NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9699
SPONSOR: Simon 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 Brook-
lyn, 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 bene-
fit corporation authorized to issue bonds on behalf of the state, was
first established in 1944 for the financing and construction of dormito-
ries at eleven state teachers colleges. The legislature later expanded
the scope of the corporation's work to also include hospitals with nurs-
ing schools, court facilities, private universities, nonprofit health-
care facilities, government agencies, school districts, and other publ-
ic-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 allow-
ing 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 bondholders a steady stream of income
payments while boosting DASNY's credit ratings: according to the Citi-
zens 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: An analysis by the Citizens Budget Commis-
sion, 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:
This act shall take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9699
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 1676 of the
2 public authorities law is amended by adding a new undesignated paragraph
3 to read as follows:
4 Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, New York.
5 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1680 of the public authorities law is
6 amended by adding a new undesignated paragraph to read as follows:
7 Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, New York.
8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14945-01-4
