Section 1285-O. Pipeline for jobs fund

The corporation shall undertake to
  provide financial assistance to recipients to encourage and support  the
  planning,  design and construction of eligible projects which provide an
  economic development benefit to the state.
    1. There is hereby established in the custody  of  the  corporation  a
  "pipeline  for  jobs  fund".  The  purpose of the pipeline for jobs fund
  shall  be  to  provide  financial  assistance,  as  determined  by   the
  corporation in consultation with the department of economic development,
  to  recipients  for  the  planning,  design and construction of eligible
  projects.
    2. For purposes of this section, and notwithstanding any provision  of
  law to the contrary, as used in this section:
    (a)   "Construction"   means   the  erection,  building,  acquisition,
  alteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement or extension of  an
  eligible  project;  the  inspection  and  supervision  thereof;  and the
  engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and  economic  investigations
  and  studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications,
  procedures, and other actions necessary thereto.
    (b) "Eligible municipality" means any county, city,  town  or  village
  located within the state.
    (c)  "Eligible project" means a project intended to create, improve or
  extend water supply facilities, including, but not limited to,  drinking
  water   facilities   and  cold  water  supply  facilities  for  economic
  development purposes on behalf of businesses, which may include projects
  that may be eligible for financing under or designed to comply with  the
  requirements  of the federal safe drinking water act or other applicable
  federal laws and state drinking water quality goals and standards.
    (d) "Financial assistance" means state  assistance  payments  for  the
  state  share  of  the cost of an eligible project, or any one or more of
  the following types of financial assistance:
    (i) loans to recipients for construction of eligible projects on  such
  terms  as  the  corporation  may  determine,  subject  to any applicable
  provisions of federal or state law;
    (ii) buying or refinancing debt obligations of recipients at market or
  below market rates, subject to any applicable provisions of  federal  or
  state law;
    (iii) guarantying, or purchasing insurance or other credit enhancement
  for  municipal obligations where such action would improve credit market
  access for or reduce interest rates on such municipal obligations;
    (iv) providing  a  source  of  revenue  or  security  for  payment  of
  principal  and  interest  on bonds or notes issued by the corporation if
  the proceeds of the sale of such bonds or notes will be deposited in the
  fund; and
    (v) providing interest rate  subsidies  from  investment  earnings  on
  corpus  allocations  to  subsidize  loans  to  recipients  made from the
  proceeds of the corporation's bonds or notes.
    (e) "Fund" means the  pipeline  for  jobs  fund  established  by  this
  section.
    (f)  "Recipient"  means  any  eligible  municipality,  public utility,
  public benefit corporation, or person, including any  individual,  firm,
  partnership,    association,   not-for-profit   corporation   or   other
  corporation organized and existing under the laws of the  state  or  any
  other  state  which  is  empowered  to construct and operate an eligible
  project, or any two or more of the foregoing which are acting jointly in
  connection with an eligible project.
    3. Moneys in the fund shall be segregated from all other funds  of  or
  in  the custody of the corporation. Moneys in the fund shall be used for

  any authorized purpose of the fund as provided and  in  accordance  with
  the provisions of this section.
    4. The fund shall consist of:
    (a)  moneys  appropriated  by the legislature pursuant to a chapter of
  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  ninety-nine,  or  any  reappropriation
  thereof,  for  the  purpose of such fund or otherwise transferred by the
  state for deposit therein by the comptroller as required by law;
    (b) payments of principal and interest made by recipients pursuant  to
  loan  or  other  financing  agreements  entered  into  pursuant  to this
  section; provided, however, if financial  assistance  made  pursuant  to
  financing  agreements  is  financed by the issuance of bonds or notes of
  the corporation, deposit of such payments into the fund shall be subject
  to the rights of the holders of such bonds  or  notes  to  receive  such
  moneys;
    (c) investment earnings on the amounts in such fund; and
    (d)  the  proceeds  of  bonds  or  notes issued by the corporation for
  purposes of providing financial assistance to recipients.
    5. Moneys in the fund may be invested by the corporation in accordance
  with this title and pursuant to guidelines from time to time  issued  by
  the corporation.
    6.  The  corporation  shall  request  applications  from recipients to
  receive financial assistance from the fund for  eligible  projects.  The
  corporation  shall  provide  a  list  of  the  eligible projects and the
  amounts available for financial assistance to the department of economic
  development,  which  department  shall  recommend  to  the   corporation
  projects  to  be  financed  from  the  moneys  available. In making such
  recommendations, the  department  of  economic  development  shall  give
  consideration  to  eligible projects which have the potential to enhance
  the state's technology industry development efforts.
    7.  The  corporation  shall  promulgate  regulations,   developed   in
  consultation   with   the  commissioner  of  economic  development,  the
  commissioner of  environmental  conservation  and  the  commissioner  of
  health  for  the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities under this
  section,  including  establishing  the  criteria   and   standards   for
  evaluating  the  projects  to be financed and determining the amount and
  kind of financial assistance to a recipient for an eligible  project  as
  well  as  the terms of any financing agreement evidencing such financial
  assistance.
    8. The provisions of subdivision  eleven  of  section  twelve  hundred
  eighty-five-m of this title shall be available to the corporation in the
  event  of  a  default  under  any financing agreement entered into by an
  eligible municipality pursuant to this section.
    9. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to
  the contrary, the corporation and the director of the budget are  hereby
  authorized  to  enter  into a pipeline for jobs fund service contract or
  contracts providing for the administration of the pipeline for jobs fund
  and the financing by such corporation of the contributions made  by  the
  state  to  the  pipeline  for  jobs fund. Any such contract or contracts
  shall be upon such terms and  conditions  as  the  corporation  and  the
  director  of the budget shall determine to be reasonable, including, but
  not limited to, provisions relating to the respective obligations of the
  state and the corporation with respect to providing for the  payment  of
  (i)  all  fees  and  other  charges  of,  and  expenses incurred by, the
  corporation in connection with the issuance and administration of  bonds
  to  provide  funds to the state or reimburse the state for contributions
  to the pipeline for jobs fund and (ii) all  debt  service  payments  and
  related expenses on such bonds.

    (b)  Any  such contract entered into pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
  subdivision shall provide that the obligation of the state to fund or to
  pay the amounts therein provided for shall not constitute a debt of  the
  state  within  the  meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision
  and  shall  be  deemed  executory only to the extent of moneys available
  therefore and that no liability shall be incurred by  the  state  beyond
  the  moneys  available  for  such  purpose,  and that such obligation is
  subject to annual appropriation by the legislature.
    (c) Any such contract or any payments made or to  be  made  thereunder
  may be assigned and pledged by the corporation as security for its bonds
  and  notes issued for the purpose of financing the state contribution to
  the pipeline for jobs fund.
    (d)  The  comptroller  is  hereby  authorized  to  receive  from   the
  corporation  any  portion  of  bond proceeds paid to provide funds to or
  reimburse the state for its contribution to the pipeline for  jobs  fund
  and to credit such amounts to the capital projects fund.