House Bill No. 574

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act authorizing the creation of state debt through the issuance of general obligation bonds for the construction of a 500-bed, state-operated, close-security prison for males; appropriating the proceeds of the bonds; providing for matters relating to the appropriations; and providing an immediate effective date."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Authorization of bonds. The board of examiners is authorized to issue and sell general obligation long-range building program bonds in an amount not exceeding $34.125 million for a 500-bed, state-operated, close-security prison for males, adjacent to the Montana state prison in Deer Lodge, over and above the amount of general obligation long-range building program bonds outstanding on January 1, 1997, to be issued in accordance with the terms and in the manner required by Title 17, chapter 5, part 8. The authority granted to the board by this section is in addition to any other authorization to the board to issue and sell general obligation long-range building program bonds. The bond proceeds are appropriated to the department of administration for this project.

NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Planning and design. The department of administration may proceed with the planning and design of a 500-bed, state-operated, close-security prison for males prior to the receipt of other funding sources. The department may use interaccount loans in accordance with 17-2-107 to pay planning and design costs incurred prior to the receipt of other funding sources. The planning and design must be based on the assumptions of building on state land and sharing existing facilities and infrastructure to the extent possible with some renovation and enhancement.

NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Legislative consent. The appropriation authorized in [section 1] constitutes legislative consent for the capital project contained in [section 1] within the meaning of 18-2-102.

NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Requirements of approval of state debt. Because [section 1] authorizes the creation of state debt, Article VIII, section 8, of the Montana constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature for passage. If [section 1] is not approved by the required vote, then [this act] is void.

NEW SECTION. Section 5.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

NEW SECTION. Section 6.  Severability. If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.

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