General Assembly Raised Bill No. 301 February Session, 2010 LCO No. 1628 *_____SB00301FIN___042610____* Referred to Committee on Planning and Development Introduced by: (PD) General Assembly Raised Bill No. 301 February Session, 2010 LCO No. 1628 *_____SB00301FIN___042610____* Referred to Committee on Planning and Development Introduced by: (PD) AN ACT CONCERNING THE SMALL TOWN ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. Section 4-66g of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010): (a) For the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section, the State Bond Commission shall have the power, from time to time, to authorize the issuance of bonds of the state in one or more series and in principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred eighty million dollars, provided twenty million dollars of said authorization shall be effective July 1, 2010. (b) The proceeds of the sale of said bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Office of Policy and Management for a small town economic assistance program the purpose of which shall be to provide grants-in-aid to any municipality [that] or group of municipalities, provided the municipality and each municipality that is part of a group of municipalities is not economically distressed within the meaning of subsection (b) of section 32-9p, does not have an urban center in any plan adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to section 16a-30 and is not a public investment community within the meaning of subdivision (9) of subsection (a) of section 7-545. Such grants shall be used for purposes for which funds would be available under section 4-66c. No municipality or group of municipalities may receive more than five hundred thousand dollars in any one fiscal year under said program. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection and section 4-66c, a municipality that is (1) a distressed municipality within the meaning of subsection (b) of section 32-9p or a public investment community within the meaning of subdivision (9) of subsection (a) of section 7-545, and (2) otherwise eligible under this subsection for the small town economic assistance program may elect to be eligible for said program or be eligible for said program as part of a group of municipalities in lieu of being eligible for financial assistance under section 4-66c, by a vote of its legislative body or, in the case of a municipality in which the legislative body is a town meeting, its board of selectmen, and submitting a written notice of such vote to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. Any such election shall be for the four-year period following submission of such notice to the secretary and may be extended for additional four-year periods in accordance with the same procedure for the initial election. (c) All provisions of section 3-20, or the exercise of any right or power granted thereby, which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply to all bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this section, and temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in accordance with said section 3-20 and from time to time renewed. Such bonds shall mature at such time or times not exceeding twenty years from their respective dates as may be provided in or pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the State Bond Commission authorizing such bonds. None of said bonds shall be authorized except upon a finding by the State Bond Commission that there has been filed with it a request for such authorization which is signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and states such terms and conditions as said commission, in its discretion, may require. Said bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be general obligations of the state and the full faith and credit of the state of Connecticut are pledged for the payment of the principal of and interest on said bonds as the same become due, and accordingly and as part of the contract of the state with the holders of said bonds, appropriation of all amounts necessary for punctual payment of such principal and interest is hereby made, and the State Treasurer shall pay such principal and interest as the same become due. (d) Any grant-in-aid allowed under the small town economic assistance program under this section may be administered on behalf of the Office of Policy and Management by another state agency as determined by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 16a-31, no municipality that has a population of less than fifteen thousand as determined by the most recent decennial census and in which at least five thousand five hundred acres of land but not more than six thousand acres of land is owned by a regional water authority shall be denied a grant pursuant to subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section for a sewer project solely because such project is not consistent with the locational guide map accompanying the state plan of conservation and development adopted under chapter 297. This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 October 1, 2010 4-66g This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 October 1, 2010 4-66g PD Joint Favorable CE Joint Favorable FIN Joint Favorable PD Joint Favorable CE Joint Favorable FIN Joint Favorable