(a) For the purposes of carrying out this chapter, the Director of Finance may authorize the withdrawal from the General Fund of an amount not to exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that have been authorized by the Higher Education Facilities Finance Committee to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this chapter. Any amounts withdrawn shall be deposited in the 1998 Higher Education Capital Outlay Bond Fund consistent with this chapter. Any money made available under this section shall be returned to the General Fund, plus an amount equal to the interest that the money would have earned in the Pooled Money Investment Account, from proceeds received from the sale of bonds for the purpose of carrying out this chapter.

(b) Any request forwarded to the Legislature and the Department of Finance for funds from this bond issue for expenditure for the purposes described in this chapter by the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges shall be accompanied by the five-year capital outlay plan. Requests forwarded by a university or college shall include a schedule that prioritizes the seismic retrofitting needed to significantly reduce, by the 2002–03 fiscal year, in the judgment of the particular university or college, seismic hazards in buildings identified as high priority by the university or college. Requests forwarded by the California Community Colleges shall be accompanied by a five-year capital outlay plan reflecting the needs and priorities of the community college system, prioritized on a statewide basis.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 407, Sec. 16. Approved in Proposition 1A at the November 3, 1998, election.)