³ 385. Additional powers of the authority to issue special dedicated
highway and bridge trust fund bonds. 1. (a) The authority is hereby
authorized, as an additional corporate purpose thereof: (i) to enter
into a dedicated highway and bridge trust fund cooperative agreement or
agreements with the commissioner of transportation for the financing by
the authority of disbursements made by the state or project sponsor for
any of the activities authorized pursuant to the provisions of section
eighty-nine-b of the state finance law in any case where the expense
thereof is paid in whole or in part by the state or project sponsor; and
(ii) to issue use permits or leases to the department of transportation,
or project sponsor, as the case may be, for projects financed by the
authority of disbursements made by the state or project sponsor in
accordance with the provisions of a dedicated highway and bridge trust
fund cooperative agreement or agreements, provided that such projects
are maintained and operated under the supervision of the department of
transportation without cost to the New York state thruway authority for
the full term of such agreement or agreements, and provided further that
such use permit or lease shall be granted by the authority on a toll
free basis. Provided, however, that at any time after April first,
nineteen hundred ninety-five, no dedicated highway and bridge trust fund
cooperative agreement with the commissioner of transportation pursuant
to this section, nor any supplement thereto, need provide any conveyance
of an interest in the property to the New York state thruway authority
in connection with any obligations incurred pursuant to this section;
and any such conveyance evidenced by a dedicated highway and bridge
trust fund cooperative agreement before such date shall, consistent with
the rights of holders of any such obligations incurred pursuant to this
section, revert to the people of the state of New York by appropriate
instrument or instruments, by quitclaim deed or otherwise, in
confirmation of such reversion and any related use permits shall be
voided.

(b) The authority is hereby authorized, as additional corporate
purposes thereof solely upon the request of the director of the budget:
(i) to issue special emergency highway and bridge trust fund bonds and
notes for a term not to exceed thirty years and to incur obligations
secured by the moneys appropriated from the dedicated highway and bridge
trust fund established in section eighty-nine-b of the state finance
law; (ii) to make available the proceeds in accordance with instructions
provided by the director of the budget from the sale of such special
emergency highway and bridge trust fund bonds, notes or other
obligations, net of all costs to the authority in connection therewith,
for the purposes of financing all or a portion of the costs of
activities for which moneys in the dedicated highway and bridge trust
fund established in section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law are
authorized to be utilized or for the financing of disbursements made by
the state for the activities authorized pursuant to section
eighty-nine-b of the state finance law; and (iii) to enter into
agreements with the commissioner of transportation pursuant to section
ten-e of the highway law with respect to financing for any activities
authorized pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law,
or agreements with the commissioner of transportation pursuant to
sections ten-f and ten-g of the highway law in connection with
activities on state highways pursuant to these sections, and (iv) to
enter into service contracts, contracts, agreements, deeds and leases
with the director of the budget or the commissioner of transportation
and project sponsors and others to provide for the financing by the
authority of activities authorized pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of
the state finance law, and each of the director of the budget and the
commissioner of transportation are hereby authorized to enter into
service contracts, contracts, agreements, deeds and leases with the
authority, project sponsors or others to provide for such financing. The
authority shall not issue any bonds or notes in an amount in excess of
twenty-one billion four hundred fifty-eight million three hundred nine
thousand dollars $21,458,309,000, plus a principal amount of bonds or
notes: (A) to fund capital reserve funds; (B) to provide capitalized
interest; and, (C) to fund other costs of issuance. In computing for the
purposes of this subdivision, the aggregate amount of indebtedness
evidenced by bonds and notes of the authority issued pursuant to this
section, as amended by a chapter of the laws of nineteen hundred
ninety-six, there shall be excluded the amount of bonds or notes issued
that would constitute interest under the United States Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, and the amount of indebtedness issued to
refund or otherwise repay bonds or notes.

(c) Such obligations shall be issued or incurred with the approval of
the director of the budget and shall be special obligations of the
authority secured by and payable solely out of amounts appropriated by
the legislature as authorized pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of the
state finance law without recourse against any other assets, revenues or
funds of or other payments due to the authority. Upon payments of such
appropriated amounts from the fund established pursuant to section
eighty-nine-b of the state finance law to the account of the authority,
such funds may be pledged by the authority to secure its bonds, notes
and other obligations authorized by paragraph (b) of this subdivision
and shall be held free and clear of any claim by any person arising out
of or in connection with articles twelve-A, thirteen-A and twenty-one of
the tax law. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing and
without limiting the rights and duties of the commissioner of taxation
and finance under articles twelve-A, thirteen-A and twenty-one of the
tax law, no taxpayer, or any other person, including the state, shall
have any right or claim against the authority or any of its bondholders
to any moneys appropriated and transferred from the dedicated highway
and bridge trust fund established by section eighty-nine-b of the state
finance law for or in respect of a refund, rebate, credit, reimbursement
or other repayment of taxes paid under such articles of the tax law.

(d) The notes, bonds or other obligations of the authority authorized
by this section shall not be a debt of the state and the state shall not
be liable thereon, nor shall they be payable out of any funds other than
those of the authority pledged therefor; and such bonds and notes shall
contain on the face thereof a statement to such effect. In addition, any
agreements entered into by the department of transportation pursuant to
sections ten-e, ten-f and ten-g of the highway law or any other entity
on behalf of the state to effect the implementation of any of the
activities financed in whole or in part with proceeds of the obligations
of the authority authorized in this section do not constitute or create
a debt of the state, nor a contractual obligation in excess of the
amounts appropriated therefor and the state has no continuing legal or
moral obligation to appropriate money for payments due under such
contracts.

(e) All of the provisions of this title relating to bonds and notes,
which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall
apply to obligations authorized by this section, including but not
limited to the power to establish adequate reserves therefor and to
issue renewal notes or refunding bonds thereof, provided, however, that
the authority shall be authorized to issue variable rate bonds or notes
pursuant to this section only until June thirtieth, two thousand, after
which date no bonds or notes issued by the authority pursuant to this
section may have interest rates which vary, provided further that the
expiration of such authority shall not affect any such bonds or notes
issued prior to such date.

2. Not less than one hundred twenty days before the beginning of each
state fiscal year, the chairman of the authority shall certify to the
comptroller and to the director of the budget a schedule of anticipated
cash requirements for such fiscal year pursuant to any agreements
entered into by the authority with the commissioner of transportation
pursuant to sections ten-e, ten-f and ten-g of the highway law. The
amounts so certified shall constitute required dedicated highway and
bridge trust fund cooperative agreement payments due pursuant to such
agreements under sections ten-e, ten-f and ten-g of the highway law. The
total amount so certified for such fiscal year shall be equal to the
total amount of the debt service due or expected to be due during such
fiscal year on obligations of the authority incurred pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, including payments of interest and
principal (including sinking fund payments), together with:

(a) the amount, if any, due to any provider of any insurance policy,
letter of credit or other letter of enhancement or a related facility
with respect to such obligations, representing payments made by it as
provided in the applicable resolution or trust indenture as a result of
any previous failure of the state to make any payment provided for in
this section, including any related reasonable interest, fees or charges
so provided;

(b) the amount, if any, required to restore any applicable reserve
fund to the applicable reserve fund requirement to the extent any
deficiency therein has resulted directly or indirectly from failure by
the state to make any payment provided for in this section;

(c) the amount, if any, required to be rebated to the United States to
provide for continued exclusion from federal income taxation of interest
on obligations of the authority; and

(d) the expenses of the establishment and continued operating expenses
of the authority related to the financing of activities funded with the
proceeds of obligations authorized by subdivision one of this section,
including, but not limited to, trustees' fees, fees payable to providers
of credit facilities, fees for issuing and paying agents, remarketing
agents and dealers, legal counsel, financial or other advisors or
consultants, independent auditors, rating agencies, transfer or
information agents, the publication of advertisements and notices,
surety arrangements, and printers' fees or charges incurred by the
authority to comply with applicable federal and state securities and tax
laws; and any other costs of issuance in excess of the amount provided
therefor from the proceeds of the sale of such obligations, to the
extent that any of the foregoing amounts or expenses are not to be paid
from other resources available to the authority for such purpose.

3. The chairman of the authority may revise such certification at such
times as shall be determined by the chairman; provided, however, that
the chairman of the authority shall revise such certification not later
than thirty days after the issuance of any obligations authorized
pursuant to subdivision one of this section including refunding bonds,
and affecting the cash requirements of the authority with respect to the
obligations incurred pursuant to this section.

4. Such certification shall provide for payments on such dates as the
authority and the director of the budget deems appropriate to ensure
that sufficient funds will be available from the sources identified in
this section to enable it to meet its current obligations with respect
to those obligations incurred pursuant to this section as they become
due.

5. Upon receipt of such certification, or any revision thereof, the
comptroller shall pay such dedicated highway and bridge trust fund
cooperative agreement payments to the authority in accordance with such
certification, from the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund
established by section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law. Such
payments shall be made on or before the date specified in each
certificate or within thirty days after such receipt, whichever is
later, provided that all such amounts shall have been first appropriated
by the state.

6. The agreement of the state contained in this section shall be
deemed executory only to the extent of appropriations available for
payments under this section and no liability on account of any such
payment shall be incurred by the state beyond such appropriations. The
state, acting through the director of the budget, and the authority may
enter into, amend, modify, or rescind one or more agreements providing
for the specific manner, timing, and amount of payments to be made under
this section, but only in conformity with this section.

7. The authorization, sale and issuance of bonds, notes or other
obligations pursuant to this section shall not be deemed an action as
such term is defined in article eight of the environmental conservation
law for the purposes of such article. Such exemption shall be strictly
limited in its application to such financing activities of the authority
and does not exempt the department of transportation or any other entity
from compliance with such article.

8. The state of New York shall and hereby agrees to and does indemnify
and save harmless the New York state thruway authority from and against
any and all liability, loss, damage, interest, judgments and liens
growing out of, and any and all costs and expenses (including, but not
limited to, counsel fees and disbursements) arising out of or incurred
in connection with any and all claims, demands, suits, actions or
proceedings which may be made or brought against the New York state
thruway authority arising out of any determinations made or actions
taken or omitted to be taken or compliance with any obligations under or
pursuant to this section.

9. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to restrict the
right of the state to amend, repeal, modify or otherwise alter statutes
imposing or relating to any taxes or fees, including the taxes imposed
pursuant to section two hundred eighty-four, articles thirteen-A and
twenty-one of the tax law and fees imposed by section four hundred one
of the vehicle and traffic law. The authority shall not include within
any resolution, contract or agreement with holders of the bonds, notes
and other obligations issued under this title any provision which
provides that a default occurs as a result of the state exercising its
right to amend, repeal, modify or otherwise alter any such taxes and
fees.

10. Any resolution authorizing bonds, notes or other obligations shall
reserve the right of the state, upon amendment of the New York state
constitution allowing the issuance, or assumption, of bonds, notes or
other obligations secured by revenues, which may include the revenues
securing bonds, notes or other obligations of the authority, (i) to
assume, in whole or in part, such bonds, notes or other obligations of
the authority, (ii) to extinguish the existing lien of such resolution,
and (iii) to substitute security for the bonds, notes, or other
obligations of the authority, in each case only so long as such
assumption, extinguishment or substitution is done in accordance with
such resolution.