MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Public Buildings, Grounds and Lands; Ways and Means

By: Representative Williams

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,000,000.00 FOR THE PURPOSE OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION; TO AUTHORIZE THE PROCEEDS OF THE BONDS TO BE USED TO PLAN AND CONSTRUCT A NEW OFFICE FACILITY FOR THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION; TO AUTHORIZE THE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION TO USE NONSTATE GENERATED FUNDS TO RETIRE THE BONDS ISSUED OR OTHER DEBT INCURRED PURSUANT TO THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Accreted value" of any bond means, as of any date of computation, an amount equal to the sum of (i) the stated initial value of such bond, plus (ii) the interest accrued thereon from the issue date to the date of computation at the rate, compounded semiannually, that is necessary to produce the approximate yield to maturity shown for bonds of the same maturity.

(b) "State" means the State of Mississippi.

(c) "Commission" means the State Bond Commission.

SECTION 2. (1) (a) A special fund, to be designated as the "1998 Employment Security Commission Capital Improvements Fund" is created within the State Treasury. The fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer. The fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer as a separate and special fund, separate and apart from the General Fund of the state, and investment earnings on amounts in the fund shall be deposited into the fund.

(b) Monies deposited into the fund shall be disbursed, in the discretion of the Department of Finance and Administration, to pay the costs of the following:

(i) Planning and constructing a new office facility for the Mississippi Employment Security Commission to be located on state-owned land.

(ii) Providing for moving costs, reestablishment of computer networks, communication and other necessary expenses associated with the relocation of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission as authorized by this act.

(iii) The Department of Finance and Administration may utilize the services of a professional program management firm to facilitate the completion of the projects described in subsection (1)(b) of this section. A professional program management firm shall be selected for a project in the same manner as are architectural services. A professional program management firm that is selected for a project shall not provide any other service in relation to the project. The Department of Finance and Administration may set criteria that a professional program management firm must meet in order to be eligible to be selected to assist in the management of a construction project; however, in order to be selected, a program management firm must exhibit specific program management experience. As used in this paragraph, the term "professional program management firm" means a private firm that supplements the staff of the Department of Finance and Administration in managing construction projects.

(2) Money deposited into the special fund shall not exceed the total amount of Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000.00).

(3) Amounts deposited into the special fund shall be disbursed to pay the costs of projects described in subsection (1) of this section. Promptly after the commission has certified, by resolution duly adopted, that the projects described in subsection (1) shall have been completed, abandoned, or cannot be completed in a timely fashion, any amounts remaining in the special fund shall be applied to pay debt service on the bonds issued under this act, in accordance with the proceedings authorizing the issuance of the bonds and as directed by the commission.

(4) The Department of Finance and Administration, acting through the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, may receive and expend any local or other source funds in connection with the expenditure of funds provided for under this act. The expenditure of monies deposited into the special fund shall be under the direction of the Department of Finance and Administration, and the funds shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon warrants issued by the department, which warrants shall be issued upon requisitions signed by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration or his designee.

(5) The Mississippi Employment Security Commission, after completion of any capital improvement constructed with the proceeds of bonds issued pursuant to this act, shall be assessed a fee established by the Department of Finance and Administration in order to reduce the bond retirement payments authorized by this act which would otherwise be paid solely from the State General Fund. The fees assessed by the Department of Finance and Administration shall be equivalent to the total of any fees, rents, royalties, remunerations or other financial benefits that the Mississippi Employment Security Commission receives as a result of the passage of this act. The fees assessed by the Department of Finance and Administration pursuant to this section shall be promptly transferred to a special fund created in the State Treasury, held separate and apart from all other funds; and these fees shall be used only for the retirement of the bonds issued under this act.

SECTION 3. (1) The commission, at one time, or from time to time, may declare by resolution the necessity for issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of Mississippi to provide funds for all costs incurred or to be incurred for the purposes described in Section 2 of this act. Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Department of Finance and Administration, declaring the necessity for the issuance of any part or all of the general obligation bonds authorized by this section, the Department of Finance and Administration shall deliver a certified copy of its resolution or resolutions to the commission. Upon receipt of the resolution the commission, in its discretion, may act as the issuing agent, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and accept bids, issue and sell the bonds authorized to be sold, and do any and all other things necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and sale of the bonds. The total amount of bonds issued under this act shall not exceed Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000.00).

(2) Any investment earnings on amounts deposited into the special fund created in Section 2 of this act shall be used to pay debt service on bonds issued under this act, in accordance with the proceedings authorizing issuance of such bonds.

SECTION 4. The principal of and interest on the bonds authorized under Section 3 of this act shall be payable in the manner provided in this section. The bonds shall bear a date or dates, be in a denomination or denominations, bear interest at a rate or rates (not to exceed the limits set forth in Section 75-17-101, Mississippi Code of 1972), be payable at a place or places within or without the State of Mississippi, shall mature absolutely at a time or times not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from date of issue, be redeemable before maturity at a time or times and upon terms, with or without premium, shall bear registration privileges, and shall be substantially in a form, all as determined by resolution of the commission.

SECTION 5. The bonds authorized by this act shall be signed by the chairman of the commission, or by his facsimile signature, and the official seal of the commission shall be affixed to the bonds and attested by the secretary of the commission. The interest coupons, if any, to be attached to the bonds may be executed by the facsimile signatures of the officers. Whenever any bonds have been signed by the officials designated to sign the bonds who were in office at the time of the signing, but who may have ceased to be officers before the sale and delivery of the bonds, or who may not have been in office on the date the bonds may bear, the signatures of the officers upon the bonds and coupons shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes and have the same effect as if the person officially signing the bonds had remained in office until their delivery to the purchaser, or had been in office on the date the bonds may bear. However, notwithstanding anything in this act to the contrary, the bonds may be issued as provided in the Registered Bond Act of the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 6. All bonds and interest coupons issued under the provisions of this act have all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, and in exercising the powers granted by this act, the commission shall not be required to and need not comply with the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code.

SECTION 7. The commission shall act as the issuing agent for the bonds authorized under Section 3 of this act, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and accept bids, issue and sell the bonds authorized to be sold, pay all fees and costs incurred in the issuance and sale, and do any and all other things necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and sale of the bonds. The commission may pay the costs that are incident to the sale, issuance and delivery of the bonds authorized under this act from the proceeds derived from the sale of the bonds. The commission shall sell the bonds on sealed bids at public sale, and for a price which it determines is in the best interest of the State of Mississippi, but a sale shall not be made at a price less than par plus accrued interest to the date of delivery of the bonds to the purchaser. All interest accruing on the bonds issued shall be payable semiannually or annually; however, the first interest payment may be for a period of not more than one (1) year.

Notice of the sale of the bonds shall be published at least one (1) time, not less than ten (10) days before the date of sale, and shall be published in one or more newspapers published or having a general circulation in the City of Jackson, Mississippi, and in one or more other newspapers or financial journals with a national circulation, to be selected by the commission.

The commission, when issuing any bonds under the authority of this act, may provide that the bonds, at the option of the State of Mississippi, may be called in for payment and redemption at the call price named therein and accrued interest on the date or dates named therein.

SECTION 8. The bonds issued under the provisions of this act are general obligations of the State of Mississippi, and for the payment thereof the full faith and credit of the State of Mississippi is irrevocably pledged. If the funds appropriated by the Legislature are insufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on the bonds as they become due, then the deficiency shall be paid by the State Treasurer from any funds in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated. All such bonds shall contain recitals on their faces substantially covering the provisions of this section.

SECTION 9. Upon the issuance and sale of bonds under the provisions of this act, the commission shall transfer the proceeds of any sale or sales to the special fund created in Section 2 of this act. The proceeds of the bonds shall be disbursed solely upon the order of the Department of Finance and Administration under such restrictions, if any, as may be contained in the resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds.

SECTION 10. The bonds authorized under this act may be issued without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things other than those proceedings, conditions and things which are specified or required by this act. Any resolution providing for the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this act shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by the commission, and any such resolution may be adopted at any regular or special meeting of the commission by a majority of its members.

SECTION 11. The bonds authorized under the authority of this act may be validated in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, in the manner and with the force and effect provided by Chapter 13, Title 31, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the validation of county, municipal, school district and other bonds. The notice to taxpayers required by these statutes shall be published in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the City of Jackson, Mississippi.

SECTION 12. Any holder of bonds issued under the provisions of this act or of any of the interest coupons pertaining to the bonds may protect and enforce, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceeding, any and all rights granted under this act, or under the resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds, and may enforce and compel performance of all duties required by this act to be performed, in order to provide for the payment of bonds and interest thereon.

SECTION 13. All bonds issued under the provisions of this act shall be legal investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi, and these bonds shall be legal securities which may be deposited with and shall be received by all public officers and bodies of this state and all municipalities and political subdivisions for the purpose of securing the deposit of public funds.

SECTION 14. Bonds issued under the provisions of this act and any income derived from the bonds shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 15. The proceeds of the bonds issued under this act shall be used solely for the purposes provided in this act, including the costs incident to the issuance and sale of the bonds.

SECTION 16. The State Treasurer, without further process of law, may certify to the Department of Finance and Administration the necessity for warrants, and the Department of Finance and Administration shall issue the warrants in amounts as may be necessary to pay when due the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on, or the accreted value of, all bonds issued under this act; and the State Treasurer shall forward the necessary amount to the designated place or places of payment of the bonds in ample time to discharge the bonds, or the interest thereon, on the due dates thereof.

SECTION 17. This act shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the exercise of the powers herein granted, but this act shall not be deemed to repeal or to be in derogation of any existing law of this state.

SECTION 18. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.