Title 17. Education
Chapter 21. Health Education Authority of Louisiana
17:3056 Bonds of the authority
A. (1) To obtain funds to defray costs of the acquisition of land, the acquisition or construction of buildings, structures, and other facilities, including furnishings and equipment therefor, the authority may incur debt and issue bonds, notes, and other evidence of indebtedness for an amount not in excess of eight hundred million dollars. The bonds shall be negotiable instruments, and shall be solely the obligations of the authority and not of the state of Louisiana. The bonds and the income thereof shall be exempt from all taxation in the state of Louisiana. The bonds shall be payable out of the income, revenues, and receipts derived or to be derived from the properties and facilities maintained and operated by the authority or received by the authority from any other sources whatsoever, including, without limitation, other monies which, by law or contract, may be made available to the authority; however, such bonds shall not be payable out of any funds received by the authority under the Medicaid program. In addition to the pledge of income, revenues, or receipts to secure the bonds, the authority may further secure their payment by a conventional mortgage upon any or all of the properties constructed or acquired or to be constructed or acquired by it. Such bonds shall be authorized and issued by resolution of the authority and shall be of such series, bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or fully registered without coupons, carry such registration and exchangeability privileges, be payable in such medium of payment and at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption and be entitled to such priorities on the income, revenues, and receipts of the authority as such resolution may provide. The bonds shall be signed by such officers as the authority shall determine, and coupon bonds shall have attached thereto interest coupons bearing the facsimile signatures of such officer or officers as the authority shall designate. Any such bonds may be issued and delivered, notwithstanding that one or more of the officers signing such bonds or the officer or officers whose facsimile signature or signatures may be on the coupons shall have ceased to be such officer or officers at the time such bonds shall actually have been delivered. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, such bonds shall be sold by the authority in such manner and from time to time as may be determined by the authority, and the authority may pay all expenses and commissions which it may deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the issuance and sale thereof.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter to the contrary, the authority may incur debt and issue bonds, as provided in this Section, for the Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport.
B. The authority may, in any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds, enter into such covenants with the future holder or holders of the bonds as to the management and operation of facilities, the lease or rental thereof, the imposition and collection of fees and charges for services and facilities furnished by the authority, the disposition of such fees and revenues, the issuance of future bonds and the creation of future liens and encumbrances against such facilities and the revenues therefrom, the carrying of insurance on the facilities, the keeping of books and records, and other pertinent matters, as may be deemed proper by the authority to assure the marketability of the bonds, provided such covenants are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter. Any holder of the bonds or of any of the coupons thereto attached may by appropriate legal action compel performance of all duties required of the authority and officials thereof by the resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter. If any bond issued hereunder is permitted to go into default as to principal or interest, any court of competent jurisdiction may, pursuant to the application of the holder of the bond, appoint a receiver for the facilities of the authority, which receiver shall have the duty of operating the facilities and collecting and distributing the revenues thereof pledged to the payment of the bonds, pursuant to the provisions and requirements of this Chapter and the resolution authorizing the bonds. As provided in this Section, such bonds may in the discretion of the authority be additionally secured by conventional mortgage on all or any part of the properties or facilities acquired, constructed, extended, or improved with the proceeds thereof, and the authority shall have full discretion to make such provisions as it may see fit for the making and enforcement of such mortgage and the provisions to be therein contained.
C. If more than one series of bonds is issued hereunder payable from the revenues of any facility, priority of lien on such revenues shall depend on the time of delivery of the bonds, each series enjoying a lien prior and superior to that enjoyed by any series of bonds subsequently delivered, except that where provision is made in the proceedings authorizing any issue or series of bonds for the issuance of additional bonds in the future on a parity therewith pursuant to procedure or restrictions provided in such proceedings, additional bonds may be issued in the future on a parity with such issue or series in the manner so provided in such proceedings. As to any issue or series of bonds which may be authorized as a unit but delivered from time to time in blocks, the authority may in the proceedings authorizing the issuance of the bonds provide that all of the bonds of the series or issue shall be coequal as to lien regardless of the time of delivery.
D. The authority may issue bonds under this Chapter payable from the revenues to be derived from two or more facilities owned and operated by the authority (whether or not such facilities are related or used in conjunction) for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, extending or improving any one or more of the facilities, which bonds may be additionally secured by a conventional mortgage upon such facilities; provided, however, in no event shall the bonds constitute a claim against any property or revenue of the authority not specially pledged or hypothecated for payment of such bonds.
E. The authority may authorize the issuance of refunding bonds of the authority for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds issued pursuant to this Chapter. Such refunding bonds may either be sold and the proceeds applied to or deposited in escrow for the retirement of the outstanding bonds, or may be delivered in exchange for the outstanding bonds. The refunding bonds shall be authorized in all respects as original bonds are herein required to be authorized, and the authority in authorizing the refunding bonds shall provide for the security of the bonds, the sources from which the bonds are to be paid and for the rights of the holders thereof in all respects as herein provided for other bonds issued under authority of this Chapter. The authority may also provide that the refunding bonds shall have the same priority of lien on the revenues pledged for their payment as was enjoyed by the bonds refunded.
F. It may be provided in the resolution authorizing any bonds hereunder that such bonds shall recite that they are issued under authority of this Chapter. Such recital shall conclusively import full compliance with all of the provisions of this Chapter and all bonds issued containing such recital shall be incontestable for any cause whatsoever after their delivery for value after thirty days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing their issuance.
G. For a period of thirty days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing the issuance of any bonds hereunder, which publication shall be made in a newspaper of general circulation in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, or in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, any person or persons in interest shall have the right to contest the legality of the resolution and the legality of the bond issue for any cause, after which time no one shall have any cause or right of action to contest the legality of said resolution or of the bonds authorized thereby for any cause whatsoever. If no suit, action or proceedings are begun contesting the validity of the bonds within the thirty days herein prescribed, the authority to issue the bonds and to provide for the payment thereof, the legality thereof and of all of the provisions of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds shall be conclusively presumed, and no court shall have authority to inquire into such matters. Such bonds shall have all the qualities of negotiable instruments under the law merchant and the Negotiable Instruments Law of the State of Louisiana.
H. No bonds of the authority shall be issued or sold by the authority without prior approval of the State Bond Commission.
Added by Acts 1968, No. 112, § 6, emerg. eff. July 17, 1968, at 11:40 A.M. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 439, § 1; Acts 2001, No. 420, § 1, eff. June 15, 2001; Acts 2016, No. 577, § 1, eff. Aug. 1, 2016.