This bill makes several amendments to the current law regarding school construction and reimbursement in Rhode Island. It includes provisions regarding eligibility for reimbursement, approval of new projects, funding limits, community involvement in contaminated building sites, inclusion of owner's program managers and commissioning agents in project costs, temporary housing for students, environmental site remediation, sale of newly constructed schools, compliance with labor laws and minority business enterprise requirements, and the roles and responsibilities of the school building authority.

The bill also outlines the responsibilities and priorities of the building authority capital fund, which is responsible for funding school construction projects. The bill sets limits on the amount of incentive points that districts can receive for construction projects and specifies that a district's share of funding cannot be decreased by more than half of its regular share. The bill also states that reimbursement or aid received under this chapter or chapter 38.2 of title 45 cannot exceed 100% of the total project costs plus interest costs. Finally, the bill allows projects approved between May 1, 2015, and January 1, 2018, to receive additional incentive points if a general obligation bond is approved on the November 2018 ballot.

Statutes affected:
455: 16-105-3