PRINTER'S NO. 841
No. 754 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY KENNEDY, MARMION, CAWLEY, PETRARCA, NOYE AND BOOK,
APRIL 13, 1983
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 13, 1983
AN ACT
1 Providing for the repayment of grants following revitalization
2 of distressed commercial areas and the creation of increased
3 commercial job opportunities.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Distributive
8 Education Improvement Act.
9 Section 2. Legislative intent.
10 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth recognizes the need
11 to provide financial assistance to municipalities to revitalize
12 distressed commercial areas. The General Assembly also
13 recognizes that through grants provided by the Commonwealth for
14 revitalizing distressed commercial areas, businesses located in
15 those commercial areas upon the completion of the improvements
16 financed by the grants, benefit through increased sales; and the
17 municipality in which the commercial center is located also
18 benefits through increased tax revenues resulting from the new
1 commercial activity and increased value of commercial property.
2 Therefore a need exists to have a portion of the funds which
3 made possible the stabilization of the once distressed
4 commercial areas repaid at the completion of the improvements
5 financed by the grants. A need to create more job opportunities
6 and educational programs in the area of distributive education
7 for students in this Commonwealth also exists and it is the
8 intent of the General Assembly to create new commercial job
9 opportunities and improve and expand distributive education
10 programs by financing the programs through the repayment of
11 revitalization grants for distressed commercial areas currently
12 being funded in this Commonwealth.
13 Section 3. Grant qualification.
14 Any applicant receiving a grant administered by the
15 Department of Community Affairs from funds appropriated by the
16 General Assembly after the effective date of this act for
17 programs aimed at revitalizing distressed commercial areas
18 including grants to municipalities and redevelopment authorities
19 for downtown revitalization projects and public-private
20 partnership developments under the department's Small
21 Communities and Community Revitalization Assistance Programs,
22 shall be subject to repayment as provided for in section 4.
23 Section 4. Method of repayment.
24 (a) Annual payments.--Applicants receiving grants as
25 described in section 3, beginning 12 months after receipt of the
26 final grant payment, shall repay 10% of the original grant award
27 per year for a period of five consecutive years.
28 (b) No interest.--The amount to be repaid by the applicant
29 shall not include interest.
30 (c) Extension of time.--The department shall have the
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1 discretion to extend for a period not to exceed 12 months the
2 date of any installment due, where the department determines
3 there is sufficient cause for an extension of the repayment
4 terms.
5 Section 5. Special fund.
6 All grant repayments made by recipients of grants as
7 described in section 3, shall upon receipt by the department, be
8 deposited in a special fund to be established in the Department
9 of Education and administered by the Department of Education for
10 the purpose of furthering distributive education programs in the
11 Commonwealth which will result in increased commercial job
12 opportunities for students. No additional personnel shall be
13 hired by the Department of Education with these funds.
14 Section 6. Distributive education programs.
15 (a) Develop program.--The Department of Education shall
16 within 12 months following the effective date of this act,
17 develop a competitive distributive education program for schools
18 in the Commonwealth which shall be funded from revenue from the
19 special fund described in section 5. The purpose of the program
20 shall be to:
21 (1) Improve or expand the distributive education
22 programs currently being administered by schools in this
23 Commonwealth.
24 (2) Increase commercial job opportunities available to
25 students in this Commonwealth.
26 (b) Regulations.--The Department of Education shall develop
27 necessary implementing regulations and the funding formula for
28 distributing annually to schools in this Commonwealth those
29 funds deposited in the special fund described in section 5, for
30 programs which are developed by schools that meet the objectives
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1 described in this section.
2 Section 7. Penalty.
3 Any recipient of a grant as described in section 3 that fails
4 to satisfy the terms of the repayment schedule established by
5 the department shall until all grants are repaid be ineligible
6 to receive any State funds from any source. This penalty may be
7 waived by the Department of Community Affairs if the applicant
8 is deemed to be in a depressed area.
9 Section 8. Severability.
10 If any provision of this act or the application thereof to
11 any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity
12 shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act
13 which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
14 application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
15 declared to be severable.
16 Section 9. Effective date.
17 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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