Bill Text: CA AB1272 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1272 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1272-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1272 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Medina
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Sections 63000, 63010, and 63025.1 of the
Government Code, relating to economic development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1272, as introduced, Medina. California Infrastructure and
Economic Development Bank.
Existing law creates the California Infrastructure and Economic
Development Bank and provides that it shall be directed by an
executive appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate and
governed by a specified board of directors. Existing law makes
findings and declarations in this regard, provides definitions, and
authorizes the board to take various actions in connection with the
bank, including the issuance of bonds, as specified.
This bill, among other things, would revise the definition of
economic development facilities to include facilities that are used
to provide goods movement and would define goods movement-related
infrastructure. The bill would revise the definition of port
facilities to specifically reference airports, landports, waterports,
and railports. The bill would authorize the bank to join or formally
participate in regional, state, national, or international
organizations related to infrastructure financing and would permit
the bank to serve as a facilitator of an infrastructure financing
project that could or would be located in California, regardless as
to whether the bank would be funding a portion of the project. The
bill would revise the statement of legislative findings and
declarations described above and make various technical changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 63000 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
63000. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Economic revitalization, future development, and a healthy
climate for jobs in California will depend upon a well-conceived
system of public improvements that are essential to the economic
well-being of the citizens of the state and are necessary to
maintain, as well as create, employment within the state for
business.
(b) It is necessary for public policy to support the efforts of
businesses attempting to expand, businesses seeking to locate in
California, and local economic development organizations, public
agencies, and new entrepreneurs by dedicating public fiscal resources
to confront obstacles and barriers that impede economic growth.
(c) Existing mechanisms that coordinate federal, state, local, and
private financial resources are inadequate to attract and sustain
that level of private investment that is essential to a growth
economy.
(d) In order to secure and enhance the economic well-being of
Californians, promote economic development in the state, and provide
a healthy climate for the creation of jobs, it is necessary for
public policy to support the efforts of expanding businesses,
businesses seeking to locate in California, local development
organizations, public bodies, and new entrepreneurs to gain access to
capital through current and potential operations of financial
markets.
(e) The high cost and the lack of availability of industrial loans
for small- and medium-size businesses is making it difficult for
thousands of these enterprises to get established, to maintain their
present employment levels, or to expand employment.
(f) The problem of access to capital is acute in the high
technology industry clusters because companies must often finance
large capital expenditures early in their development cycle, and
cannot obtain financing sufficient to cover the cost of those
expenditures. Consideration should be given to industry clusters that
may include the following:
(1) Health care technology.
(2) Multimedia.
(3) Environmental technology.
(4) Information technology.
(g) The high cost and limited availability of loans and capital
has led a number of states to take action to remedy these conditions
through concerted public and private investment programs that include
efforts to do the following:
(1) Use the state's access to capital markets more effectively for
economic development.
(2) Create financing pools to access national and
international capital markets or help government sponsors and
public-private economic development organizations obtain credit
enhancement on their own.
(3) Facilitate credit enhancement for selected specific projects.
(4) Provide or arrange for loan insurance.
(5) Create and support secondary markets for loan portfolios of
urban and rural economic development corporations and others.
(6) Improve access to international capital markets.
(7) Provide opportunities for public pension funds and other
institutional investors to play a larger role in state economic
development.
(8) Arrange for or provide subordinated debt for selected
projects.
(9) Increase support for local , regional, and state
infrastructure development.
(10) Improve access to global markets by supporting
manufacturing-linked goods and movement-related infrastructure within
state, national, and international transportation corridors.
(h) Local governments in California bear a primary responsibility
for the business of promoting job creation and economic development
efforts. California's continued reliance on autonomous local entities
often fails to adequately consider regional impacts of business
expansion. Projects of a regional nature need the benefit of a state
coordinating function to augment and enhance local economic
development and environmental efforts.
(i) The State of California has not embarked on a major
infrastructure financing effort since the decade of the 1960'
s 1960s , despite persistent unemployment and
soaring population growth.
(j) California's ability to compete in a global economy depends
upon its capacity to implement policies that take maximum advantage
of public and private resources at the local, regional, state, and
national levels. These policies should be coordinated with any future
legislative plan involving growth management strategies designed to
make economic growth compatible with environmental protections. It is
the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to create a
mechanism to finance projects needed to implement economic
development and job creation and growth management strategies, and to
provide a secure and stable funding source for implementation of
this act in order to meet critical economic, social, and
environmental concerns.
(k) The State of California needs a financing entity structured
with broad authority to issue bonds, provide guarantees, and leverage
state and federal funds using techniques that will target public
investment to facilitate private sector economic
development growth . The goal is to expand
private sector investment within the state and to produce more
private sector jobs with less public sector investment.
( l ) The mechanisms for financing public improvements
and private job creation strategies provided for in this act are in
the public interest, serve a public purpose, and will promote the
health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of the state.
(m) The public policies and responsibilities of the state,
including all of the above purposes and functions, cannot be fully
obtained without the use of financing assistance and can be most
effectively furthered by the creation of the California
Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
SEC. 2. Section 63010 of the Government Code is amended to read:
63010. For purposes of this division, the following words and
terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly
indicates or requires another or different meaning or intent:
(a) "Act" means the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic
Development Bank Act.
(b) "Bank" means the California Infrastructure and Economic
Development Bank.
(c) "Board" or "bank board" means the Board of Directors of the
California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
(d) "Bond purchase agreement" means a contractual agreement
executed between the bank and a sponsor, or a special purpose trust
authorized by the bank or a sponsor, or both, whereby the bank or
special purpose trust authorized by the bank agrees to purchase bonds
of the sponsor for retention or sale.
(e) "Bonds" means bonds, including structured, senior, and
subordinated bonds or other securities; loans; notes, including bond,
revenue, tax , or grant anticipation notes; commercial
paper; floating rate and variable maturity securities; and any other
evidences of indebtedness or ownership, including certificates of
participation or beneficial interest, asset backed certificates, or
lease-purchase or installment purchase agreements, whether taxable or
excludable from gross income for federal income taxation purposes.
(f) "Cost," as applied to a project or portion thereof financed
under this division, means all or any part of the cost of
construction, renovation, and acquisition of all lands, structures,
real or personal property, rights, rights-of-way, franchises,
licenses, easements, and interests acquired or used for a project;
the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on
land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which
the buildings or structures may be moved; the cost of all machinery,
equipment, and financing charges; interest prior to, during, and for
a period after completion of construction, renovation, or
acquisition, as determined by the bank; provisions for working
capital; reserves for principal and interest and for extensions,
enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements;
and the cost of architectural, engineering, financial and legal
services, plans, specifications, estimates, administrative expenses,
and other expenses necessary or incidental to determining the
feasibility of any project or incidental to the construction,
acquisition, or financing of any project, and transition costs in the
case of an electrical corporation.
(g) "Economic development facilities" means real and personal
property, structures, buildings, equipment, and supporting components
thereof that are used to provide industrial, recreational, research,
commercial, utility, goods movement, or service
enterprise facilities, community, educational, cultural, or social
welfare facilities and any parts or combinations thereof, and all
facilities or infrastructure necessary or desirable in connection
therewith, including provision for working capital, but shall not
include any housing.
(h) "Electrical corporation" has the meaning set forth in Section
218 of the Public Utilities Code.
(i) "Executive director" means the Executive Director of the
California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank appointed
pursuant to Section 63021.
(j) "Financial assistance" in connection with a project, includes,
but is not limited to, any combination of grants, loans, the
proceeds of bonds issued by the bank or special purpose trust,
insurance, guarantees or other credit enhancements or liquidity
facilities, and contributions of money, property, labor, or other
things of value, as may be approved by resolution of the board or the
sponsor, or both; the purchase or retention of bank bonds, the bonds
of a sponsor for their retention or for sale by the bank, or the
issuance of bank bonds or the bonds of a special purpose trust used
to fund the cost of a project for which a sponsor is directly or
indirectly liable, including, but not limited to, bonds, the security
for which is provided in whole or in part pursuant to the powers
granted by Section 63025; bonds for which the bank has provided a
guarantee or enhancement, including, but not limited to, the purchase
of the subordinated bonds of the sponsor, the subordinated bonds of
a special purpose trust, or the retention of the subordinated bonds
of the bank pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 63060); or
any other type of assistance deemed appropriate by the bank or the
sponsor, except that no direct loans shall be made to nonpublic
entities other than in connection with the issuance of rate reduction
bonds pursuant to a financing order or in connection with a
financing for an economic development facility.
For purposes of this subdivision, "grant" does not include grants
made by the bank except when acting as an agent or intermediary for
the distribution or packaging of financing available from federal,
private, or other public sources.
(k) "Financing order" has the meaning set forth in Section 840 of
the Public Utilities Code.
( l ) "Guarantee trust fund" means the California
Infrastructure Guarantee Trust Fund.
(m) "Infrastructure bank fund" means the California Infrastructure
and Economic Development Bank Fund.
(n) "Loan agreement" means a contractual agreement executed
between the bank or a special purpose trust and a sponsor that
provides that the bank or special purpose trust will loan funds to
the sponsor and that the sponsor will repay the principal and pay the
interest and redemption premium, if any, on the loan.
(o) "Participating party" means any person, company, corporation,
association, state or municipal governmental entity, partnership,
firm, or other entity or group of entities, whether organized for
profit or not for profit, engaged in business or operations within
the state and that applies for financing from the bank in conjunction
with a sponsor for the purpose of implementing a project. However,
in the case of a project relating to the financing of transition
costs or the acquisition of transition property, or both, on the
request of an electrical corporation, or in connection with a
financing for an economic development facility, or for the financing
of insurance claims, the participating party shall be deemed to be
the same entity as the sponsor for the financing.
(p) "Project" means designing, acquiring, planning, permitting,
entitling, constructing, improving, extending, restoring, financing,
and generally developing public development facilities or economic
development facilities within the state or financing transition costs
or the acquisition of transition property, or both, upon approval of
a financing order by the Public Utilities Commission, as provided in
Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 840) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of
Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.
(q) "Public development facilities" means real and personal
property, structures, conveyances, equipment, thoroughfares,
buildings, and supporting components thereof, excluding any housing,
that are directly related to providing the following:
(1) "City streets" including any street, avenue, boulevard, road,
parkway, drive, or other way that is any of the following:
(A) An existing municipal roadway.
(B) Is shown upon a plat approved pursuant to law and includes the
land between the street lines, whether improved or unimproved, and
may comprise pavement, bridges, shoulders, gutters, curbs,
guardrails, sidewalks, parking areas, benches, fountains, plantings,
lighting systems, and other areas within the street lines, as well as
equipment and facilities used in the cleaning, grading, clearance,
maintenance, and upkeep thereof.
(2) "County highways" including any county highway as defined in
Section 25 of the Streets and Highways Code, that includes the land
between the highway lines, whether improved or unimproved, and may
comprise pavement, bridges, shoulders, gutters, curbs, guardrails,
sidewalks, parking areas, benches, fountains, plantings, lighting
systems, and other areas within the street lines, as well as
equipment and facilities used in the cleaning, grading, clearance,
maintenance, and upkeep thereof.
(3) "Drainage, water supply, and flood control" including, but not
limited to, ditches, canals, levees, pumps, dams, conduits, pipes,
storm sewers, and dikes necessary to keep or direct water away from
people, equipment, buildings, and other protected areas as may be
established by lawful authority, as well as the acquisition,
improvement, maintenance, and management of floodplain areas and all
equipment used in the maintenance and operation of the foregoing.
(4) "Educational facilities" including libraries, child care
facilities, including, but not limited to, day care facilities, and
employment training facilities.
(5) "Environmental mitigation measures" including required
construction or modification of public infrastructure and purchase
and installation of pollution control and noise abatement equipment.
(6) "Parks and recreational facilities" including local parks,
recreational property and equipment, parkways and property.
(7) "Port facilities" including airports, landports,
waterports, railports, docks, harbors, ports of entry, piers,
ships, small boat harbors and marinas, and any other facilities,
additions, or improvements in connection therewith , that
transport goods and persons .
(8) "Power and communications" including facilities for the
transmission or distribution of electrical energy, natural gas, and
telephone and telecommunications service.
(9) "Public transit" including air and rail transport of
goods , airports, guideways, vehicles, rights-of-way,
passenger stations, maintenance and storage yards, and related
structures, including public parking facilities, and
equipment used to provide or enhance transportation by bus, rail,
ferry, or other conveyance, either publicly or privately owned, that
provides to the public general or special service on a regular and
continuing basis.
(10) "Sewage collection and treatment" including pipes, pumps, and
conduits that collect wastewater from residential, manufacturing,
and commercial establishments, the equipment, structures, and
facilities used in treating wastewater to reduce or eliminate
impurities or contaminants, and the facilities used in disposing of,
or transporting, remaining sludge, as well as all equipment used in
the maintenance and operation of the foregoing.
(11) "Solid waste collection and disposal" including vehicles,
vehicle-compatible waste receptacles, transfer stations, recycling
centers, sanitary landfills, and waste conversion facilities
necessary to remove solid waste, except that which is hazardous as
defined by law, from its point of origin.
(12) "Water treatment and distribution" including facilities in
which water is purified and otherwise treated to meet residential,
manufacturing, or commercial purposes and the conduits, pipes, and
pumps that transport it to places of use.
(13) "Defense conversion" including, but not limited to,
facilities necessary for successfully converting military bases
consistent with an adopted base reuse plan.
(14) "Public safety facilities" including, but not limited to,
police stations, fire stations, court buildings, jails, juvenile
halls, and juvenile detention facilities.
(15) "State highways" including any state highway as described in
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 230) of Division 1 of the Streets
and Highways Code, and the related components necessary for safe
operation of the highway.
(16) (A) Military infrastructure,
"Military infrastructure," including, but not limited to,
facilities on or near a military installation, that enhance the
military operations and mission of one or more military installations
in this state. To be eligible for funding, the project
shall be endorsed by the Office of Military and Aerospace Support
established pursuant to Section 13998.2.
(B) For purposes of this subdivision, "military installation"
means any facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Defense, as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of Section
2687 of Title 10 of the United States Code.
(17) "Goods movement-related infrastructure" including port
facilities, roads, rail, and other facilities and projects that move
goods, energy, and information.
(r) "Rate reduction bonds" has the meaning set forth in Section
840 of the Public Utilities Code.
(s) "Revenues" means all receipts, purchase payments, loan
repayments, lease payments, and all other income or receipts derived
by the bank or a sponsor from the sale, lease, or other financing
arrangement undertaken by the bank, a sponsor , or a
participating party, including, but not limited to, all receipts from
a bond purchase agreement , and any income or
revenue derived from the investment of any money in any fund or
account of the bank or a sponsor and any receipts derived from
transition property. Revenues shall not include moneys in the General
Fund of the state.
(t) "Special purpose trust" means a trust, partnership, limited
partnership, association, corporation, nonprofit corporation, or
other entity authorized under the laws of the state to serve as an
instrumentality of the state to accomplish public purposes and
authorized by the bank to acquire, by purchase or otherwise, for
retention or sale, the bonds of a sponsor or of the bank made or
entered into pursuant to this division and to issue special purpose
trust bonds or other obligations secured by these bonds or other
sources of public or private revenues. Special purpose trust also
means any entity authorized by the bank to acquire transition
property or to issue rate reduction bonds, or both, subject to the
approvals by the bank and powers of the bank as are provided by the
bank in its resolution authorizing the entity to issue rate reduction
bonds.
(u) "Sponsor" means any subdivision of the state or local
government including departments, agencies, commissions, cities,
counties, nonprofit corporations formed on behalf of a sponsor,
special districts, assessment districts, and joint powers authorities
within the state or any combination of these subdivisions that makes
an application to the bank for financial assistance in connection
with a project in a manner prescribed by the bank. This definition
shall not be construed to require that an applicant have an ownership
interest in the project. In addition, an electrical corporation
shall be deemed to be the sponsor as well as the participating party
for any project relating to the financing of transition costs and the
acquisition of transition property on the request of the electrical
corporation and any person, company, corporation, partnership, firm,
or other entity or group engaged in business or operation within the
state that applies for financing of any economic development
facility, shall be deemed to be the sponsor as well as the
participating party for the project relating to the financing of that
economic development facility.
(v) "State" means the State of California.
(w) "Transition costs" has the meaning set forth in Section 840 of
the Public Utilities Code.
(x) "Transition property" has the meaning set forth in Section 840
of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 3. Section 63025.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
63025.1. The bank board may do or delegate the following to the
executive director:
(a) Sue and be sued in its own name.
(b) As provided in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 63070),
issue bonds and authorize special purpose trusts to issue bonds,
including, at the option of the board, bonds bearing interest that is
taxable for the purpose of federal income taxation, or borrow money
to pay all or any part of the cost of any project, or to otherwise
carry out the purposes of this division.
(c) Engage the services of private consultants to render
professional and technical assistance and advice in carrying out the
purposes of this division.
(d) Employ attorneys, financial consultants, and other advisers as
may, in the bank's judgment, be necessary in connection with the
issuance and sale, or authorization of special purpose trusts for the
issuance and sale, of any bonds, notwithstanding Sections 11042 and
11043.
(e) Contract for engineering, architectural, accounting, or other
services of appropriate state agencies as may, in its judgment, be
necessary for the successful development of a project.
(f) Pay the reasonable costs of consulting engineers, architects,
accountants, and construction, land use, recreation, and
environmental experts employed by any sponsor or participating party
if, in the bank's judgment, those services are necessary for the
successful development of a project.
(g) Acquire, take title to, and sell by installment sale or
otherwise, lands, structures, real or personal property, rights,
rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and other interests in lands
that are located within the state, or transition property as the bank
may deem necessary or convenient for the financing of the project,
upon terms and conditions that it considers to be reasonable.
(h) Receive and accept from any source , including, but
not limited to, the federal government, the state, or any agency
thereof, loans, contributions, or grants, in money, property, labor,
or other things of value, for, or in aid of, a project, or any
portion thereof.
(i) Make loans to any sponsor or participating party, either
directly or by making a loan to a lending institution, in connection
with the financing of a project in accordance with an agreement
between the bank and the sponsor or a participating party, either as
a sole lender or in participation with other lenders. However, no
loan shall exceed the total cost of the project as determined by the
sponsor or the participating party and approved by the bank.
(j) Make loans to any sponsor or participating party, either
directly or by making a loan to a lending institution, in accordance
with an agreement between the bank and the sponsor or participating
party to refinance indebtedness incurred by the sponsor or
participating party in connection with projects undertaken and
completed prior to any agreement with the bank or expectation that
the bank would provide financing, either as a sole lender or in
participation with other lenders.
(k) Mortgage all or any portion of the bank's interest in a
project and the property on which any project is located, whether
owned or thereafter acquired, including the granting of a security
interest in any property, tangible or intangible.
( l ) Assign or pledge all or any portion of the bank's
interests in transition property and the revenues therefrom, or
assets, things of value, mortgages, deeds of trust, bonds, bond
purchase agreements, loan agreements, indentures of mortgage or
trust, or similar instruments, notes, and security interests in
property, tangible or intangible and the revenues therefrom, of a
sponsor or a participating party to which the bank has made loans,
and the revenues therefrom, including payment or income from any
interest owned or held by the bank, for the benefit of the holders of
bonds.
(m) Make, receive, or serve as a conduit for the making of, or
otherwise provide for, grants, contributions, guarantees, insurance,
credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, or other financial
enhancements to a sponsor or a participating party as financial
assistance for a project.
(n) Lease the project being financed to a sponsor or a
participating party, upon terms and conditions that the bank deems
proper but shall not be leased at a loss; charge and collect rents
therefor; terminate any lease upon the failure of the lessee to
comply with any of the obligations thereof; include in any lease, if
desired, provisions that the lessee shall have options to renew the
lease for a period or periods, and at rents determined by the bank;
purchase any or all of the project; or, upon payment of all the
indebtedness incurred by the bank for the financing of the project,
the bank may convey any or all of the project to the lessee or
lessees.
(o) Charge and equitably apportion among sponsors and
participating parties the bank's administrative costs and expenses
incurred in the exercise of the powers and duties conferred by this
division.
(p) Issue, obtain, or aid in obtaining, from any department or
agency of the United States, from other agencies of the state, or
from any private company, any insurance or guarantee to, or for, the
payment or repayment of interest or principal, or both, or any part
thereof, on any loan, lease, or obligation or any
instrument evidencing or securing the
same, made or entered into pursuant to this division.
(q) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, enter
into any agreement, contract, or any other instrument with respect to
any insurance or guarantee; accept payment in the manner and form as
provided therein in the event of default by a sponsor or a
participating party; and issue or assign any insurance or guarantee
as security for the bank's bonds.
(r) Enter into any agreement or contract, execute any instrument,
and perform any act or thing necessary or convenient to, directly or
indirectly, secure the bank's bonds, the bonds issued by a special
purpose trust, or a sponsor's obligations to the bank or to a special
purpose trust, including, but not limited to, bonds of a sponsor
purchased by the bank or a special purpose trust for retention or
sale, with funds or moneys that are legally available and that are
due or payable to the sponsor by reason of any grant, allocation,
apportionment or appropriation of the state or agencies thereof, to
the extent that the Controller shall be the custodian at any time of
these funds or moneys, or with funds or moneys that are or will be
legally available to the sponsor, the bank, or the state or any
agencies thereof by reason of any grant, allocation, apportionment,
or appropriation of the federal government or agencies thereof; and
in the event of written notice that the sponsor has not paid or is in
default on its obligations to the bank or a special purpose trust,
direct the Controller to withhold payment of those funds or moneys
from the sponsor over which it is or will be custodian and to pay the
same to the bank or special purpose trust or their assignee, or
direct the state or any agencies thereof to which any grant,
allocation, apportionment or appropriation of the federal government
or agencies thereof is or will be legally available to pay the same
upon receipt by the bank or special purpose trust or their assignee,
until the default has been cured and the amounts then due and unpaid
have been paid to the bank or special purpose trust or their
assignee, or until arrangements satisfactory to the bank or special
purpose trust have been made to cure the default.
(s) Enter into any agreement or contract, execute any instrument,
and perform any act or thing necessary, convenient, or appropriate to
carry out any power expressly given to the bank by this division,
including, but not limited to, agreements for the sale of all or any
part, including principal, interest, redemption rights or any other
rights or obligations, of bonds of the bank or of a special purpose
trust, liquidity agreements, contracts commonly known as interest
rate swap agreements, forward payment conversion agreements, futures
or contracts providing for payments based on levels of, or changes
in, interest rates or currency exchange rates, or contracts to
exchange cash-flows cashflows or a
series of payments, or contracts, including options, puts or calls to
hedge payments, rate, spread, currency exchange, or similar
exposure, or any other financial instrument commonly known as a
structured financial product.
(t) Purchase, with the proceeds of the bank's bonds, transition
property or bonds issued by, or for the benefit of, any sponsor in
connection with a project, pursuant to a bond purchase agreement or
otherwise. Bonds or transition property purchased pursuant to this
division may be held by the bank, pledged or assigned by the bank, or
sold to public or private purchasers at public or negotiated sale,
in whole or in part, separately or together with other bonds issued
by the bank, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, may be
bought by the bank at private sale.
(u) Enter into purchase and sale agreements with all entities,
public and private, including state and local government pension
funds, with respect to the sale or purchase of bonds or transition
property.
(v) Invest any moneys held in reserve or sinking funds, or any
moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement, in obligations
that are authorized by law for the investment of trust funds in the
custody of the Treasurer.
(w) Authorize a special purpose trust or trusts to purchase or
retain, with the proceeds of the bonds of a special purpose trust,
transition property or bonds issued by, or for the benefit of, any
sponsor in connection with a project or issued by the bank or a
special purpose trust, pursuant to a bond purchase agreement or
otherwise. Bonds or transition property purchased pursuant to this
title may be held by a special purpose entity, pledged or assigned by
a special purpose entity, or sold to public or private purchasers at
public or negotiated sale, in whole or in part, with or without
structuring, subordination or credit enhancement, separately or
together with other bonds issued by a special purpose trust, and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, may be bought by the bank
or by a special purpose trust at private sale.
(x) Approve the issuance of any bonds, notes, or other evidences
of indebtedness by the Rural Economic Development Infrastructure
Panel, established pursuant to Section 15373.7.
(y) Approve the issuance of rate reduction bonds by an entity
other than the bank or a special purpose trust to acquire transition
property upon approval of the transaction in a financing order by the
Public Utilities Commission, as provided in Article 5.5 (commencing
with Section 840) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code.
(z) Apply for and accept subventions, grants, loans, advances, and
contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other
things of value. The sources may include bond proceeds, dedicated
taxes, state appropriations, federal appropriations, federal grant
and loan funds, public and private sector retirement system funds,
and proceeds of loans from the Pooled Money Investment Account.
(aa) Do all things necessary and convenient to carry out its
purposes and exercise its powers, provided, however, that nothing
herein shall be construed to authorize the bank to engage directly in
the business of a manufacturing, industrial, real estate
development, or nongovernmental service enterprise. Further, the bank
shall not be organized to accept deposits of money for time or
demand deposits or to constitute a bank or trust company.
(ab) Join or formally participate in regional, state, national, or
international organizations related to infrastructure financing. Due
to the bank's financial expertise, in participating in any of these
organizations, the bank may serve as facilitator of an infrastructure
financing project that could or would be located in California,
regardless as to whether the bank would be funding a portion of the
project.
