HOUSE BILL 740
F1, C8, F5 1lr0143
CF SB 576
By: The Speaker (By Request – Administration)
Introduced and read first time: January 26, 2021
Assigned to: Appropriations
A BILL ENTITLED
1 AN ACT concerning
2 Building Opportunity Act of 2021
3 FOR the purpose of requiring certain public school construction projects in Prince George’s
4 County to comply with a certain memorandum of understanding under certain
5 circumstances; authorizing, on or before a certain date, the Prince George’s County
6 government, the Prince George’s County Board of Education, and a private entity to
7 enter into a certain public–private partnership agreement; requiring a certain
8 public–private partnership agreement, if entered into by certain parties, to be
9 reviewed by the Maryland Stadium Authority and approved by the Interagency
10 Commission on School Construction in order for certain provisions of law to apply;
11 requiring the Authority to deposit certain amounts into certain funds under certain
12 circumstances during certain fiscal years; requiring the Prince George’s County
13 government and the Prince George’s County Board to deposit certain amounts
14 required under a certain public–private partnership agreement into a certain fund
15 under certain circumstances during certain fiscal years; requiring the Interagency
16 Commission on School Construction to pay a certain private entity from a certain
17 fund under certain circumstances during certain fiscal years; requiring the Prince
18 George’s County government, the Prince George’s County Board, and the
19 Interagency Commission on School Construction to submit a certain report on a
20 certain date each year; requiring the Interagency Commission on School
21 Construction to complete a certain evaluation and to submit a report on a certain
22 evaluation on or before a certain date; specifying the administration of and the
23 purpose for which certain funds in the Prince George’s County Public–Private
24 Partnership Fund may be used; providing for the investment of money in and
25 expenditures from the Prince George’s County Public–Private Partnership Fund;
26 providing that eligible public school construction or capital improvement costs
27 include planning costs under certain circumstances; providing that regulations
28 adopted by the Interagency Commission on School Construction may include certain
29 provisions; requiring the Interagency Commission on School Construction to adopt
30 certain regulations; requiring the Interagency Commission on School Construction
31 to update certain regulations by a certain date; requiring a certain replacement value
EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0740*
 2 HOUSE BILL 740
1 of certain systems and a certain prioritization of certain systems to be considered
2 during a certain process; requiring a certain reduction to the local cost–share
3 formula and a certain increase to the State cost–share formula for certain counties
4 under certain circumstances; altering the date by which the Interagency Commission
5 on School Construction is required to adopt regulations establishing the use of the
6 results of a certain facility assessment; altering the eligibility requirements for a
7 certain capital grant program; exempting the Authority from a certain provision of
8 law; authorizing the use of a combination of State funds for certain projects;
9 requiring grants from the Healthy School Facility Fund to be awarded to schools
10 based on the severity of certain issues in the school; providing that certain plumbing
11 projects be prioritized in the Healthy School Facility Fund application procedures;
12 requiring the Interagency Commission on School Construction or, under certain
13 circumstances, the Authority to conduct a certain evaluation of building life–cycles;
14 authorizing the Interagency Commission on School Construction or the Authority to
15 contract with a third party for a certain purpose; requiring the Interagency
16 Commission on School Construction to provide certain reimbursements for certain
17 projects begun on or after a certain date subject to a certain approval; requiring the
18 State Department of Education, the Interagency Commission on School
19 Construction, and the Authority to collaborate with local school systems and
20 community colleges to develop a certain career and technology program or
21 apprenticeship program; providing that contracts to construct a public school facility
22 or for construction on a public school site do not require the prior approval of the
23 Board of Public Works; requiring the Authority to take certain actions related to
24 public school facility projects; prohibiting the power granted to the Authority under
25 this Act from interfering with certain powers of county boards of education;
26 prohibiting certain powers of county boards from limiting the ability of the Authority
27 to carry out certain duties under this Act; authorizing the Authority to issue bonds
28 to finance the construction of or improvements to certain public school facilities
29 subject to certain limitations; specifying that certain expenses incurred by the
30 Authority are payable only from certain funds; specifying that certain bonds issued
31 under this Act are a limited obligation of the Authority payable solely from certain
32 pledged money and are not a debt, liability, moral obligation, or pledge of the faith
33 and credit or taxing power of the State, the Authority, or any other governmental
34 unit; requiring the Authority to obtain approval from the Board of Public Works
35 before each issuance of bonds to finance improvements to public school facilities;
36 authorizing the Authority to issue bonds to finance improvements to a public school
37 facility on or after a certain date; prohibiting the debt service for all outstanding
38 bond issues related to improvements to public school facilities from exceeding a
39 certain amount under certain circumstances; requiring the Comptroller to deposit
40 certain amounts into a certain fund on or before certain dates each year; authorizing
41 the Authority to transfer certain funds under certain circumstances; requiring the
42 Authority and county boards of education to take certain actions in connection with
43 public school facility projects; providing for the payment of certain costs; requiring
44 the Authority to submit a certain report on or before a certain date each year;
45 requiring the Authority to complete a certain evaluation on or before a certain date;
46 requiring the Interagency Commission on School Construction to submit a report on
47 a certain evaluation on or before a certain date; requiring the Interagency
 HOUSE BILL 740 3
1 Commission on School Construction to approve certain projects to be funded from a
2 certain fund; providing for the allocation of a certain percentage of bond proceeds
3 under certain circumstances; prohibiting the allocation of a certain percentage of
4 bond proceeds for a certain county if a certain condition is met; providing for the
5 reallocation of bond proceeds under certain circumstances; specifying that the
6 allocation of certain bond proceeds represents the State share of eligible public school
7 construction costs under certain circumstances; authorizing certain bond proceeds to
8 be used for certain purposes in a certain jurisdiction; requiring the Authority to take
9 certain actions relating to certain public school facility projects in a certain
10 jurisdiction under certain circumstances; specifying that certain public school facility
11 projects are subject to certain requirements under certain circumstances; requiring
12 the Authority and the Interagency Commission on School Construction to enter into
13 a certain program memorandum of understanding before a public school facility
14 project is approved for funding; requiring the Authority, a county government, and
15 a county board of education to enter into a certain project memorandum of
16 understanding before a public school facility project is approved for funding;
17 providing that the provisions of a certain project memorandum of understanding
18 prevail in certain circumstances; enabling the Authority to authorize a county board
19 of education to take certain actions related to public school facility projects under
20 certain circumstances after considering the county board’s track record of managing
21 public school facility projects; authorizing the Authority to use funds from the
22 Baltimore City Public School Construction Financing Fund and the Baltimore City
23 Public School Construction Facilities Fund for certain purposes; altering the
24 composition of the Workgroup on the Assessment and Funding of School Facilities;
25 requiring the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House to appoint the
26 chair of the Workgroup; altering the date of the Workgroup report; establishing the
27 Supplemental Public School Construction Financing Fund, the Supplemental Public
28 School Construction Facilities Fund, and the Public School Facilities Priority Fund
29 as continuing, nonlapsing funds; specifying the contents of the funds and providing
30 for the uses of the funds; exempting from the sales and use tax certain construction
31 material purchased by the Authority for certain projects; exempting the funds from
32 a certain provision of law requiring interest on State money in special funds to accrue
33 to the General Fund of the State; providing that money deposited in certain funds
34 may be used as security for a bond issue; repealing certain provisions requiring funds
35 from the Education Trust Fund to be used for certain capital projects; requiring the
36 Governor, beginning in a certain fiscal year, to include in the annual budget
37 submission certain amounts or percentages of certain revenues as supplemental
38 funding for certain purposes; requiring the Governor, beginning in a certain fiscal
39 year, to identify in the annual budget as introduced how certain revenues are being
40 used to supplement certain spending on education in certain grades in public schools;
41 requiring that certain funding be in addition to certain State funding provided in
42 certain grades in public schools; requiring each county board of education to complete
43 and submit a certain capacity study on or before a certain date to the Interagency
44 Commission on School Construction and certain legislative committees; stating the
45 intent of the General Assembly; repealing certain provisions of law; defining certain
46 terms; altering certain definitions; making stylistic changes; providing for a delayed
47 effective date for certain provisions of this Act; making certain provisions of this Act
 4 HOUSE BILL 740
1 subject to a certain contingency; and generally relating to public school construction
2 projects in the State.
3 BY renumbering
4 Article – Education
5 Section 4–126.1 and 5–206, respectively
6 to be Section 4–126.2 and 5–324, respectively
7 Annotated Code of Maryland
8 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
9 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
10 Article – Education
11 Section 4–126, 5–303(a) and (d)(2) and (3), 5–310(g), 5–313, and 5–322
12 Annotated Code of Maryland
13 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
14 BY adding to
15 Article – Education
16 Section 4–126.1, 5–303(d)(5) and (k), 5–325, 5–326, and 21–207
17 Annotated Code of Maryland
18 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
19 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
20 Article – Education
21 Section 4–126.2
22 Annotated Code of Maryland
23 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
24 (As enacted by Section 1 of this Act)
25 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
26 Article – Economic Development
27 Section 10–601, 10–608, 10–618, 10–620(e) and (f), 10–628(c)(1), 10–634, 10–656(b),
28 10–657(b), and 10–658
29 Annotated Code of Maryland
30 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
31 BY adding to
32 Article – Economic Development
33 Section 10–645(n), 10–649, 10–650, 10–658, and 10–658.1
34 Annotated Code of Maryland
35 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
36 BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments,
37 Article – State Finance and Procurement
38 Section 6–226(a)(2)(i)
39 Annotated Code of Maryland
40 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
 HOUSE BILL 740 5
1 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
2 Article – State Finance and Procurement
3 Section 6–226(a)(2)(ii)122. and 123. and 11–203(c)
4 Annotated Code of Maryland
5 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
6 BY adding to
7 Article – State Finance and Procurement
8 Section 6–226(a)(2)(ii)124., 125., and 126.
9 Annotated Code of Maryland
10 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
11 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
12 Article – State Government
13 Section 9–1A–30
14 Annotated Code of Maryland
15 (2014 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
16 BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments,
17 Chapter 14 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2018
18 Section 3(a)
19 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
20 Chapter 14 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2018
21 Section 3(b)(3), (c), and (g)
22 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
23 Article – State Finance and Procurement
24 Section 6–226(a)(2)(ii)124. and 125.
25 Annotated Code of Maryland
26 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
27 (As enacted by Section 3 of this Act)
28 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
29 Article – Tax – General
30 Section 11–236
31 Annotated Code of Maryland
32 (2016 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
33 BY repealing
34 Article – Education
35 Section 5–317
36 Annotated Code of Maryland
37 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
38 BY repealing
 6 HOUSE BILL 740
1 Article – Education
2 Section 5–324
3 Annotated Code of Maryland
4 (2018 Replacement Volume and 2020 Supplement)
5 (As enacted by Section 1 of this Act)
6 BY repealing
7 The Public Local Laws of Baltimore County
8 Section 9–1–104(d)
9 Article 3 – Public Local Laws of Maryland
10 (2015 Edition and October 2019 Supplement, as amended)
11 SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,
12 That Section(s) 4–126.1 and 5–206, respectively, of Article – Education of the Annotated
13 Code of Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 4–126.2 and 5–324, respectively.
14 SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read
15 as follows:
16 Article – Education
17 4–126.
18 (a) In this section, “alternative financing methods” includes one or more of the
19 following methods:
20 (1) Sale–leaseback arrangements, in which a county board agrees to
21 transfer title to a property, including improvements, to a private entity that simultaneously
22 agrees to lease the property back to the county board and, on a specified date, transfer title
23 back to the county board;
24 (2) Lease–leaseback arrangements, in which a county board leases a
25 property to a private entity that improves the property and leases the property, with the
26 improvements, back to the county board;
27 (3) Public–private partnership agreements, in which a county board
28 contracts with a county revenue authority or a private entity for the acquisition, design,
29 construction, improvement, renovation, expansion, equipping, or financing of a public
30 school, and may include provisions for cooperative use of the school or an adjacent property
31 and generation of revenue to offset the cost of construction or use of the school;
32 (4) Performance–based contracting, in which a county board enters into an
33 energy performance contract to obtain funding for a project with guaranteed energy savings
34 over a specified time period;
35 (5) Preference–based arrangements, by which a local governing body gives
36 preference first to business entities located in the county and then to business entities
 HOUSE BILL 740 7
1 located in other counties in the State for any construction that is not subject to prevailing
2 wage rates under Title 17, Subtitle 2 of the State Finance and Procurement Article;
3 (6) Design–build arrangements, that permit a county board to contract
4 with a des