(a) Notwithstanding any other law, local agencies and school districts that are statutorily authorized to acquire goods, information technology, and related services pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10298 of the Public Contract Code and subdivision (b) of Section 10299 of the Public Contract Code, respectively, are eligible to use the preapproved lenders participating in the GS $Mart Program.

(b) A local agency or school district using the preapproved lenders participating in the GS $Mart Program may arrange for consulting services to be provided by the department, at current state price book rates, in order to facilitate the local agency or school district’s financing of the assets authorized herein without further competitive bidding.

(c) For tax-exempt financings, a local agency or school district shall engage independent counsel in order to obtain an opinion confirming that the assets qualify for tax-exempt financing. The local agency or school district shall be solely responsible for compliance with any rules or laws necessary to maintain the tax-exempt status of those financings. The State of California and the GS $Mart Program shall not have any responsibilities related to the tax exemption of financings authorized in this section.

(d) Neither the State of California nor the GS $Mart Program shall be liable for or incur any financial responsibility in connection with any financing by a local agency or school district described in this section. Any such financing by a local agency or school district shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Not be a financial obligation or debt of the State of California.

(2) Be made on the basis of the credit worthiness and rating of the local agency or school district with repayment obligations being the sole responsibility of the local agency or school district.

(3) Not be characterized or use terms directly or indirectly indicating it is a financing pursuant to the GS $Mart Program.

(e) Any financing authorized in this section by a local agency or school district shall be done on terms and conditions that set forth the provisions of this section. Those provisions shall be set forth in any request to lenders for quotes and in any contractual arrangements related to the financings authorized in this section.

(f) The department shall include in the report required by subdivision (d) of Section 14934 a summary of financings made pursuant to this section that includes the following information for each financing facilitated by the department during the preceding fiscal year:

(1) The name of the local agency or school district that entered into the financing.

(2) The amount of the financing.

(3) The term of each financing.

(4) A description of the goods, information technology, and related services financed.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 29, Sec. 102. (SB 82) Effective June 27, 2019.)