Bonds of the State of California shall be prepared, issued, and sold in the amount of three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000), in such denominations, to be numbered, to bear such dates, and to bear such rate of interest as shall be determined by the Legislature.
The proceeds of such bonds shall be used:
(a)
Subject to such legislation as the Legislature may, from time to time, enact, to provide loans and grants to school districts of the state for use in purchasing and improving school sites, the purchasing of furniture and equipment for schools, and the planning and constructing, reconstructing, repairing, altering, and making additions to, school
buildings.
(b)
Subject to such legislation as the Legislature may, from time to time, enact, to provide loans and grants to school districts for assistance in providing necessary housing and equipment for the education of individuals who have exceptional needs, as that term is defined in Section 56026 of the Education Code.
(c)
To pay the expenses that may be incurred in preparing, advertising, issuing, and selling the bonds, and in administering and directing the expenditure of the moneys realized from the sale of such bonds.
(d)
To repay, as provided by law, any money appropriated from the General Fund at the 1960 First Extraordinary Session for state school building aid.
The issuance, signing, countersigning, endorsing, and selling of the bonds herein provided for, and
the interest coupons thereon, the place and method of payment of principal and interest thereon, the procedure for initiating, advertising and holding sales thereof, and the performance by the several state boards and state officers of their respective duties in connection therewith; and all other provisions, terms, and conditions relating to the bonds, shall be as provided by the Legislature.
The Legislature may appropriate money to be expended in addition to or in lieu of the money received from the sale of the bonds sold under the authority of this section. The money so appropriated shall be expended pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section. If the Legislature appropriates money in lieu of the money received from the sale of the bonds, the total amount of bonds required to be sold pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount so appropriated.
The Legislature shall pass all laws, general or special, necessary
or convenient to carry into effect the provisions of this section. Such laws may provide for the allocation of funds to school districts pursuant to this section by the State Allocation Board or a similar agency. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, Members of the Legislature who are required to meet with such board shall have equal rights and duties with the nonlegislative members to vote and act upon matters pending before such board concerning this section or any other section of the Constitution or legislative act authorizing the allocation of funds to school districts for purposes the same or substantially the same as those enumerated in this section.
The Legislature shall require each district receiving an allocation of money from the sale of bonds pursuant to this section for the purposes prescribed in subdivision (a) of this section to repay such money to the state on such terms and in such amounts as may be within the ability of the
district to repay.
The Legislature may require each district receiving an allocation of money from the sale of bonds pursuant to this section for the purposes prescribed in subdivision (b) of this section to repay such money to the state on such terms and in such amounts as the Legislature deems proper.
The people of the State of California in adopting this section hereby declare that it is in the interests of the state and of the people thereof for the state to aid school districts of the state in providing necessary school sites and buildings for the pupils of the public school system, such system being a matter of general concern inasmuch as the education of the children of the state is an obligation and function of the state.