Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1690
       
       
        
       By Senator Diaz
       
       
       
       
       
       36-01408A-22                                          20221690__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Charter School Revolving Loan
    3         Program; creating s. 1002.336, F.S.; establishing the
    4         program for a specified purpose; providing that
    5         funding for the program shall consist of specified
    6         funds; requiring the Department of Education to
    7         contract with a third-party administrator to
    8         administer the program; providing requirements for
    9         such third-party administrator; providing that loans
   10         made through the program do not imply the full faith
   11         and credit of the state; providing that all loans
   12         provided by the third-party administrator are at the
   13         sole discretion of the third-party administrator;
   14         providing the purpose of the loans; requiring all loan
   15         documents to include specified language and be
   16         expressly agreed to by the third-party administrator
   17         and loan recipients; requiring the third-party
   18         administrator to electronically provide copies of
   19         certain loan documents to the department; requiring
   20         the department to post specified information on its
   21         website; requiring all repayments of principal and
   22         interest to be returned to the loan fund and made
   23         available for loans to other applicants; authorizing
   24         interest paid on loans to be used to defray the costs
   25         of program administration; providing an appropriation;
   26         providing an effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Section 1002.336, Florida Statutes, is created
   31  to read:
   32         1002.336 Charter School Revolving Loan Program.—
   33         (1) The Charter School Revolving Loan Program is
   34  established to provide assistance to charter school operators to
   35  meet school building financing needs for charter schools. The
   36  program shall consist of funds appropriated by the Legislature,
   37  philanthropic contributions, money received from the repayment
   38  of loans made from the program, and interest earned.
   39         (2) The Department of Education shall contract with a
   40  third-party administrator to administer the program. Funds shall
   41  be granted to the third-party administrator to create a
   42  revolving loan fund for the purpose of financing charter school
   43  facilities projects.
   44         (3) The third-party administrator must:
   45         (a) Have earned a rating of “A” or higher from a major
   46  credit rating agency;
   47         (b) Have the infrastructure and expertise necessary to
   48  underwrite, source, and close charter school loans; and
   49         (c) Be able to leverage funds appropriated by the
   50  Legislature to support the fund.
   51         (4) All loans made through the Charter School Revolving
   52  Loan Program do not imply the full faith and credit of the state
   53  and do not imply any consideration of credit worthiness, project
   54  viability, construction quality, ability to repay, or any other
   55  guarantee by the state.
   56         (5) Loans provided by the third-party administrator under
   57  this program are at the discretion of the third-party
   58  administrator. The third-party administrator shall provide loans
   59  to enhance access to high-quality charter schools.
   60         (6) The language in subsection (4) must be included on all
   61  loan documents and expressly agreed to by the third-party
   62  administrator and any recipients of loans made under this
   63  program. All such loan documents must be electronically provided
   64  to the department.
   65         (7) The department shall post on its website the projects
   66  that have received loans, the geographic distribution of the
   67  projects, the status of the projects, the costs of the program,
   68  and student outcomes for students enrolled in the schools
   69  receiving funds.
   70         (8) All repayments of principal and interest must be
   71  returned to the loan fund and made available for loans to other
   72  applicants.
   73         (9) Interest on loans provided under this program may be
   74  used to defray the costs of administration.
   75         Section 2. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of $10
   76  million in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General
   77  Revenue Fund to the Department of Education to create the
   78  Charter School Revolving Loan Program established by this act.
   79         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.