1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to higher education; amending duties of the Board of Trustees of the 
1.3 	Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; permitting bonding for colleges;
1.4 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 136F.90, subdivision 1.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 136F.90, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Duties. For the state colleges and universities, the Board of Trustees 
1.8 	of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities may:
1.9 	(1) acquire by purchase or otherwise, construct, complete, remodel, equip, operate, 
1.10 	control, and manage residence halls, dormitories, dining halls, student union buildings, 
1.11 	parking facilities, and any other similar revenue-producing buildings of such type and 
1.12 	character as the board finds necessary for the good and benefit of the state colleges and 
1.13 	universities, and may acquire property whether real, personal, or mixed, by gift, purchase, 
1.14 	or otherwise; provided that no contract for the construction of any building shall be 
1.15 	entered into until financing has been approved by the legislature;
1.16 	(2) maintain and operate any buildings or structures and charge for their use, and 
1.17 	conduct any activities that are commonly conducted in connection with the buildings 
1.18 	or structures;
1.19 	(3) enter into contracts for the purposes of sections 136F.90 to 136F.98; 
1.20 	(4) acquire building sites and buildings or structures by gift, purchase, or otherwise 
1.21 	and pledge the revenues from them for the payment of any bonds issued for that purpose 
1.22 	as provided in sections 136F.90 to 136F.98; 
1.23 	(5) borrow money and issue and sell bonds in an amount or amounts the legislature 
1.24 	authorizes for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, completing, remodeling, or 
2.1 	equipping any buildings or structures, and acquiring sites, and refund and refinance the 
2.2 	bonds by the issuance and sale of refunding bonds when the board finds that it is in 
2.3 	the public interest. The bonds shall be sold and issued by the board in the manner and 
2.4 	upon the terms and conditions provided by chapter 475, except as otherwise provided in 
2.5 	this section. The bonds are payable only from and secured by an irrevocable pledge of 
2.6 	the revenues to be derived from the operation of any buildings or structures acquired, 
2.7 	constructed, completed, remodeled, or equipped in whole or in part with the proceeds of 
2.8 	the bonds and from other income and revenues described in section 136F.92, clause (1), 
2.9 	the board by resolution specifies, and notwithstanding this limitation all bonds issued 
2.10 	under sections 136F.90 to 136F.98 shall have the qualities of negotiable instruments under 
2.11 	the laws of this state. The legislature shall not appropriate money from the general fund to 
2.12 	pay for these bonds.