2020 Iowa Code
Title I - STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND MANAGEMENT
Chapter 12E - TOBACCO SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY
Section 12E.11 - Authority — bonds.

12E.11 Authority — bonds.

1. The authority may issue bonds and, if bonds are issued, shall make the proceeds from the bonds available to the state pursuant to the sales agreement to fund capital projects, certain debt service on outstanding obligations that funded capital projects, and attorney fees related to the master settlement agreement, and to provide a secure and stable source of funding to the state, consistent with the purposes of section 12E.3A and other provisions of this chapter. In connection with the issuance of bonds and subject to the terms of the sales agreement, the authority shall determine the terms and other details of the financing and the method of implementation of the program plan. Bonds issued pursuant to this section may be secured by a pledge of all or a portion of the state’s share and any moneys derived from the state’s share, and any other sources available to the authority with the exception of moneys in the tobacco settlement trust fund. The authority may also issue refunding bonds, including advance refunding bonds, for the purpose of refunding previously issued bonds, and may issue other types of bonds, debt obligations, and financing arrangements necessary to fulfill its purposes or the purposes of this chapter.

2. The authority may issue its bonds in principal amounts which, in the opinion of the authority, are necessary to provide sufficient funds for achievement of its purposes, the payment of interest on its bonds, the establishment of reserves to secure the bonds, the costs of issuance of its bonds, and all other expenditures of the authority incident to and necessary to carry out its purposes or powers. The bonds are investment securities and negotiable instruments within the meaning of and for the purposes of the uniform commercial code, chapter 554.

3. Bonds issued by the authority are payable solely and only out of the moneys, assets, or revenues pledged by the authority and are not a general obligation or indebtedness of the authority or an obligation or indebtedness of the state or any subdivision of the state. The authority shall not pledge the credit or taxing power of the state or any political subdivision of the state, or create a debt or obligation of the state, or make its debts payable out of any moneys except those of the authority, excluding those moneys deposited in the tobacco settlement trust fund.

4. Bonds shall state on their face that they are payable both as to principal and interest solely out of the assets of the authority pledged for their purpose and do not constitute an indebtedness of the state or any political subdivision of the state; are secured solely by and payable solely from assets of the authority pledged for such purpose; constitute neither a general, legal, or moral obligation of the state or any of its political subdivisions; and that the state has no obligation or intention to satisfy any deficiency or default of any payment of the bonds.

5. Any amount pledged by the authority to be received under the master settlement agreement shall be valid and binding at the time the pledge is made. Amounts so pledged and then or thereafter received by the authority shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act. The lien of any such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind against the authority, whether such parties have notice of the lien. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, the resolution of the authority or any other instrument by which a pledge is created need not be recorded or filed to perfect such pledge.

6. The proceeds of bonds issued by the authority and not required for deposit in the tobacco settlement trust fund may be invested in any manner approved by the board and specified in the trust indenture or resolution pursuant to which the bonds must be issued, notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary.

7. The bonds shall comply with all of the following:

a. The bonds shall be in a form, issued in denominations, executed in a manner, and payable over terms and with rights of redemption, as the board prescribes in the resolution authorizing their issuance.

b. The bonds shall be fully negotiable instruments under the laws of this state and may be sold at prices, at public or private sale, and in a manner as prescribed by the board. Chapters 73A, 74, 74A, and 75 shall not apply to the sale or issuance of bonds under this chapter.

c. The bonds shall be subject to the terms, conditions, and covenants providing for the payment of the principal, redemption premiums, if any, interest which may be fixed or variable during any period the bonds are outstanding, and other terms, conditions, covenants, and protective provisions safeguarding payment, not inconsistent with this chapter and as determined by resolution of the board authorizing their issuance.

8. The bonds issued under this chapter are securities in which insurance companies and associations and other persons engaged in the business of insurance; banks, trust companies, savings associations, and investment companies; administrators, guardians, executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries; and other persons authorized to invest in bonds or other obligations of the state may properly and legally invest funds, including capital, in their control or belonging to them.

9. Bonds must be authorized by a resolution of the board. However, a resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds may delegate to an officer of the authority the power to negotiate and fix the details of an issue of bonds by an appropriate certificate of the authorized officer.

10. To comply with federal law with respect to the issuance of bonds, the interest of which is tax-exempt pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, the authority may issue a certain series of bonds, or periodically issue several series of bonds, so that interest on the bonds remains exempt from federal taxation or to comply with the purposes specified in this chapter.

11. The state reserves the right at any time to alter, amend, repeal, or otherwise change the structure, organization, programs, or activities of the authority, including the power to terminate the authority, except that a law shall not be enacted that impairs any obligation made pursuant to a sales agreement or any contract entered into by the authority with or on behalf of the holders of the bonds to the extent that any such law would contravene Article I, section 21, of the Constitution of the State of Iowa or Article I, section 10, of the Constitution of the United States.

2000 Acts, ch 1208, §11, 25; 2001 Acts, ch 164, §12 – 14, 21; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §10; 2008 Acts, ch 1186, §15, 19; 2012 Acts, ch 1017, §39