PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. (a) The state treasurer may, upon request of the governor, issue and sell refunding bonds of the commonwealth in an amount to be specified by the governor from time to time for the purpose of paying, at maturity or upon acceleration or redemption, any bonds then outstanding and issued by an entity other than the commonwealth pursuant to section 39I of chapter 190 of the acts of 1982, section 7 of chapter 16 of the acts of 1999 or section 6 of chapter 53 of the acts of 1999, including the payment of any redemption premium thereon and any interest accrued or to accrue to the date of maturity, acceleration or redemption of such bonds. The state treasurer shall not issue any such refunding bonds unless he finds that the present value, discounted at such rate as he considers appropriate, of the principal and interest payments due on the refunding bonds is less than the present value, discounted at such rate, of the principal and interest payments to be paid, from the proceeds of such refunding bonds and investment earnings thereon, on the bonds to be refunded. These refunding bonds may be issued at such time before the maturity, acceleration or redemption of the bonds to be refunded thereby as the state treasurer, with the approval of the governor, considers advisable. The issuance of these bonds, the security therefore, the maturities and other details thereof, the rights of the holders thereof and the rights, duties and obligations of the commonwealth with respect thereto shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 29 of the General Laws which relate to the issuance of bonds by the commonwealth, insofar as such provisions may be appropriate therefore. In connection with any issuance of refunding bonds pursuant to this section, the secretary of administration and finance and the other party or parties to the contract for financial assistance related to the bonds being refunded and the state treasurer may enter into amendments to the contract and any other documents that they consider necessary or desirable to effectuate the issuance of the bonds. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the provisions of section 49 of chapter 29 of the General Laws applicable to sinking funds established with trustees shall apply to the deposit of refunding bond proceeds with a trustee, except that such proceeds shall be held for the benefit of the holders of the bonds to be refunded thereby.

(b) Bonds and the interest thereon issued under this section shall be general obligations of the commonwealth and all bonds issued by the commonwealth under this section shall be designated on their face General Obligation Contract Assistance Refunding Bonds, and shall be issued for such maximum term of years, not exceeding 20 years, as the governor may recommend to the general court pursuant to Section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution. The debt service on these refunding bonds shall be charged to the various budgeted funds of the commonwealth in proportion to the principal amounts being refunded.

(c) The state treasurer shall file a report with the house and senate committees on ways and means no later than 30 days after the sale of any refunding bonds issued pursuant to this section. This report shall include written documentation of compliance with this section, including, but not limited to, the issue or issues to be refunded, the projected dollar savings and the projected present value savings.