Section 9802 - Bond issuance or sales agreement.(a) Declaration of policy.--The General Assembly finds and declares that: (1) The Commonwealth experienced a revenue deficit of $1,106,700,308 in General Fund revenue collections for fiscal year 2016-2017.(2) The Commonwealth's General Fund continues to experience a structural deficit where annual expenditures exceed recurring revenue collections.(3) The General Fund for fiscal year 2016-2017 revenue shortfall in combination with the structural deficit, increased expenditure needs and increased tax refunds resulted in a significant negative ending balance in the General Fund of approximately $1,539,000,000 for fiscal year 2016-2017.(4) A significant portion of the Commonwealth's General Fund annual expenditures are dedicated to the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this Commonwealth and the furtherance of economic development and efficiency within this Commonwealth by providing basic services and facilities.(5) The ability of the Commonwealth to provide for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this Commonwealth and the provision of basic services and facilities is jeopardized by the General Fund for fiscal year 2016-2017 revenue deficit and the continuing structural deficit.(6) The provisions of 64 Pa.C.S. Ch. 15 (relating to Commonwealth Financing Authority) are entitled to liberal construction in order to effect legislative and public purposes.(7) One of the stated purposes of 64 Pa.C.S. Ch. 15 is "to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this Commonwealth and to further encourage economic development and efficiency within this Commonwealth by providing basic services and facilities, it is necessary to provide additional or alternate means of financing infrastructure facilities, transportation systems, industrial parks, energy conversion facilities, facilities for the furnishing of energy, water and telecommunications, facilities for the collection or treatment of wastewater and storm water, tourism, parking facilities, health care facilities and other basic service and related facilities which are conducive to economic activity within this Commonwealth" under 64 Pa.C.S. § 1503(6) (relating to findings and declaration of policy).(8) The Tobacco Settlement Fund is a special revenue fund established for the purpose of providing funding for various Commonwealth programs.(9) Utilizing a portion of annual payments received through the Master Settlement Agreement and deposited in the Tobacco Settlement Fund to leverage funding to offset the effect of the fiscal year 2016-2017 revenue deficit and the structural deficit is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to provide General Fund budgetary relief necessary for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this Commonwealth and the provision of basic services and facilities.(b) Authority.--Notwithstanding any other law, the authority is authorized to enter into a sales agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth or to issue bonds, the proceeds of either of which shall be deposited in the General Fund to provide General Fund budgetary relief necessary for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the people of this Commonwealth and the furtherance of economic development and efficiency within this Commonwealth by providing basic services and facilities.(c) Duty.--The authority shall issue bonds under section 2803 or enter into a sales agreement under section 2803.1. An issuance or sale under this article shall be undertaken in a manner consistent with the best interest of the Commonwealth and in a way that provides the greatest value to taxpayers and furthers the purposes of this article.(d)Procedures for sale.--A sale under this article shall be in accordance with the following: (1) No later than 45 days after the effective date of this section, the executive director shall accept statements of qualifications and expressions of interest from persons in relation to a sale under this article. The executive director may specify a uniform format for statements of qualifications and required information. Persons may amend these statements at any time by filing a new statement.(2) The executive director or a designee of the executive director may conduct discussions with any responsible offeror to determine the offeror's qualifications for further consideration. Discussions shall not disclose any information derived from proposals submitted by other offerors.(3) The State Employees Retirement System and the Public School Employees Retirement System may each submit to the executive director a statement of qualification and expression of interest under paragraph (1).(4) An award to enter into a sales agreement under this article shall be made to the responsible offeror determined in writing by the authority to be best qualified based on the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals. The provisions of 64 Pa.C.S. § 1512(D)(1) shall apply to a decision to award under this paragraph. If terms cannot be agreed upon with the best qualified responsible offeror, negotiations will be formally terminated with the offeror. If proposals were submitted by one or more other responsible offerors, negotiations may be conducted with the other responsible offeror or responsible offerors in the order of their respective qualification ranking. The sales agreement may be entered into with the responsible offeror then ranked as best qualified if the amount of compensation is determined to be fair and reasonable.(e) Debt or liability.--(1) Bonds issued or a sales agreement entered into under this article shall not be a debt or liability of the Commonwealth and shall not create or constitute an indebtedness, liability or obligation of the Commonwealth.(2) Bond obligations or obligations under a sales agreement shall be payable solely from revenues or funds pledged or available for repayment or payment as authorized under this article.(3) Each bond must contain on its face a statement that:(i) The authority is obligated to pay the principal of or interest on the bonds only from the revenues or funds pledged or available for repayment as authorized under this article.(ii) The Commonwealth shall not be obligated to pay the principal of or interest on the bonds.(iii) The full faith and credit of the Commonwealth is not pledged to the payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds.(4) Each sales agreement under this article must contain a statement that:(i) The authority is obligated to pay the portion of the revenue the Commonwealth will receive under the Master Settlement Agreement only from the revenues or funds identified or available for payment as authorized under this article.(ii) The Commonwealth shall not be obligated to pay any amount provided in the sales agreement.(III) The full faith and credit of the Commonwealth is not pledged to the payment of any amount provided in the sales agreement. Added by P.L. TBD 2017 No. 43, § 45.1, eff. 10/30/2017.