May 28, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Hammel, Meadows, Palsrok, Brandenburg, Miller, Gonzales, Clack, Calley, Sheltrown, Valentine, Kathleen Law, Simpson, LeBlanc, Byrnes and Hammon and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1966 PA 331, entitled
"Community college act of 1966,"
(MCL 389.1 to 389.195) by amending the title, as amended by 1998 PA
153, and by adding chapter 13 to part 2.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to revise and consolidate the laws relating to
community colleges; to provide for the creation of community
college districts; to provide a charter for such districts; to
provide for the government, control and administration of such
districts; to provide for the election of a board of trustees; to
define the powers and duties of the board of trustees; to provide
for the assessment, levy, collection and return of taxes therefor;
to authorize community college districts to operate a new jobs
training program, enter into certain training agreements, and issue
bonds to finance the training program; to prescribe penalties and
provide remedies; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
PART 2
CHAPTER 13
NEW JOBS TRAINING PROGRAMS
Sec. 161. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Agreement" means a written agreement between an employer
and a community college district concerning a project and any
amendments to that agreement.
(b) "Bond" or "bonds" means bonds, notes, or other debt issued
by a community college district under this chapter.
(c) "Employer" means a person that is engaged in business and
has employees in this state.
(d) "New job" means a job in this state in a new, existing, or
expanding business of an employer, but does not include a job of a
recalled worker, a replacement job, or any other job that existed
in the employer's business within the 1-year period preceding the
date of an agreement.
(e) "New jobs credit from withholding" means the credit
established in section 163.
(f) "New jobs training program" or "program" means the project
or projects established by a community college district for the
creation of jobs by providing education and training or retraining
of workers for new jobs.
(g) "Program costs" mean all necessary and incidental costs of
providing program services.
(h) "Program services" include, but are not limited to, any of
the following:
(i) Training or retraining for new jobs.
(ii) Adult basic education and job-related instruction.
(iii) Developmental, readiness, and remedial education.
(iv) Vocational and skill-assessment services and testing.
(v) Training facilities, equipment, materials, and supplies.
(vi) Administrative expenses for the new jobs training program.
(vii) Subcontracted services with public universities and
colleges in this state, private colleges or universities, or any
federal, state, or local departments or agencies.
(viii) Contracted or professional services.
(i) "Project" means a training arrangement that is the subject
of an agreement entered into between the community college district
and an employer to provide program services.
Sec. 162. (1) Subject to subsection (4), a community college
district may enter into an agreement to establish a project with an
employer engaged in business activities anywhere in the state. An
agreement shall meet section 163 and all of the following:
(a) Shall provide for program costs that may be paid from a
new jobs credit from withholding, to be received or derived from
new employment resulting from the project, or from tuition, student
fees, or special charges fixed by the board of trustees to defray
program costs in whole or in part.
(b) Shall contain an estimate of the number of new jobs to be
created by the employer.
(c) Shall include a provision that fixes, on a quarterly
basis, the minimum amount of new jobs credit from withholding to be
paid for program costs.
(d) Shall provide that if the amount received from the new
jobs credit from withholding is insufficient to pay program costs,
the employer agrees to provide money, at least quarterly, to make
up the shortfall, so that the community college district receives
for each quarter the minimum amount of new jobs credit from
withholding that is provided in the agreement.
(e) Shall include the employer's agreement to mortgage,
assign, pledge, or place a lien on any real or personal property as
required by the community college district as security for its
obligations under the agreement.
(f) Shall provide for payment of an administrative fee to the
community college district in an amount equal to 15% of the
aggregate amount to be paid under the agreement.
(g) May contain other provisions the community college
district considers appropriate or necessary.
(2) Any payments required to be made by an employer under an
agreement are a lien on the employer's business property, real and
personal, until paid, have equal precedence with property taxes,
and shall not be divested by a judicial sale. Property subject to
the lien established in this subsection may be sold for sums due
and delinquent at a tax sale, with the same forfeitures, penalties,
and consequences as for the nonpayment of property taxes. The
purchaser at tax sale obtains the property subject to the remaining
payments required under the agreement.
(3) A community college district shall file a copy of an
agreement with the department of treasury promptly after its
execution.
(4) A community college district shall not enter into any new
agreements after December 31, 2018.
Sec. 163. (1) If any part of the program costs of a new jobs
training program are to be paid from receipt of money from a new
jobs credit from withholding, the agreement shall contain all of
the following provisions:
(a) That program costs are to be paid from money received from
a new jobs credit from withholding.
(b) That the new jobs credit from withholding shall be based
on salary and wages paid to employees of the employer in the new
jobs.
(c) That for each employee in a new job, the employer shall
each month pay the amount required to be deducted and withheld by
the employer under section 351 of the income tax act of 1967, 281
PA 1967, MCL 206.351, to the community college district in the same
manner as the employer returns and pays withholding payments to the
revenue division of the department of treasury, and the community
college district shall pay the amounts received into a special fund
to pay program costs and the principal of and interest on any bonds
issued by the community college district to finance or refinance
the project in whole or in part.
(d) That the community college district may irrevocably pledge
the new jobs credit from withholding, and the special fund into
which the withholdings are paid, for the payment of the principal
of and interest on bonds issued by a community college district to
finance or refinance the project in whole or in part.
(e) That for each new jobs credit from withholding paid to a
community college district under subdivision (c), the employer
shall certify to the department of treasury that the payment was
made pursuant to an agreement and shall provide any other
information reasonably requested by the department of treasury.
(f) Any other provisions required by the community college
district.
(2) At the end of each calendar quarter, a community college
district receiving money from a new jobs credit from withholding
shall certify to the department of treasury the amount of new jobs
credit from withholding each employer with which the community
college district has an agreement has remitted to the community
college district in that calendar quarter.
(3) By April 1 of each year, each community college district
that received money from a new jobs credit from withholding in the
preceding calendar year shall provide all of the following
information to the department of treasury for the preceding
calendar year:
(a) The name of the community college district.
(b) The name of each employer with which the community college
district has an agreement, organized by major industry group under
the standard industrial classification code as compiled by the
United States department of labor.
(c) The amount of money from a new jobs credit from
withholding each employer described in subdivision (b) has remitted
to the community college district.
(d) The amount of new jobs training revenue bonds the
community college district has authorized, issued, or sold.
(e) The total amount of the community college district's debt
related to agreements at the end of the calendar year.
(f) The number of degrees or certificates awarded to program
participants in the calendar year.
(g) The number of individuals who entered a program at the
community college district in the calendar year; who completed the
program in the calendar year; and who were enrolled in a program at
the end of the calendar year.
(h) The number of individuals who completed a program an
employer described in subdivision (b) hired to fill new jobs.
(i) Any other information reasonably requested by the
department of treasury.
Sec. 164. (1) Subject to subsection (16), by resolution of its
board of trustees, a community college district may authorize,
issue, and sell its new jobs training revenue bonds in anticipation
of payments to be received pursuant to an agreement, subject to the
requirements of this chapter, to finance costs of new jobs training
programs and to pay costs of issuing those bonds. The bonds shall
be payable in the manner and on the terms and conditions
determined, or within the parameters specified, by the board in the
resolution authorizing issuance of the bonds. The resolution
authorizing the bonds shall create a lien on the receipts from new
jobs credit from withholding to be received by the community
college district pursuant to an agreement or agreements that shall
be a statutory lien and shall be a first lien subject only to liens
previously created. As additional security, in the resolution
authorizing the bonds, the board of trustees may also pledge the
limited tax full faith and credit of the district and may authorize
and enter into an insurance contract, agreement for lines of
credit, letter of credit, commitment to purchase obligations,
remarketing agreement, reimbursement agreement, tender agreement,
or any other transaction necessary to provide security to assure
timely payment of any bonds.
(2) Bonds described in subsection (1) shall be authorized by
resolution of the board of trustees, and shall bear the date or
dates, and shall mature at the time or times, not exceeding 20
years from the date of issue, provided in the resolution. The bonds
shall bear interest at the rate or rates, fixed or variable or a
combination of fixed and variable, be in the denominations, be in
the form, either coupon or registered, carry the registration
privileges, be executed in the manner, be payable in the medium of
payment and at the place or places, and be subject to the terms of
redemption provided in the resolution or resolutions. The bonds of
the community college district may be sold at a competitive or
negotiated sale at par, premium, or discount as determined in the
authorizing resolution.
(3) A community college district may issue bonds described in
subsection (1) with respect to a single project or multiple
projects as determined by the board of trustees in the resolution
authorizing the issuance of the bonds. The board of trustees may
determine to sell the bonds in conjunction with the sale of bonds
by another community college district.
(4) Any resolution authorizing any bonds under this section,
or any issue of bonds of those bonds, may contain provisions
concerning any of the following, and those provisions are part of
the contract with the holders of the bonds:
(a) Pledging all or any part of any fees or available funds of
the community college district, or other money received or to be
received, to secure the payment of the bonds or of any issue of
bonds, and subject to any agreements with bondholders as may then
exist.
(b) Pledging all or any part of the assets of the community
college district, including mortgages and obligations securing the
assets, to secure the payment of the bonds or of any issue of
bonds, subject to any agreements with bondholders as may then
exist.
(c) The setting aside of reserves or sinking funds and the
regulation and disposition of reserves or sinking funds.
(d) Limitations on the purpose to which the proceeds of sale
of bonds may be applied and pledging the proceeds to secure the
payment of the bonds or of any issue of bonds.
(e) Limitations on the issuance of additional bonds; the terms
on which additional bonds may be issued and secured; and the
refunding of outstanding or other bonds.
(f) The procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract
with bondholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds
the holders of which must consent to the amendment or abrogation,
and the manner in which bondholders may give that consent.
(g) Vesting in a trustee or trustees the property, rights,
powers, and duties in trust determined by the board of trustees of
the community college district.
(h) Any other matters that in any way affect the security or
protection of the bonds.
(i) Delegating to an officer or other employee of the
community college district, or an agent designated by the community
college district, the power to cause the issue, sale, and delivery
of the bonds within limits on those bonds established by the
community college district concerning any of the following:
(i) The form of the bonds.
(ii) The maximum interest rate or rates of the bonds.
(iii) The maturity date or dates of the bonds.
(iv) The purchase price of the bonds.
(v) The denominations of the bonds.
(vi) The redemption premiums of the bonds.
(vii) The nature of the security for the bonds.
(viii) Any other terms and conditions concerning issuance of the
bonds prescribed by the board of trustees of the community college
district.
(5) All of the following apply to any pledge of money or other
assets made by a community college district to secure any bonds or
issue of bonds under this section:
(a) The pledge is valid and binding from the time when the
pledge is made.
(b) The money or other assets pledged are immediately subject
to the lien of the pledge when received, without any physical
delivery of the money or assets or any further act.
(c) The lien of the pledge is valid and binding as against all
parties having claims of any kind, in tort, contract, or otherwise,
against the community college district, whether or not those
parties have notice of the lien.
(d) The community college district is not required to record
the resolution or any other instrument creating the pledge.
(6) The board of trustees of a community college district and
any person executing bonds subject to this section are not
personally liable on the bonds or subject to any personal liability
or accountability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.
(7) A community college district issuing bonds under this
section may purchase bonds of the community college district out of
any funds available for that purpose, subject to any agreements
with bondholders in effect at that time. Unless the board of the
community college district determines by resolution that the
payment of a higher price is in the best interests of the community
college district, the community college shall not purchase those
bonds at a price that exceeds 1 of the following, as applicable:
(a) If the bonds are redeemable at the time of purchase, the
redemption price applicable at that time plus accrued interest to
the next interest payment date on the bonds.
(b) If the bonds are not redeemable at the time of purchase,
the redemption price applicable on the first date after the
purchase on which the bonds are redeemable, plus accrued interest
to that date.
(8) Bonds issued under this section are not subject to the
revised municipal finance act, 2001 PA 34, MCL 141.2101 to
141.2821, except that bonds issued under this section are subject
to the maximum rate permitted under section 305 of the revised
municipal finance act, 2001 PA 34, MCL 141.2305.
(9) The issuance of bonds under this section is subject to the
agency financing reporting act, 2002 PA 470, MCL 129.171 to
129.177.
(10) Bonds issued under this section shall not be considered
to be within any limitation of outstanding debt limit applicable to
the community college district, including any limitation contained
in section 122, but shall be considered as authorized in addition
to any limitation of outstanding debt limit applicable to the
community college district.
(11) By resolution of its board of trustees, a community
college district may refund all or any part of its outstanding
bonds issued under this section by issuing refunding bonds. A
community college district may issue refunding bonds whether the
outstanding bonds to be refunded have or have not matured, are or
are not redeemable on the date of issuance of the refunding bonds,
or are or are not subject to redemption before maturity.
(12) A community college district may issue refunding bonds
under subsection (11) in a principal amount greater than the
principal amount of the outstanding bonds to be refunded if
necessary to effect the refunding under the refunding plan.
(13) A community college district may use the proceeds of
refunding bonds issued under subsection (11) to pay interest
accrued, or to accrue, to the earliest or any subsequent date of
redemption, purchase, or maturity of the outstanding bonds to be
refunded, redemption premium, if any, and any commission, service
fee, and other expense necessary to be paid in connection with the
outstanding bonds to be refunded. A community college district may
also use the proceeds of refunding bonds to pay part of the cost of
issuance of the refunding bonds, interest on the refunding bonds, a
reserve for the payment of principal, interest, and redemption
premiums on the refunding bonds, and other necessary incidental
expenses, including, but not limited to, placement fees and fees or
charges for insurance, letters of credit, lines of credit, or
commitments to purchase the outstanding bonds to be refunded.
(14) A community college district may apply the proceeds of
refunding bonds issued under subsection (11) and other available
money to payment of the principal, interest, or redemption
premiums, if any, on the refunded outstanding bonds at maturity or
on any prior redemption date or may deposit the proceeds or other
money in trust to use to purchase and deposit in trust direct
obligations of the United States, direct noncallable and
nonprepayable obligations that are unconditionally guaranteed by
the United States government as to full and timely payment of
principal and interest, noncallable and nonprepayable coupons from
those obligations that are stripped pursuant to United States
treasury programs, and resolution funding corporation bonds and
strips, the principal and interest on which when due, together with
other available money, will provide funds sufficient to pay
principal, interest, and redemption premiums, if any, on the
refunded outstanding bonds as the refunded outstanding bonds become
due, whether by maturity or on a prior redemption date, as provided
in the authorizing resolution.
(15) A community college district is authorized to pay all or
part of the costs of new jobs training programs out of funds of the
community college district, including self-funding methods. The use
of funds of the community college district and self-funding methods
to pay the costs of new jobs training programs shall be considered
an authorized expenditure of public funds and shall not be
construed as an investment.
(16) A community college district shall not authorize, issue,
or sell any new jobs training revenue bonds after December 31,
2018.
Sec. 165. Bonds and notes issued by a community college
district under this chapter and the interest on and income from
those bonds and notes are exempt from taxation by this state or a
political subdivision of this state.
Sec. 166. The aggregate outstanding obligation of all
agreements entered into under this chapter shall not exceed
$50,000,000.00 in any calendar year.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No. ___ or House Bill No. 6185(request no.
06444'08 *) of the 94th Legislature is enacted into law.