UNAPPROVED DRAFT BILL -- Subject to Change Without Notice!
BILL NO.
INTRODUCED BY
(Primary Sponsor)
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REQUIRING UNIVERSITY FEE INCREASES TO BE APPROVED BY THE STUDENT BODY SUBJECT TO THE FEE INCREASE; AMENDING SECTIONS 20-25-302, 20-25-402, AND 20-25-421, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 20-25-302, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-25-302. Revenue-producing facilities -- powers of regents. The regents of the Montana university system may:
(1) purchase, construct, equip, or improve, at any unit of the Montana university system, any of the following types of revenue-producing facilities:
(a) land;
(b) residence halls, dormitories, houses, apartments, and other housing facilities;
(c) dining rooms and halls, restaurants, cafeterias, and other food service facilities;
(d) student union buildings and facilities; and
(e) those other facilities specifically authorized by joint resolution of the legislature;
(2) rent housing facilities and provide food and other services to the students, officers, guests, and employees of the unit at rates that will ensure a reasonable net income over operating expenses and will provide for debt service and reserves and provide for the collection of charges, admissions, and fees for the use of other facilities by students and other persons. The charges, admissions, and fees are not considered tuition within the meaning of 20-25-421 and may be collected from any or all students. Student fees may not be imposed or increased unless the increase is approved by the student body subject to the fee.
(3) hold the net income derived from the operation of the facilities and the charges, admissions, and fees collected and devote the revenue from these sources to debt service and reserves, repairs, replacements, and betterments of the facilities or, so far as the revenue has not been previously obligated for these purposes, to the acquisition, erection, equipping, enlarging, or improvement of additional facilities of the types described in this section;
(4) exercise full control and complete management of the facilities;
(5) rent the facilities to other public or private persons, firms, and corporations for uses, at times, for periods, and at rates as in the regents' judgment will be consistent with the full use of the facilities for academic purposes and will add to the revenue available for capital costs and debt service;
(6) do all things necessary to plan for and propose financing, including all necessary loan applications, for:
(a) classroom, laboratory, library, bookstore, and other instructional facilities;
(b) office, recordkeeping, storage, equipment maintenance, and other administrative and operational facilities;
(c) stadiums, fieldhouses, armories, arenas, gymnasiums, swimming pools, and other facilities for athletic and military instruction, exhibitions, games, and contests;
(d) auditoriums, theaters, music halls, and other assembly, theatrical, musical, and entertainment facilities;
(e) hospital, nursing, and other health instruction and service facilities;
(f) nurseries, barns, arenas, pavilions, and other facilities for agricultural and livestock breeding, development, and exhibition;
(g) parking lots and ramps and other parking facilities; and
(h) land needed for the facilities."
Section 2. Section 20-25-402, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-25-402. Borrowing by regents. In carrying out the powers provided in 20-25-107, 20-25-301, and 20-25-302, the regents may:
(1) borrow money for any purpose or purposes stated in parts 3 and 4 of this chapter, including, if considered desirable
by the regents, the payment of interest on the money borrowed for a facility during the construction thereof of the facility
and for 1 year thereafter after construction and the creation of a reserve for the payment of bond principal and interest;
(2) make purchases on a time or installment basis;
(3) issue bonds, notes, and other securities, negotiable or otherwise, secured as provided in this section, including bearer
bonds with appurtenant interest coupons, which shall must be fully negotiable notwithstanding any limitation on the source
of payment thereof of the bonds, notes, and other securities, or fully registered bonds or bonds registered as to ownership of
principal only;
(4) pledge for the payment of the purchase price of any facility or of the principal and interest on bonds, notes, or other securities authorized in this chapter or otherwise obligate:
(a) the net income received from rents, board, or both, in housing, food service, and other facilities;
(b) receipts from student building, activity, union, and other special fees prescribed by the regents for all students and, provided that if a fee is imposed or increased, approved by a vote of the student body subject to the fees; and
(c) other income in the form of gifts, bequests, contributions, federal grants of funds, including the proceeds or income from grants of lands or other real or personal property; receipts from athletic and other contests, exhibitions, and performances; and collections of admissions and other charges for the use of facilities, including all use by other persons, firms, and corporations for athletic and other contests, exhibitions, and performances and for the conduct of their business, educational, or governmental functions;
(5) make payments on loans or purchases from any other available income not obligated for those purposes, including receipts from sale of materials, equipment, and fixtures of the facilities or from sales of the facilities themselves, other than land;
(6) secure any bonds authorized hereunder by this section by a trust indenture between the regents and any bank or trust
company within or without outside of the state of Montana or by a resolution establishing covenants of the regents with the
holders of such the bonds relating to:
(a) the construction, operation, use, and insurance of the facilities;
(b) the segregation, expenditure, and audit of accounts of the bond proceeds and of the income pledged;
(c) subject to the right of a student body to approve fee increases, as provided in subsection (4)(b), the establishment and collection of rents, charges, admissions, and fees sufficient to provide net income adequate for prompt payment of principal and interest on bonds and creation and maintenance of reserves for that purpose; and
(d) such other matters as that the regents may determine to be necessary or desirable for the security and marketability
of the bonds;
(7) issue and sell or exchange bonds, secured as provided in this section, for the refunding of any outstanding bonds or other obligations issued by the regents before or after January 29, 1971, subject to the following provisions:
(a) refunding bonds may, with the consent of the holders of the bonds to be refunded thereby, be exchanged at par plus
accrued interest for all or part of such the bonds or may be sold at a price not less than par plus accrued interest. They may
be secured by a pledge of the same revenue as the bonds refunded or by a pledge of different or additional revenues revenue
received at the same unit of the university. Nothing herein shall This section does not require the holder of any outstanding
bond to accept payment thereof of the bond or the delivery of a refunding bond in exchange therefor for the bond, except in
accordance with the terms of the outstanding bond. Bonds may be issued to refund interest as well as principal actually due
and payable if the revenues revenue pledged therefor are is not sufficient, but not to refund any bonds or interest due which
that can be paid from revenues revenue then on hand.
(b) refunding bonds may bear interest at a rate lower or higher than the bonds refunded thereby if they are issued to
refund matured principal or interest for the payment of which revenues revenue on hand are is not sufficient or if they are
issued to refund before maturity bonds issued before January 1, 1965, for the purpose of releasing revenues revenue
required for payment of the outstanding bonds permitting the pledge thereof of the revenue for the security of other bonds
as well as the refunding bonds, subject to the rights of the holders of the outstanding bonds until those bonds are fully paid
and redeemed. Except as authorized in the preceding sentence, refunding bonds shall may not be issued unless their average
annual interest rate, computed to their stated maturity dates and excluding any premium from such the computation, is at
least 3/8 of 1% less than the average annual interest rate on the bonds refunded thereby, computed to their respective stated
maturity dates.
(c) in any case where in which refunding bonds are issued and sold 6 months or more before the earliest date on which
all bonds refunded thereby mature or are prepayable in accordance with their terms, the proceeds of the refunding bonds,
including any premium and accrued interest, shall must be deposited in escrow with a suitable bank or trust company having
its principal place of business within or without outside of the state, which is a member of the federal reserve system and has
a combined capital and surplus not less than $1 million, and shall must be invested in the amount and in securities maturing
on the dates and bearing interest at the rates which that will be required to provide funds sufficient to pay when due the
interest to accrue on each bond refunded to its maturity or, if it is prepayable, to the earliest prior date upon which the bond
may be called for redemption from the proceeds of the refunding bonds and to pay and redeem the principal amount of each
bond at maturity or, if prepayable, on that redemption date and any premium required for redemption on that date. The
resolution or indenture authorizing the refunding bonds shall must irrevocably appropriate for these purposes the escrow
fund and all income therefrom from the escrow fund and shall must provide for the call of all prepayable bonds in
accordance with their terms. The securities to be purchased with such the escrow funds shall must be limited to general
obligations of the United States, securities whose principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the United States, and
securities issued by the following United States government agencies: banks for cooperatives, federal home loan banks,
federal intermediate credit banks, federal land banks, and the federal national mortgage association. The securities shall must
be purchased simultaneously with the delivery of the refunding bonds.
(d) revenues revenue or other funds on hand, in excess of the amount pledged by resolutions or indentures authorizing
outstanding bonds for the payment of principal and interest currently due thereon on the bonds and reserves securing such
the payment, may be used to pay the expenses incurred by the regents for the purpose of refunding, including but without
limitation the cost of advertising and printing refunding bonds, legal and financial advice and assistance in connection
therewith with the refunding, and the reasonable and customary charges of escrow agents and paying agents. Revenues
Revenue and other funds on hand, including reserves pledged for the payment and security of outstanding revenue bonds,
may be deposited in an escrow fund created for the retirement of those bonds and may be invested and disbursed as provided
in subsection (7)(c) hereof to the extent consistent with the resolutions or indentures authorizing such the outstanding
bonds.
(8) sell bonds and sell or exchange refunding bonds issued hereunder pursuant to this section in the manner and upon the
terms as to maturities, interest rates, and redemption privileges and for the price that the regents determine with the approval
of the department of administration."
Section 3. Section 20-25-421, MCA, is amended to read:
"20-25-421. Charges for tuition -- waivers. (1) The regents may prescribe tuition rates, matriculation charges, and incidental fees for students in institutions under their jurisdiction. Student fees, other than incidental fees, may not be imposed or increased unless approved by the student body subject to the fee.
(2) The regents may:
(a) waive nonresident tuition for selected and approved nonresident students, not to exceed at any unit 2% of the
full-time equivalent enrollment at that unit during the preceding year;. however However, when necessary, tuition may be
waived in excess of 2% of unit enrollment for nonresident students who enroll under provisions of any WICHE-sponsored
state reciprocal agreements that provide for the payment, when required, of the student support fee by the reciprocal state;.
(b) waive resident tuition for students at least 62 years of age;
(c) waive tuition and fees for:
(i) persons of one-fourth Indian blood or more who have been bona fide residents of Montana for at least 1 year prior to enrollment in the Montana university system;
(ii) persons designated by the department of corrections pursuant to 52-5-112;
(iii) residents of Montana who served with the armed forces of the United States in any of its wars and who were honorably discharged from military service;
(iv) children of residents of Montana who served with the armed forces of the United States in any of its wars and who were killed in action or died as a result of injury, disease, or other disability incurred while in the service of the armed forces of the United States;
(v) the spouses or children of residents of Montana who have been declared to be prisoners of war or missing in action; or
(vi) the spouse or children of a Montana national guard member who was killed or died as a result of injury, disease, or other disability incurred in the line of duty while serving on state active duty;
(d) waive tuition charges for qualified survivors of Montana firefighters or peace officers killed in the course and scope of employment. For purposes of this subsection, a qualified survivor is a person who meets the entrance requirements at the state university or college of the person's choice and is the surviving spouse or child of any of the following who were killed in the course and scope of employment:
(i) a paid or volunteer member of a municipal or rural fire department;
(ii) a law enforcement officer as defined in 7-32-201; or
(iii) a full-time highway patrol officer.
(3) If funds are available after the waivers provided for in subsection (2), the regents may waive tuition for up to 5,000 credits each academic year in accordance with the national guard education benefit program provided for in 10-1-121."
NEW SECTION. Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
- END -
Latest Version of LC 1597 (LC1597.01)
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New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.
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Status of this Bill
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