BILL NUMBER: S8872

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to providing for
the financing and construction of facilities for Saint Ann's school
through the dormitory authority

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, New York to qualify for Dormi-
tory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) financing and
construction services in the Dormitory Authority Act.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill amends paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of
section 1676 of the Public Authorities Law to add Saint Ann's School in
Brooklyn, New York to the definition of "dormitories" housing students,
faculty, staff, or their families in a building or structure essential,
necessary, or useful in an academic, cultural, health, or research
              

program which qualifies for DASNY financing under this section of Public
Authorities Law.

Section two of this bill amends subdivision 1 of section 1680 of Public
Authorities Law to add St. Ann's School in Brooklyn, New York to the
definition of "educational institutions" eligible for DASNY financing
under this section of Public Authorities Law.

Section three sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill would add Saint Ann's School, an independent, nonsectarian,
coed school educating students from prekindergarten through the 12th
grade in the arts, humanities, and sciences, to the laundry list of
institutions who qualify for DASNY financing under the Dormitory Author-
ity Act due to the didactic nature of their work.

DASNY, a public benefit corporation authorized to issue bonds on behalf
of the state, was first established in 1944 for the financing and
construction of dormitories at eleven state teachers colleges.  The
legislature later expanded the scope of the corporation's work to also
include hospitals with nursing schools, court facilities, private
universities, nonprofit healthcare facilities, government agencies,
school districts, and other public-serving institutions. One of the
largest financiers of social infrastructure in the country, DASNY is
able to issue bonds which accrue interest on which the bondholders do
not have to pay taxes, thus allowing DASNY to offer lower interest rates
to its clients compared to those in the commercial loan market. In
exchange, the state-backed nature of DASNY's debt guarantees its bond-
holders a steady stream of income payments while boosting DASNY's credit
ratings: according to the Citizens Budgets Commission, in fiscal year
2016, all but one of DASNY's public debt issuances were rated A3 or
higher by Moody's Ratings (Dague, Jamison (2016) Inside DASNY:ò An anal-
ysis by the Citizens Budget Commission, City & State New York). DASNY
boasts that it has been able to issue more than $165 billion on behalf
of its clients since 1949, and is so successful in its endeavors that it
consistently ranks among the top ten municipal bond issuers in the
United States.

Beyond purely public works, the flexible and low-cost nature of DASNY's
financing and construction services has rendered it an attractive option
for a great many other cultural and educational institutions over the
years, all of whom have been expressly granted the authority to contract
with DASNY under Title 4 of Public Authorities Law. This legislation
seeks to also extend this privilege to Saint Ann's School, located in
Brooklyn Heights in New York City, so that they may renovate and upgrade
their facilities to continue serving local families for years to come.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate