MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2005 5th Extraordinary Session
To: Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Gordon, Little, Albritton, Browning, Carmichael, Chaney, Clarke, Dawkins, Dearing, Frazier, Gollott, Harden, Jackson (11th), Jordan, King, Kirby, Lee (35th), Mettetal, Morgan, Thames, Walls, White
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 29-13-1, 29-13-3 AND 29-13-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT ALL STATE AGENCIES TO OBTAIN BUSINESS PROPERTY INSURANCE AND BUSINESS PERSONAL PROPERTY INSURANCE ON ALL PUBLIC BUILDINGS, FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (F.E.M.A.) REQUIREMENTS AS IS NECESSARY TO RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIR, CONSTRUCTION, REPLACEMENT OR OTHER DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER OR BY SUBSEQUENT DISASTERS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-7-303, 37-29-67, 37-101-15 AND 41-73-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICTS, PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY HOSPITALS TO OBTAIN PROPERTY INSURANCE FOR THE SAME PURPOSE; TO AUTHORIZE SUCH PUBLIC ENTITIES TO POOL THEIR PROPERTY INSURANCE LIABILITIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 29-13-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-13-1. (1) The Department of Finance and Administration, "department," is hereby authorized and directed to purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all state-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The department is authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining such property insurance. The department is authorized to enter into agreements with other state agencies, local school districts, community/junior college districts, state institutions of higher learning and community hospitals to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration.
(2) The Department of Finance and Administration is required to purchase and maintain flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (42 USCS, Section 4001 et seq.) as required by federal law on state-owned buildings and/or contents. To meet the requirements of participation in such program, the department is further required to adopt floodplain management criteria and procedures in accordance with the rules and regulations of 24 CFR, Chapter X, Subchapter B (National Flood Insurance Program), established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-448) as amended and by the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-234) as amended, and any supplemental changes to such rules and regulations. The department shall adopt the floodplain management criteria set forth in 24 CFR, Chapter X, Section 1910.3, on an emergency basis immediately upon passage of this chapter and until such time as final regulations and criteria are developed by the department. Final regulations, criteria and procedures shall be implemented by the department within ninety (90) days after passage of this chapter. Such criteria and procedures shall apply to any new construction or substantial improvement of state-owned buildings and other state-owned development located in floodplain areas as identified in conjunction with the National Flood Insurance Program. The department shall enforce the floodplain management criteria and procedures adopted by the department pursuant to this section.
(3) No state agency shall be authorized to expend any state, federal or special funds for the construction, renovation, repair or placement of any structure in a designated floodplain, floodway or coastal high hazard area, or to allow for the construction, renovation, repair or placement of any privately owned structure onto state-owned land in a designated floodplain, floodway or coastal high hazard area unless such agency has previously obtained the necessary permits required by the Department of Finance and Administration to comply with the regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.), National Flood Insurance Program and the state's floodplain management regulations.
SECTION 2. Section 29-13-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-13-3. The Department of Finance and Administration shall file any claims for damages covered under the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent flood insurance policies purchased pursuant to Section 29-13-1. The proceeds of any such claim for damage to a state-owned building shall be paid to the Department of Finance and Administration and the State of Mississippi, which is hereby authorized to expend such proceeds to repair or replace such damaged building. * * *
SECTION 3. Section 29-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-13-5. The Department of Finance and Administration shall compile an inventory of all state-owned buildings in any area of the state affected by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or any floodplain areas and any necessary data concerning such buildings. Each agency, board, commission, department and institution of the state shall cooperate in the preparation of the inventory and shall submit any information required by the department in a timely manner which will allow the inventory to be finalized and presented to the appropriate federal and state agencies. Such information shall include the specific location and, where available, the elevation of all state-owned buildings under the jurisdiction of the agency, board, commission, department or institution in any hurricane hazard or floodplain areas.
SECTION 4. Section 37-7-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-7-303. (1) The school board of any school district may insure motor vehicles for any hazard that the board may choose, and shall insure the school buildings, equipment and other school property of the district against any and all hazards that the board may deem necessary to provide insurance against. In addition, the local school board of any school district is hereby authorized and directed to purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all school district-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The school district is authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining such property insurance. The school district is authorized to enter into agreements with the Department of Finance and Administration, other local school districts, community/junior college districts, state institutions of higher learning, community hospitals and/or other state agencies to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration. Such school board shall be authorized to contract for such insurance for a term of not exceeding five (5) years and to obligate the district for the payment of the premiums thereon. When necessary, the school board is authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to borrow money payable in annual installments for a period of not exceeding five (5) years at a rate of interest not exceeding eight percent (8%) per annum to provide funds to pay such insurance premiums. The money so borrowed and the interest thereon shall be payable from any school funds of the district other than minimum education program funds. The school boards of school districts are further authorized and empowered, in all cases where same may be necessary, to bring and maintain suits and other actions in any court of competent jurisdiction for the purpose of collecting the proceeds of insurance policies issued upon the property of such school district.
(2) Two (2) or more school districts, together with other educational entities or agencies, may agree to pool their liabilities to participate in a group workers' compensation program. The governing authorities of any school board or other educational entity or agency may authorize the organization and operation of, or the participation in such a group self-insurance program with other school boards and educational entities or agencies, subject to the requirements of Section 71-3-5. The Workers' Compensation Commission shall approve such group self-insurance programs subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the commission applicable to all groups.
SECTION 5. Section 37-29-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-29-67. (1) The duties of the board of trustees shall be the general government of the community/junior college and directive of the administration thereof. Subject to the provisions of Sections 37-29-1 through 37-29-273, the board shall have full power to do all things necessary to the successful operation of the district and the college or colleges or attendance centers located therein to insure educational advantages and opportunities to all the enrollees within the district.
(2) The board of trustees shall be authorized to designate a personnel supervisor or other person employed by the district to recommend teachers and to transmit such recommendations to the board of trustees; however, this authorization shall be restricted to no more than two (2) positions for each employment period in the district.
(3) The delineation and enumeration of the powers and purposes set out in Sections 37-29-1 through 37-29-273 shall be deemed to be supplemental and additional, and shall not be construed to restrict the powers of the board of trustees of the district or of any college located therein so as to deny to the said district and the college or colleges therein the rights, privileges, and powers previously authorized by statute.
(4) The board of trustees shall have the power to contract, on a shared-savings, lease or lease-purchase basis, for energy efficiency services and/or equipment as prescribed in Section 31-7-14, not to exceed ten (10) years.
(5) The board of trustees shall be authorized with the approval of the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, to change the name of the junior college to community college. The State Board for Community and Junior Colleges shall establish guidelines for the implementation of any junior college name change. Any reference to junior college district in this chapter shall hereinafter refer to the junior college district or its successor in name as changed by the board of trustees.
(6) The boards of trustees are hereby authorized and directed to purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all college-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The boards of trustees are authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining such property insurance. The boards of trustees are authorized to enter into agreements with the Department of Finance and Administration, local school districts, other community/junior college districts, state institutions of higher learning, community hospitals and/or other state agencies to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration.
SECTION 6. Section 37-101-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-101-15. (a) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall succeed to and continue to exercise control of all records, books, papers, equipment, and supplies, and all lands, buildings, and other real and personal property belonging to or assigned to the use and benefit of the board of trustees formerly supervising and controlling the institutions of higher learning named in Section 37-101-1. The board shall have and exercise control of the use, distribution and disbursement of all funds, appropriations and taxes, now and hereafter in possession, levied and collected, received, or appropriated for the use, benefit, support, and maintenance or capital outlay expenditures of the institutions of higher learning, including the authorization of employees to sign vouchers for the disbursement of funds for the various institutions, except where otherwise specifically provided by law.
(b) The board shall have general supervision of the affairs of all the institutions of higher learning, including the departments and the schools thereof. The board shall have the power in its discretion to determine who shall be privileged to enter, to remain in, or to graduate therefrom. The board shall have general supervision of the conduct of libraries and laboratories, the care of dormitories, buildings, and grounds; the business methods and arrangement of accounts and records; the organization of the administrative plan of each institution; and all other matters incident to the proper functioning of the institutions. The board shall have the authority to establish minimum standards of achievement as a prerequisite for entrance into any of the institutions under its jurisdiction, which standards need not be uniform between the various institutions and which may be based upon such criteria as the board may establish.
(c) The board shall exercise all the powers and prerogatives conferred upon it under the laws establishing and providing for the operation of the several institutions herein specified. The board shall adopt such bylaws and regulations from time to time as it deems expedient for the proper supervision and control of the several institutions of higher learning, insofar as such bylaws and regulations are not repugnant to the Constitution and laws, and not inconsistent with the object for which these institutions were established. The board shall have power and authority to prescribe rules and regulations for policing the campuses and all buildings of the respective institutions, to authorize the arrest of all persons violating on any campus any criminal law of the state, and to have such law violators turned over to the civil authorities.
(d) For all institutions specified herein, the board shall provide a uniform system of recording and of accounting approved by the State Department of Audit. The board shall annually prepare, or cause to be prepared, a budget for each institution of higher learning for the succeeding year which must be prepared and in readiness for at least thirty (30) days before the convening of the regular session of the Legislature. All relationships and negotiations between the State Legislature and its various committees and the institutions named herein shall be carried on through the board of trustees. No official, employee or agent representing any of the separate institutions shall appear before the Legislature or any committee thereof except upon the written order of the board or upon the request of the Legislature or a committee thereof.
(e) For all institutions specified herein, the board shall prepare an annual report to the Legislature setting forth the disbursements of all monies appropriated to the respective institutions. Each report to the Legislature shall show how the money appropriated to the several institutions has been expended, beginning and ending with the fiscal years of the institutions, showing the name of each teacher, officer, and employee, and the salary paid each, and an itemized statement of each and every item of receipts and expenditures. Each report must be balanced, and must begin with the former balance. If any property belonging to the state or the institution is used for profit, the reports shall show the expense incurred in managing the property and the amount received therefrom. The reports shall also show a summary of the gross receipts and gross disbursements for each year and shall show the money on hand at the beginning of the fiscal period of the institution next preceding each session of the Legislature and the necessary amount of expense to be incurred from said date to January 1 following. The board shall keep the annual expenditures of each institution herein mentioned within the income derived from legislative appropriations and other sources, but in case of emergency arising from acts of providence, epidemics, fire or storm with the written approval of the Governor and by written consent of a majority of the Senators and of the Representatives it may exceed the income. The board shall require a surety bond in a surety company authorized to do business in this state, of every employee who is the custodian of funds belonging to one or more of the institutions mentioned herein, which bond shall be in a sum to be fixed by the board in an amount that will properly safeguard the said funds, the premium for which shall be paid out of the funds appropriated for said institutions.
(f) The board shall have the power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher learning and to contract with all deans, professors, and other members of the teaching staff, and all administrative employees of said institutions for a term of not exceeding four (4) years. The board shall have the power and authority to terminate any such contract at any time for malfeasance, inefficiency, or contumacious conduct, but never for political reasons. It shall be the policy of the board to permit the executive head of each institution to nominate for election by the board all subordinate employees of the institution over which he presides. It shall be the policy of the board to elect all officials for a definite tenure of service and to reelect during the period of satisfactory service. The board shall have the power to make any adjustments it thinks necessary between the various departments and schools of any institution or between the different institutions.
(g) The board shall keep complete minutes and records of all proceedings which shall be open for inspection by any citizen of the state.
(h) The board shall have the power to contract, on a shared-savings, lease or lease-purchase basis, for energy efficiency services and/or equipment as prescribed in Section 31-7-14, not to exceed ten (10) years.
(i) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, for and on behalf of Jackson State University, is hereby authorized to convey by donation or otherwise easements across portions of certain real estate located in the City of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, for right-of-way required for the Metro Parkway Project.
(j) In connection with any international contract between the board or one of the state's institutions of higher learning and any party outside of the United States, the board or institution that is the party to the international contract is hereby authorized and empowered to include in the contract a provision for the resolution by arbitration of any controversy between the parties to the contract relating to such contract or the failure or refusal to perform any part of the contract. Such provision shall be valid, enforceable and irrevocable without regard to the justiciable character of the controversy. Provided, however, that in the event either party to such contract initiates litigation against the other with respect to the contract, the arbitration provision shall be deemed waived unless asserted as a defense on or before the responding party is required to answer such litigation.
(k) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, "board," on behalf of any institution under its jurisdiction, is hereby authorized and directed to purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all university-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The board is authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining such property insurance. The board is authorized to enter into agreements with the Department of Finance and Administration, local school districts, community/junior college districts, community hospitals and/or other state agencies to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration.
SECTION 7. Section 41-73-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-73-31. In addition to the other powers and duties of the authority specified elsewhere in this act, the authority is specifically authorized to initiate a program of providing hospital equipment or hospital facilities located within the state to be operated by participating hospital institutions. In this regard, the authority shall be authorized to exercise the following powers:
(1) To establish eligibility standards for participating hospital institutions;
(2) To enter into an agreement with any entity securing the payment of bonds pursuant to Section 41-73-27(10), (11), authorizing said entity to approve the participating hospital institutions that can finance or refinance hospital equipment or hospital facilities with proceeds from the bond issue secured by said entity;
(3) To lease to a participating hospital institution specific hospital facilities or items of hospital equipment upon such terms and conditions as the authority may deem proper, to charge and collect rents therefor, to terminate any such lease upon the failure of the lessee to comply with any of its obligations thereunder or otherwise as such lease may provide, to include in any such lease provisions that the lessee shall have the option to renew the term of the lease for such period or periods and at such rents as may be determined by the authority or to purchase any or all of the hospital facilities or hospital equipment to which such lease shall apply;
(4) To loan to a participating hospital institution under an installment purchase contract or loan agreement moneys to finance or refinance the cost of specific items of hospital facilities or hospital equipment and to take back a secured or unsecured promissory note evidencing such loan and a mortgage or security interest in the hospital facilities or hospital equipment financed or refinanced with such loan, upon such terms and conditions as the authority may deem proper;
(5) To sell or otherwise dispose of any or all unneeded or obsolete hospital facilities or hospital equipment under terms and conditions as determined by the authority;
(6) To maintain, repair, replace and otherwise improve or cause to be maintained, repaired, replaced and otherwise improved any hospital facilities or hospital equipment owned by the authority;
(7) To obtain or aid in obtaining property insurance on all hospital facilities or hospital equipment owned or financed by the authority and to enter into any agreement, contract or other instrument with respect to any such insurance to accept payment in the event of damage to or destruction of any hospital equipment; * * *
(8) To enter into any agreement, contract or other instrument with respect to any insurance or guarantee or letter of credit, accepting payment in such manner and form as provided therein in the event of default by a participating hospital institution, and to assign any such insurance or guarantee or letter of credit as security for bonds issued by the authority; and
(9) To purchase and maintain business property insurance and business personal property insurance on all hospital-owned buildings and/or contents as required by federal law and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) as is necessary for receiving public assistance or reimbursement for repair, reconstruction, replacement or other damage to such buildings and/or contents caused by the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 or subsequent disasters. The authority is authorized to expend funds from any available source for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining such property insurance. The authority is authorized to enter into agreements with the Department of Finance and Administration, local school districts, community/junior college districts, state institutions of higher learning, other community hospitals and/or other state agencies to pool their liabilities to participate in a group business property and/or business personal property insurance program, subject to uniform rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Department of Finance and Administration.
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.