest rate exposure risk. The authority granted under this paragraph, however, shall not increase the principal amount of Bonds authorized to be issued by law. The arrangements may be executed and delivered by the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget on behalf of the State. Net payments for such arrangements shall constitute interest on the Bonds and shall be paid from the General Obligation Bond Retirement and Interest Fund. The Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget shall at least annually certify to the Governor and the State Comptroller his or her estimate of the amounts of such net payments to be included in the calculation of interest required to be paid by the State.

(c) Prior to the issuance of any Variable Rate Bonds pursuant to subsection (a), the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget shall adopt an interest rate risk management policy providing that the amount of the State's variable rate exposure with respect to Bonds shall not exceed 20%. This policy shall remain in effect while any Bonds are outstanding and the issuance of Bonds shall be subject to the terms of such policy. The terms of this policy may be amended from time to time by the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget Bureau of the Budget but in no event shall any amendment cause the permitted level of the State's variable rate exposure with respect to Bonds to exceed 20%.

(Source: P.A. 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 93-9, eff. 6-3-03; revised 8-23-03.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.