July 1996

Legislative Effort Initiated

After much debate, the Board has authorized staff to begin initial efforts regarding a legislative program for 1997. While Association staff has been "monitoring" the legislative process for the past two years, the action of the Board directs staff to investigate the possibility of seeking support for specific pieces of legislation.

As an example, one possible area discussed at the meeting was broadening the uses of the State's revolving loan fund that is currently limited to wastewater facilities. Several years ago, the Wastewater Treatment Loan Fund was amended to permit stormwater facilities to be eligible uses of the Fund. Only jurisdictions with established stormwater utilities were eligible to apply. The authorization remained in law for only two years and was repealed in 1991. Historically, local governments drawing moneys from the fund were typically able to significantly "beat" the interest rates obtainable at the bond market - thereby saving money that can be used for other purposes.

FASU will investigate the possibility of re-opening the uses of the fund again. Look for more information on legislative issues in future editions of the FACTSHEET.