2015 -- S 0814

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LC001701

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND COMMERCE

CORPORATION

     Introduced By: Senators Conley, Coyne, Walaska, Archambault, and Lombardo

     Date Introduced: April 09, 2015

     Referred To: Senate Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 42-64-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-64 entitled "Rhode

Island Commerce Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-64-7. Additional general powers. -- In addition to the powers enumerated in § 42-64-

6, except to the extent inconsistent with any specific provision of this chapter, the Rhode Island

commerce corporation shall have power:

      (1) To undertake the planning, development, construction, financing, management,

operation of any project, and all activities in relation thereto.

      (2) (i) To sell, mortgage, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose of or encumber

any port project, (or in the case of a sale, to accept a purchase money mortgage in connection

with any port project) or to grant options for any purposes with respect to any real or personal

property or interest in real or personal property, all of the foregoing for consideration as the

corporation shall determine. Any lease by the corporation to another party may be for any part of

the corporation's property, real or personal, for any period, upon any terms or conditions, with or

without an option on the part of the lessee to purchase any or all of the leased property for any

consideration, at or after the retirement of all indebtedness incurred by the corporation on account

thereof, as the corporation shall determine.

      (ii) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the corporation is expressly

empowered to lease or sell any part of the real or personal property owned or controlled by the

corporation to the state, or any department of the state or to any municipality. The provisions of

this section or of any other laws of this state (other than this chapter) restricting the power of the

state, its departments or any municipality, to lease or sell property, or requiring or prescribing

publication of notice of intention to lease or sell, advertising for bids, the terms of contracts of

lease or sale, that would in any manner interfere with the purpose of this section, which is to

provide for the mutual cooperation by and between the corporation and the state, its departments

or any municipality, to the fullest extent possible, are not applicable to leases and sales made

pursuant to this section.

      (3) To prepare or cause to be prepared plans, specifications, designs, and estimates of

costs for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, alteration, or repair of any

project, and from time to time to modify those plans, specifications, designs, or estimates.

      (4) To manage any project, whether then owned or leased by the corporation, and to

enter into agreements with the state or any municipality or any agency or their instrumentalities,

or with any person, firm, partnership, or corporation, either public or private, for the purpose of

causing any project to be managed.

      (5) To provide advisory, consultative, training, and educational services, technical

assistance, and advice to any person, firm, partnership, or corporation, whether it is public or

private, in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

      (6) Subject to the provisions of any contract with note holders or bond holders to consent

to the modification, with respect to rate of interest, time of payments of any installment of

principal or interest, security or any other term of any mortgage, mortgage loan, mortgage loan

commitment, contract, or agreement of any kind to which the corporation is a party.

      (7) In connection with any property on which it has made a mortgage loan, to foreclose

on that property or commence an action to protect or enforce any right conferred upon it by law,

mortgage, contract, or other agreement and to bid for and purchase the property at any foreclosure

or any other sale, or to acquire or take possession of the property; and in that event the

corporation may complete, administer, pay the principal of, or interest on any obligations incurred

in connection with the property, dispose of, and otherwise deal with the property in a manner as

may be necessary or desirable to protect the interest of the corporation therein.

      (8) As security for the payment of principal and interest on any bonds or notes or any

agreements made in connection therewith, to mortgage and pledge any or all of its projects and

property, whether then owned or thereafter acquired, and to pledge the revenues and receipts from

all or part thereof, and to assign or pledge the leases, sales contracts or loan agreements or other

agreements on any portion or all of its projects and property and to assign or pledge the income

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received by virtue of the lease, sales contracts, loan agreements or other agreements.

      (9) To invest any funds of the corporation, including funds held in reserve or sinking

funds, or any moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement at the discretion of the

corporation, in: (i) obligations of the state or the United States, (ii) obligations of the principal

and interest of which are guaranteed by the state or the United States, (iii) obligations of agencies

and instrumentalities of the state or the United States, or (iv) certificates of deposits of banks and

trust companies or shares of building loan associations organized under the laws of the state or

doing business in the state or (v) any obligations, securities, and other investments as shall be

specified in resolutions of the corporation.

      (10) To engage the services of consultants on a contract basis for rendering professional

and technical assistance and advice, and to employ architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants,

construction, and financial experts and any other advisors, consultants, and agents as may be

necessary in his or her judgment, and to fix their compensation.

      (11) To contract for and to accept any gifts or grants or loans or funds or property or

financial or other assistance in any form from the United States or any agency or instrumentality

of the United States or from the state or any agency or instrumentality of the state or from any

other source and to comply, subject to the provisions of this chapter, with the terms and

conditions of this contract.

      (12) To enter into agreements with any municipality or political subdivision, either

directly or on behalf of any other party which holds legal title to all or any portion of a project as

the lessee from the corporation designated pursuant to § 42-64-20(c), providing that the

corporation or the lessee shall pay annual sums in lieu of taxes to the municipality or political

subdivision of the state in respect to any real or personal property which is owned by the

corporation or the lessee and is located in the municipality or political subdivision.

      (13) To borrow money and to issue negotiable bonds and notes, and to provide for the

rights of the holders of these bonds and notes, for the purpose of providing funds to pay all or any

part of the cost of any port project or for the purpose of refunding any of these bonds issued.

      (14) To construct, acquire, own, repair, develop, operate, maintain, extend, and improve,

rehabilitate, renovate, furnish, and equip one or more port projects and to pay all or any part of

the costs of these bonds and notes from the proceeds of bonds of the corporation or from any

contribution, gift, or donation or other funds made available to the corporation for those purposes.

      (15) To fix, charge and collect rents, fees, tolls, and charges for the use of any port

project and to alter and investigate rates, and practices of charging, which affect port projects so

as to increase commerce in the state.

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      (16) To prescribe rules and regulations deemed necessary or desirable to carry out the

purposes of this chapter including rules and regulations to insure maximum use and proper

operation of port projects.

      (17) To establish penalties for violations of any order, rule, or regulation of the

corporation, and a method of enforcing these penalties.

      (18) To develop, maintain, and operate foreign trade zones under those terms and

conditions that may be prescribed by law.

      (19) To impose administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of § 42-64-

9.2.

      (20) To make assessments and impose reasonable and just user charges, and to pay for

those expenses that may be required by law or as may be determined by the corporation to be

necessary for the maintenance and operation of the sewage treatment facility.

      (21) To establish a sewage pretreatment program, and to require as a condition to the

grant or re-issuance of any approval, license, or permit required under the program that the person

applying for the approval, license or permit, pay to the corporation a reasonable fee based on the

cost of reviewing and acting upon the application and based on the costs of implementing the

program. In addition, where a violation of any of the provisions of this title or any permit, rule,

regulation, or order issued pursuant to this title have occurred, the violator shall reimburse the

corporation for the actual costs of implementing and enforcing the terms of the permit, rule,

regulation or order as a condition to the grant or re-issuance of any approval.

      (22) To assist urban communities revitalize their local economics.

      (23) To provide assistance to minority businesses and to neighborhoods where there is

insufficient economic and business investment.

      (24) To support and assist entrepreneurial activity by minorities and by low and

moderate income persons.

      (25) To issue bonds and notes of the type and for those projects and for those purposes

specified in any Joint Resolution of the General Assembly adopted by the Rhode Island house of

representatives and the Rhode Island senate; pursuant to § 18 of title 35 of the general laws

entitled "the Rhode Island Public Corporation Debt Management Act"; and to make such

determinations, enter into such agreements, to deliver such instruments and to take such other

actions as it shall deem necessary or desirable to effectuate the financing of such projects.

     (26)(i) To establish a "green product sales and use tax exclusions program" for

manufacturers of alternative source and advanced transportation products, components or

systems, where the property to be purchased must be used to design, manufacture, produce or

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assemble an eligible advanced transportation technology or alternative source, including energy

efficiency, product, component or system.

     (ii) The corporation may approve a project for financial assistance in the form of a sales

and use tax exclusion.

     (iii) The corporation is required to establish regulations for implementation within one

hundred eighty (180) days of the passage of this subsection.

     (iv) For the purposes of this subsection:

     (A) "Advanced transportation technologies" means emerging commercially competitive

transportation-related technologies certified by the Rhode Island office of energy resources as

capable of creating long-term, high valued-added jobs in Rhode Island while enhancing the state's

commitment to energy conservation, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and

transportation efficiency.

     (B) "Advanced transportation technologies" does not include those projects required to be

undertaken pursuant to state or federal law or regulations, air district rules or regulations,

memoranda of understanding with a governmental entity, or legally binding agreements or

documents.

     (C) "Alternative sources" means devices or technologies identified in § 39-26-5, or a

facility designed for the production of renewable fuels, the efficient use of which reduce the use

of fossil or nuclear fuels, and energy efficiency devices or technologies that reduce the need for

new electric generation and reduce emissions of toxic and criteria pollutants and greenhouse

gases.

     (D) "Alternative sources" does not include a hydroelectric facility that does not meet

statutory requirements pertaining to the control, appropriation, use, and distribution of water,

including, but not limited to, the obtaining of applicable licenses and permits.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC001701

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND COMMERCE

CORPORATION

***

     This act would allow the commerce corporation to establish a green product sales and use

tax exclusion program for manufacturers of alternative source and advanced transportation

technologies.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC001701

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