THIRTEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE SECOND REGULAR SESSION, 2002 A BILL FOR AN ACT Publi

c Law 13-39 H.B. N0.13

- 228 TO AMEND SECflO

S 3, 4, AND
5 OF P

. L.
1 3-17, AS AM ENDED BY P.L. 13-25

; AN D FOR OTHER PURPOSES

.. BE IT ENACTED BY THE THIRTEENTH NOR THERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE: Section

1. Intent and Purpose. Interim financing

i s needed
to secw-e **~public** debt mandated under PL 13 - 17, a s amended. The purpose of this Act is to clarify existing l anguage that

, through the Commonwealth Development Authority, the Marianas Public Land

s Authority,

in fulfilling
its statutory mandate, ma y arrange for int erim financing
of the public debt to ftmd the retirement
of land compensation claims against the Commonwe alth. Section
2. Repeal and Reenactment. Section

3 of PL 13-
1 7 , as amended by PL 13-25,

i s repealed and
r eenacte

d to read as follows: Section
3. Public Debt Authorization. a) This Act is a Bond Authorization Act within the meanin

g of PL 11-3. The Commonwealth Development Authority (CDA) for and in the name and on behalf of the Commonwealth

is hereby authorized

, at the requ est and after consultation with the Marianas Public Lands Authority (lv1PLA)

, to issue in one or more series up to $40,000

, 000 in principal amount of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth

for the pwpose of completing
the acquisition
of various parcels of real property through funding the

r etirement
of land compensa tion claims against the Commonwealth

for land taking by eminent domain
or other l ega
l process. The CDA,
at the request of and after consultation with the MPLA, is also authorized

to secw-e on behalf of the Commonwealth bond proceeds anticipation financing for such pwpo ses from

a finan
c ial institution

in a principal amount
up to $40

, 000,000.

In consultation

w ith MPLA, CDA

i s furtherTHIRTEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE Public Law 13-39 H.B. NO. 13-228 authoriz

e d to pledge
as additional security for the bond s, and for any interim financing for th e Commonwealth,

the Land Compensation Fund es tabli

s hed by Section

4 h ereof, and on such priority and terms as CDA in consu ltation
w ith MPLA detennines

to be in the best interest of the Commonwealth.
The funds borrowed under the interim financing

s hall be retired from funds generat ed by the bond issuance
or from other sources, including pledged
co ll ateral, provide

d herein for payment of the bonds. (b) The public debt authorized

h e rein shall be issued pursuant
to and as "bonds

" w ithin the meaning
of Public Law 11-3

( 4 CMC

§ 1 0451-1 0466) and payabl

e in United States currency and not in the equivalent amount of any foreign cun·ency.
c) The authorization

for publ

i c debt hereunder

is made only for the pwpose of acquisition
of real prope

. tty through funding the retirement
of land compensation claims against the Commonwealth,

and only to a total principal amount of indebtedness
not to exceed $40,000,000 outstanding

at any time, inclusive
of any commission

or fee

, and costs of issuance, reserves, credit enhancement

or other similar expenses. (d) The public debt authori ze d herein
is only authorized with

a true interest rat e not exceeding 7% per annwn simple interest on the principal amount remainin

g outstanding and unpaid and with repayment terms not exceeding
30 years for payment
in full of principal and interest (e) Th e public debt authorized herein shall be backed by th e full faith and credit of the Commonwealth Government
and shall be
a d ebt of the Commonwealth. Sect

i on 3. Amen

d ment. Section

4 of PL 13-17
is amended
by modifYing existing subsection (b), by adding

a new su b sectio
n (c), by revising existing subsection (c) to be redesignated

as "(d)", and by redesign ating affected subsections accordingly: 2THIRTEENTHNORTHERNMARIANASCOMMONWEALTHLEGISLATUREPublicLaw13-39H.B.NO.13-228(b)ThepurposeoftheFundshallbetopayprincipalandinterestonanyfinancingenteredintobytheCommonwealthfortheacquisitionofrealpropertythroughfundingoftheretirementoflandcompensationclaims againsttheCommonwealthasauthorizedbythisAct.(c)TheCDA,forandinthenameandonbehalfoftheCommonwealth,maypledgeasadditionalsecurityfor,andprovideforpaymentof,principalandinterestonthebondsand anyinterimfinancingfromamountsintheFund,andcovenantnottoamendsubparagraph(ii)of4CMC11403(e)asamendedinSection4ofthisactinanymannerthatwouldimpairthesectui.tyforthebondsorinterimfinancing.(d)TransferofBondProceedstoNIPLA.Aftersatisfyinganycommissionorfee,costsofissuance,rese1ves,creditenhancementorothersimilarexpenses,CDAshalltransfertheremainingbalanceofthebondproceedstoMPLAwhichshalldepositthesefundsintoanaccountseparatefromitsoperationalaccounts.Thefundsinsuchaccountareherebyappropriated,withoutrequiringfurtherlegislativeappropriation,forthepurposeofpayingoutlandcompensationclaimssubjecttoconditionsnecessarytomaintaintaxexemptionofthebondsoranyinterimfinancing.TheCommissionerofMPLAshallhaveexpenditureauthorityoverthefundsintheaccountsubjecttoapprovalofclaimsbytheBoard.Section4.RepealandReenactment.Subparagraph(ii)of4CMC11403(e),asenactedbyPL13-17,andsubsequentlyamendedbyPL13-25,isrepealedandreenactedtoreadasfollows:(ii)Aftertheamountinsubparagraph(i)hasbeentransferred,andnotwithstandinganylawtothecontrruy,andbeginningwhentheCommonwealthinitiallyobtainstheinterimorotherfinancingauthorizedbythisAct,theDepartmentofFinanceshalldepositthebalanceoftheamountoftheliquidfueltaxcollectedunder4CMC11403(a)andtheentireamountoftheaviationtaxcollectedunder4CMC11403(b)intotheLandCompensationFundtotheextentnecessarytomaintainabalanceinsuchFundatalltimessufficienttopayall3THIRTEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE Public Law 13
- 39 H.B. NO. 13-228 principal of and interest on the bonds becoming due during the next succeeding 12 months. Such funds are continually approptiated
for the sole purpose of paying the principal and interest on any financing, including any interim financing, authorized
by this Act. Provided, that, in the even

t the amount
in the Land Compensation Fund
is insufficient

to cover any requisite payment upon such financing, the Governor shall, notwithstanding

any law to the contrary, pay the r e maining balance of such payment from the general fund. The funds in the Land Compensation Fund shall be nonlapsing except, upon certification

by the Secretary
of Finance that all principal and interest on all financing has been paid in full and discharged, any funds remaining

in the Land Compensation Fund shall lapse to the general fund. Section
5. Severability.

If any provi sions of this Act
o r the application
of any such provision

to any person or circumstance should be held in valid by
a court of competent jurisdiction,
the remainder
of this Act or the app li cation of

i ts provisions

to persons or circumstances other than those to which

it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby. Section

6. Savings Clause. Ibis Act and any repealer contained herein shall not b e construed

as affecting any existing right acquired und e r contract
or acquired under s tatut es
r epeale

d or under any rule, regulation

or order adopted under the statutes. Repealers contained

in this Act shall not affect any proceeding instituted under or pursuant

to prior law. The enactment
of the Act shall not have the effect of tenninating, or in any way modifYing

, any liability, civil or criminal

, which shall already be in existence on the date this Act becom es effective. Section
7. Article X, Section

3 Certification. Upon passage
cf this bill by the Legislature,
by a vote of at least two- thirds of the members

in each house, the Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President shall certify and the House Clerk and the Senate Legislative Secretary shall attest to the passage of this bill by such two- thirds vote, in accordance with Article X, Section

3 of the Commonwealth Constitution. Such 4THIRTEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE Public Law 13-39 H.B. NO. 13-228 certification and attestatio

n shall fmm

a part of the engrossed
bil l for transmittal

to the Governor, and shall serve as affinnation
of tre full faith and cred it of the Commonwealth Government with respect to this bond issuanc

e . Sect ion 8. Effective Date. This Act shall take effect upon its approval
by the Governor,

or it becoming

l aw without such approval. Passed by the House of Representatives
and by the Senate with the affirmative vote of two-thirds
of the members

in each house. CERTIFIED BY: lSI ___ ______

_ HEINZ

S. HOFSCHNEIDER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

lSI _________

_ PAULA.MANGLON PRESIDENT
OF THE SENATE ATTESTED TO BY: lSI _________

_ EVELYN C. FLEMING HOUSE CLERK

lSI _____ ____

_ THOMAS
P. VILLAGOMEZ SENATE

L EGISLAT IV E SECRETARY Approved this 13th day of December, 2002 l S I ___________

_ JU AN N. BAB AU T A GoVERNOR COMMONWEALTH

OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 5