West Virginia Becomes First State to Issue ARRA School Construction Bonds
Press Release
West Virginia Becomes First State to Issue ARRA School Construction Bonds
Stimulus allows state to dramatically lower finance cost for school construction
30 counties to benefit from today's bond sale
With today's issuance of $30 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds, the West Virginia School Building Authority soon will be able to make repairs, replacements or additions to 38 schools in 30 counties at a significantly lower financing cost than would be possible through a typical state bond sale. West Virginia also became the first state in the nation to sell this type of bond for statewide projects.
Gov. Joe Manchin said today's sale was made possible through quick action by the School Building Authority and through the efforts of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who advocated for this type of funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"I'm very proud that West Virginia is the first state to succeed in putting together a bond structure that is allowing us to fund school construction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Gov. Manchin said. "We're able to put this funding to work immediately to improve our schools, create construction jobs and do it at a substantially lower cost to the state."
Rockefeller said, "I am thrilled that West Virginia will very soon begin to benefit from the school construction bonds I fought to include in the Recovery Act - and it's terrific news that ours is the first state to put this funding into action. Safe, modern, energy-efficient schools will not only better prepare our students for the future, but also generate thousands of badly needed construction jobs along the way. That's a surefire recipe for new and long-term economic growth."
The Qualified School Construction Bonds are a new kind of bond created under the stimulus legislation (ARRA). These bonds provide tax credits to holders, as opposed to a tax exempt interest, which provides for a zero-interest cost loan for school construction. The tax credit is given by the Federal government so, in simple terms, the state gets an interest-free loan to build or improve its public schools, said Dr. Mark Manchin, executive director of the School Building Authority.
"The School Building Authority quickly recognized the benefit of this program and we have become the first state to take advantage of it," said Dr. Mark Manchin. "I also want to thank all the members of the West Virginia Legislature for their continued support in unanimously passing Senate Bill 297 during the 2008 Legislative session.
"Without this legislation enabling the School Building Authority to utilize their annual allocation of Excess Lottery Funds for the purpose of selling bonds, the School Building Authority would not have been able to move forward so quickly to take full advantage of this opportunity."
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