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Union Calendar No. 119

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2108

[Report No. 104–227]

To permit the Washington Convention Center Authority to expend revenues

for the operation and maintenance of the existing Washington Convention

Center and for preconstruction activities relating to a new convention

center in the District of Columbia, to permit a designated authority

of the District of Columbia to borrow funds for the preconstruction

activities relating to a sports arena in the District of Columbia and

to permit certain revenues to be pledged as security for the borrowing

of such funds, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 25, 1995

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr.

LATOURETTE, Mr. FLANAGAN, Mr. WALSH, and Miss COLLINS of Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight

AUGUST 2, 1995

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To permit the Washington Convention Center Authority to

expend revenues for the operation and maintenance of

the existing Washington Convention Center and for

preconstruction activities relating to a new convention

center in the District of Columbia, to permit a des-
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ignated authority of the District of Columbia to borrow

funds for the preconstruction activities relating to a

sports arena in the District of Columbia and to permit

certain revenues to be pledged as security for the borrowing of such funds, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘District of Columbia Convention Center and Sports

6 Arena Authorization Act of 1995’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CONVENTION CENTER

Sec. 101. Permitting Washington Convention Center Authority to expend revenues for convention center activities.

TITLE II—SPORTS ARENA

Sec. 201. Permitting designated authority to borrow funds for preconstruction

activities relating to Gallery Place sports arena.

Sec. 202. Permitting certain District revenues to be pledged as security for borrowing.

Sec. 203. No appropriation necessary for arena preconstruction activities.

Sec. 204. Arena preconstruction activities described.

TITLE III—WAIVER OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW

Sec. 301. Waiver of Congressional review of Arena Tax Payment and Use

Amendment Act of 1995.
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1 TITLE I—CONVENTION CENTER

2 SEC. 101. PERMITTING WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER

3 AUTHORITY TO EXPEND REVENUES FOR CON4 VENTION CENTER ACTIVITIES.

5 (a) PERMITTING EXPENDITURE WITHOUT APPRO6 PRIATION.—The fourth sentence of section 446 of the Dis7 trict of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Re8 organization Act (sec. 47–304, D.C. Code) shall not apply

9 with respect to any revenues of the District of Columbia

10 which are attributable to the enactment of title III of the

11 Washington Convention Center Authority Act of 1994

12 (D.C. Law 10–188) and which are obligated or expended

13 for the activities described in subsection (b).

14 (b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activities de15 scribed in this paragraph are—

16 (1) the operation and maintenance of the exist17 ing Washington Convention Center; and

18 (2) preconstruction activities with respect to a

19 new convention center in the District of Columbia,

20 including land acquisition and the conducting of en21 vironmental impact studies, architecture and design

22 studies, surveys, and site acquisition.
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1 TITLE II—SPORTS ARENA

2 SEC. 201. PERMITTING DESIGNATED AUTHORITY TO BOR3 ROW FUNDS FOR PRECONSTRUCTION ACTIVI4 TIES RELATING TO GALLERY PLACE SPORTS

5 ARENA.

6 (a) PERMITTING BORROWING.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designated authority

8 may borrow funds through the issuance of revenue

9 bonds, notes, or other obligations which are secured

10 by revenues pledged in accordance with paragraph

11 (2) to finance, refinance, or reimburse the costs of

12 arena preconstruction activities described in section

13 204 if the designated authority is granted the au14 thority to borrow funds for such purposes by the

15 District of Columbia government.

16 (2) REVENUE REQUIRED TO SECURE BORROW17 ING.—The designated authority may borrow funds

18 under paragraph (1) to finance, refinance, or reim19 burse the costs of arena preconstruction activities

20 described in section 204 only if such borrowing is se21 cured (in whole or in part) by the pledge of revenues

22 of the District of Columbia which are attributable to

23 the sports arena tax imposed as a result of the en24 actment of D.C. Law 10–128 (as amended by the

25 Arena Tax Amendment Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10–
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1 315)) and which are transferred by the Mayor of the

2 District of Columbia to the designated authority

3 pursuant to section 302(a–1)(3) of the Omnibus

4 Budget Support Act of 1994 (sec. 47–2752(a–1)(3),

5 D.C. Code) (as amended by section 2(b) of the

6 Arena Tax Payment and Use Amendment Act of

7 1995).

8 (b) TREATMENT OF DEBT CREATED.—Any debt cre9 ated pursuant to subsection (a) shall not—

10 (1) be considered general obligation debt of the

11 District of Columbia for any purpose, including the

12 limitation on the annual aggregate limit on debt of

13 the District of Columbia under section 603(b) of the

14 District of Columbia Self-Government and Govern15 mental Reorganization Act (sec. 47–313(b), D.C.

16 Code);

17 (2) constitute the lending of the public credit

18 for private undertakings for purposes of section

19 602(a)(2) of such Act (sec. 1–233(a)(2), D.C. Code);

20 or

21 (3) be a pledge of or involve the full faith and

22 credit of the District of Columbia.

23 (c) DESIGNATED AUTHORITY DEFINED.—The term

24 ‘‘designated authority’’ means the Redevelopment Land

25 Agency or such other District of Columbia government
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1 agency or instrumentality designated by the Mayor of the

2 District of Columbia for purposes of carrying out any

3 arena preconstruction activities.

4 SEC. 202. PERMITTING CERTAIN DISTRICT REVENUES TO

5 BE PLEDGED AS SECURITY FOR BORROWING.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The District of Columbia (includ7 ing the designated authority described in section 201(c))

8 may pledge as security for any borrowing undertaken pur9 suant to section 201(a) any revenues of the District of

10 Columbia which are attributable to the sports arena tax

11 imposed as a result of the enactment of D.C. Act 10–128

12 (as amended by the Arena Tax Amendment Act of 1994

13 (D.C. Law 10–315)), upon the transfer of such revenues

14 by the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the designated

15 authority pursuant to section 302(a–1)(3) of the Omnibus

16 Budget Support Act of 1994 (sec. 47–2752(a–1)(3), D.C.

17 Code) (as amended by section 2(b) of the Arena Tax Pay18 ment and Use Amendment Act of 1995).

19 (b) EXCLUSION OF PLEDGED REVENUES FROM CAL20 CULATION OF ANNUAL AGGREGATE LIMIT ON DEBT.—

21 Any revenues pledged as security by the District of Colum22 bia pursuant to subsection (a) shall be excluded from the

23 determination of the dollar amount equivalent to 14 per24 cent of District revenues under section 603(b)(3)(A) of the
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1 District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental

2 Reorganization Act (sec. 47–313(b)(3)(A), D.C. Code).

3 SEC. 203. NO APPROPRIATION NECESSARY FOR ARENA

4 PRECONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES.

5 The fourth sentence of section 446 of the District of

6 Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganiza7 tion Act (sec. 47–304, D.C. Code) shall not apply with

8 respect to any of the following obligations or expenditures:

9 (1) Borrowing conducted pursuant to section

10 201(a).

11 (2) The pledging of revenues as security for

12 such borrowing pursuant to section 202(a).

13 (3) The payment of principal, interest, pre14 mium, debt servicing, contributions to reserves, or

15 other costs associated with such borrowing.

16 (4) Other obligations or expenditures made to

17 carry out any arena preconstruction activity de18 scribed in section 204.

19 SEC. 204. ARENA PRECONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES DE20 SCRIBED.

21 The arena preconstruction activities described in this

22 section are as follows:

23 (1) The acquisition of real property (or rights

24 in real property) to serve as the site of the sports

25 arena and related facilities.
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1 (2) The clearance, preparation, grading, and

2 development of the site of the sports arena and re3 lated facilities, including the demolition of existing

4 buildings.

5 (3) The provision of sewer, water, and other

6 utility facilities and infrastructure related to the

7 sports arena.

8 (4) The financing of a Metrorail connection to

9 the site and other Metrorail modifications related to

10 the sports arena.

11 (5) The relocation of employees and facilities of

12 the District of Columbia government displaced by

13 the construction of the sports arena and related fa14 cilities.

15 (6) The use of environmental, legal, and con16 sulting services (including services to obtain regu17 latory approvals) for the construction of the sports

18 arena.

19 (7) The financing of administrative and trans20 action costs incurred in borrowing funds pursuant to

21 section 201(a), including costs incurred in connec22 tion with the issuance, sale, and delivery of bonds,

23 notes, or other obligations.

24 (8) The financing of other activities of the Dis25 trict of Columbia government associated with the de-
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1 velopment and construction of the sports arena, in2 cluding the reimbursement of the District of Colum3 bia government or others for costs incurred prior to

4 the date of the enactment of this Act which were re5 lated to the sports arena, so long as the designated

6 authority determines that such costs are adequately

7 documented and that the incurring of such costs was

8 reasonable.

9 TITLE III—WAIVER OF

10 CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW

11 SEC. 301. WAIVER OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF ARENA

12 TAX PAYMENT AND USE AMENDMENT ACT OF

13 1995.

14 Notwithstanding section 602(c)(1) of the District of

15 Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganiza16 tion Act, the Arena Tax Payment and Use Amendment

17 Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11–115) shall take effect on the

18 date of the enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 119

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2108

[Report No. 104–227]

A BILL

To permit the Washington Convention Center Auborrowing of such funds, and for other purposes. certain revenues to be pledged as security for the arena in the District of Columbia and to permit preconstruction activities relating to a sports the District of Columbia to borrow funds for the of Columbia, to permit a designated authority of lating to a new convention center in the District tion Center and for preconstruction activities re- maintenance of the existing Washington Conven- thority to expend revenues for the operation and

AUGUST 2, 1995

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed