Senate Bill sb1100c1

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    Florida Senate - 2001                           CS for SB 1100

    By the Committee on Finance and Taxation; and Senator Carlton





    314-1924-01

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to state debt; creating s.

  3         215.98, F.S.; providing a declaration of public

  4         policy; requiring the Division of Bond Finance

  5         of the State Board of Administration to conduct

  6         an annual debt-affordability analysis;

  7         requiring a report; specifying report

  8         requirements; amending s. 11.90, F.S.;

  9         providing additional powers and duties of the

10         Legislative Budget Commission relating to the

11         state's debt; providing an effective date.

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13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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15         Section 1.  Section 215.98, Florida Statutes, is

16  created to read:

17         215.98  State debt fiscal responsibility.--

18         (1)  It is the public policy of this state to encourage

19  fiscal responsibility on matters pertaining to state debt.  In

20  an effort to finance essential capital projects for the

21  benefit of residents at favorable interest rates, the state

22  must continue to maintain its excellent credit standing with

23  investors. Authorizations of state debt must take into account

24  the ability of the state to meet its total debt service

25  requirements in light of other demands on the state's fiscal

26  resources. The Legislature declares that it is the policy of

27  this state to exercise prudence in undertaking the

28  authorization and issuance of debt. In order to implement this

29  policy, the Legislature intends to authorize the issuance of

30  additional state tax-supported debt only when such

31  authorization would not cause the ratio of

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    Florida Senate - 2001                           CS for SB 1100
    314-1924-01




  1  debt-service-to-revenue available to pay debt service on

  2  tax-supported debt to exceed 6 percent.  If the 6-percent

  3  target debt ratio will be exceeded, the authorization of such

  4  additional debt must be accompanied by a legislative statement

  5  of determination that such authorization and issuance is in

  6  the best interest of the state and should be implemented. The

  7  Legislature shall not authorize the issuance of additional

  8  state tax-supported debt if such authorization would cause the

  9  designated benchmark debt ratio of debt-service-to-revenues

10  available to pay debt service to exceed 6.5 percent unless the

11  Legislature determines that such additional debt is necessary

12  to address a critical state emergency.

13         (2)  The Division of Bond Finance shall conduct a

14  debt-affordability analysis each year.  Proposed capital

15  projects that require funding by the issuance of additional

16  state debt shall be evaluated on the basis of the analysis to

17  assist the Governor and the Legislature in setting priorities

18  among capital projects and related appropriations.

19         (a)  The Division of Bond Finance shall annually

20  prepare a debt-affordability report, to be presented to the

21  governing board of the Division of Bond Finance, the President

22  of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

23  and the chair of each appropriations committee by December 15

24  of each year for purposes of providing a framework within

25  which the Legislature can evaluate and establish priorities

26  for bills that propose the authorization of additional state

27  debt during the next budget year.

28         (b)  The report shall include, but not be limited to:

29         1.  A listing of state debt outstanding, other debt

30  secured by state revenues, and other contingent debt.

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    Florida Senate - 2001                           CS for SB 1100
    314-1924-01




  1         2.  An estimate of revenues available for the next 10

  2  fiscal years to pay debt service, including general revenues

  3  plus any revenues specifically pledged to pay debt service.

  4         3.  An estimate of additional debt issuance for the

  5  next 10 fiscal years for the state's existing borrowing

  6  programs.

  7         4.  A schedule of the annual debt service requirements,

  8  including principal and interest allocation, on the

  9  outstanding state debt and an estimate of the annual debt

10  service requirements on the debt included in subparagraph 3.

11  for each of the next 10 fiscal years.

12         5.  An overview of the state's general obligation

13  credit rating.

14         6.  Identification and calculation of pertinent debt

15  ratios, including, but not limited to,

16  debt-service-to-revenues available to pay debt service,

17  debt-to-personal-income, and debt-per-capita for the state's

18  net tax-supported debt.

19         7.  The estimated debt capacity available over the next

20  10 fiscal years without the benchmark debt ratio of

21  debt-service-to-revenue exceeding 6 percent.

22         8.  A comparison of the debt ratios prepared for

23  subparagraph 6., with the comparable debt ratios for the 10

24  most populous states.

25         (c)  The Division of Bond Finance shall prepare an

26  update of the report set forth above upon completion of the

27  revenue estimates prepared in connection with the legislative

28  session.

29         (d)  Any entity issuing debt secured by state revenues

30  shall provide the information necessary to prepare the debt

31  affordability report.

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    Florida Senate - 2001                           CS for SB 1100
    314-1924-01




  1         (3)  Failure to comply with this section shall not

  2  affect the validity of any debt or the authorization of such

  3  debt.

  4         Section 2.  Subsection (6) is added to section 11.90,

  5  Florida Statutes, to read:

  6         11.90  Legislative Budgeting Commission.--

  7         (6)  The commission shall have the power and duty to:

  8         (a)  Annually review the amount of state debt

  9  outstanding and submit to the President of the Senate and the

10  Speaker of the House of Representatives an estimate of the

11  maximum amount of additional state tax-supported debt that

12  prudently may be authorized during the current fiscal year.

13  The estimate shall be advisory and shall in no way bind the

14  Legislature.

15         (b)  Promptly after receiving the report required by s.

16  215.98(2)(c), the commission shall submit to the President of

17  the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the

18  commission's estimate of tax-supported debt that prudently may

19  be authorized for the next fiscal year, together with a report

20  explaining the basis for the estimate.

21         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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    Florida Senate - 2001                           CS for SB 1100
    314-1924-01




  1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
  2                             SB 1100

  3

  4  1)    Requires the Division of Bond Finance to conduct an
          annual debt affordability analysis for purposes of
  5        evaluating proposed capital projects that require new
          state debt and assisting the Governor and the
  6        Legislature in setting priorities among capital projects
          and appropriations.
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    2)    Requires the Division to prepare and submit a report to
  8        the Division of Bond Finance, the President of the
          Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and
  9        the chair of each appropriations committee.

10  3)    Requires the Legislative Budget Commission to annually
          review the state's tax-supported debt and estimate the
11        maximum amount of new tax-supported debt that prudently
          may be authorized.
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