Whereas, many school administrative units have an immediate need to submit proposals for approval under the School Revolving Renovation Fund for reimbursement of costs incurred for first priority status health and safety projects approved by the Commissioner of Education; and

Whereas, it is necessary to revise the provisions of the statutes to allow such reimbursement for these projects; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §6006-F, sub-§3, ¶¶H and I, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 787, §13, are amended to read:

H. To pay the costs of the bank and the Department of Education associated with the administration of the fund and projects financed by the fund, except that no more than the lesser of 2% of the aggregate of the highest fund balances in any fiscal year and 4% of the combined value of any capitalization grants provided by the United States for deposit in the fund may be used for these purposes. The Commissioner of Education is authorized to receive revenue from the fund administered by the bank. Funds provided to the Department of Education from the fund must be deposited in a nonlapsing dedicated account to be used to carry out the purposes of this section; and

I. To pay the reasonable costs of services provided to school administrative units by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services, for oversight of school construction and renovation projects. Notwithstanding Title 5, section 1742, subsection 7, .4% of the total amount initially allocated to the fund must be transferred to the Bureau of General Services upon the effective date of this section.; and

Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §6006-F, sub-§3, ¶J is enacted to read:

J.__To reimburse school administrative units for costs incurred for first priority status health and safety