B.__v.The school administrative unit has documentation for certifying that a health and safety emergency has become known subsequent to the priority need rating and the state board funding approval has been determined for the current rativi.ng cycle of a major capital improvement program.

Upon the request of the commissioner and the recommendation of the State Budget Officer and approval of the Governor, the school construction projects that meet the requirements of paragraphs A and B are eligible to receive emergency funding for school construction from the Maine Rainy Day Fund pursuant to Title 5, section 1513, subsection 1-Q.

Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §15905, sub-§1, ķA, as amended by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. YY, §3, is further amended to read:

A. The state board may approve projects as long as no project approval will cause debt service costs, as defined in section 15603, subsection 8, paragraph A, to exceed the maximum limits specified in Table 1 in subsequent fiscal years.

Table 1

Fiscal year Maximum Debt Service Limit

1990 $ 48,000,000

1991 $ 57,000,000

1992 $ 65,000,000

1993 $ 67,000,000

1994 $ 67,000,000

1995 $ 67,000,000

1996 $ 67,000,000

1997 $ 67,000,000

1998 $ 67,000,000

1999 $ 69,000,000

2000 $ 72,000,000

2001 $ 74,000,000

2002 $ 74,000,000

2003 $ 80,000,000

2004 $ 80,000,000

2005 $ 84,000,000

2005 $ 88,000,000

2006 $ 92,000,000

2007 $ 96,000,000

SUMMARY

This bill provides several measures to address urgent health and safety issues in school facilities in the State. The bill accomplishes the following.

1. It raises the maximum limit for debt service costs in fiscal year 2005 from $84,000,000 to $88,000,000, and for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, establishes the maximum limit for debt service costs at $92,000,000 and $96,000,000, respectively.

2. It requires the State Board of Education to hold harmless school administrative units for those school construction projects that were rated as a priority under a major capital improvement program but did not receive state board approval due to the debt service limits for school construction projects. School administrative units that received revolving renovation funds to remediate a first priority status health, safety and compliance problem that was part of the school construction project that was rated a priority would be held harmless in the following rating cycle for a major capital improvement program.

3. It provides that the Commissioner of Education may request transfers from the Maine Rainy Day Fund for school facility emergencies that became known after the priority rating list and funding approval decisions have been made for the current period of the major capital improvement program.