Pennsylvania Act 1933-52 (session 1) — VETERANS' COMPENSATION BONDS ISSUED

Act text

VETERANS' COMPENSATION BONDS ISSUED
     Act of Jan. 5, (1934) 1933, Special Session 1, P.L. 219, No. 52  Cl. 51
                      Special Session No. 1 of 1933
                               No. 1933-52

                                  AN ACT

     Authorizing the issue and sale of bonds by the Commonwealth of
        Pennsylvania for the payment of compensation to certain
        veterans; creating a special fund in the State Treasury to be
        known as the Veterans' Compensation Fund; defining the powers
        and duties of the Governor, the Auditor General, the State
        Treasurer and the Board of Finance and Revenue, in relation
        thereto; and providing for the payment of interest on, and
        the redemption of, such bonds; and making an appropriation.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That an amendment to article
     nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, which reads as
     follows:
        "Section 16.  In addition to the purposes stated in article
     nine, section four of this Constitution, the State may be
     authorized by law to create debt and to issue bonds, to the
     amount of fifty millions of dollars, for the payment of
     compensation to certain persons from this State who served in
     the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States during the
     war between the United States and Spain, between the twenty-
     first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight,
     and the thirteenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and
     ninety-eight or who served in the China Relief Expedition, in
     the Philippines or Guam, between the twenty-first day of April,
     one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and the fourth day
     of July, one thousand nine hundred and two, or who served in the
     Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States during the
     World War, between the sixth day of April, one thousand nine
     hundred and seventeen, and the eleventh day of November, one
     thousand nine hundred and eighteen," having been adopted by the
     people at the municipal election in November, one thousand nine
     hundred and thirty-three, the Governor, the Auditor General, and
     the State Treasurer, in accordance with the provisions thereof,
     and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, are hereby
     authorized and directed, during the fiscal biennium beginning
     June first, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three, from
     time to time, to borrow, on the credit of the Commonwealth of
     Pennsylvania, such sum or sums of money, not exceeding in the
     aggregate the sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), as may
     be found necessary to carry out the purposes of said amendment
     and statutes passed in conformity therewith.
        Section 2.  Bonds--Issue, Maturity, Interest, Et Cetera.--
        (a)  As evidence of the indebtedness herein authorized, bonds
     of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall be issued, from time
     to time, for such total amounts, in such form, in such
     denominations, and subject to such terms and conditions of
     issue, redemption and maturity, not to exceed thirty years, rate
     of interest, not to exceed four and one-half per centum per
     annum, and time of payment of interest as the Governor, Auditor
     General, and State Treasurer shall direct.
        (b)  All bonds issued under the authority of this act shall
     bear the facsimile signatures of the Governor, Auditor General,
     and State Treasurer, and a facsimile of the great seal of the
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and shall be countersigned by two
     duly authorized officers of the duly authorized loan and
     transfer agent of the Commonwealth.
        (c)  The principal and interest of such bonds shall be
     payable in lawful money of the United States. All bonds issued
     under the provisions of this act shall be exempt from taxation
     for State and local purposes.
        (d)  Such bonds may be issued with or without interest
     coupons attached. In case interest coupons are attached, they
     shall contain facsimile signatures of the State Treasurer and
     the Auditor General.
        (e)  The Governor, the Auditor General, and the State
     Treasurer shall proceed to have the necessary bonds prepared and
     printed. The bonds, as soon as they are prepared and printed,
     shall be forthwith deposited with the duly authorized loan and
     transfer agent of the Commonwealth, there to remain until sold
     in accordance with the provisions of this act.
        Section 3.  Sale of Bonds.--Whenever bonds are so issued,
     they shall be offered for sale at not less than par and accrued
     interest, and shall be sold by the Governor, the Auditor
     General, and State Treasurer to the highest and best bidder or
     bidders, after due public advertisement, on such terms and
     conditions and upon such open competitive bidding as the
     Governor, Auditor General, and State Treasurer shall direct. The
     manner and character of such advertisement, and the times of
     advertising, shall be prescribed by the Governor, the Auditor
     General, and the State Treasurer.
        Any portion of any bond issue, so offered and not sold or
     subscribed for, may be disposed of by private sale by the
     Governor, the Auditor General, and the State Treasurer, in such
     manner and at such prices, not less than par and accrued
     interest, as the Governor shall direct. No commission shall be
     allowed or paid for the sale of any bonds issued under the
     authority of this act.
        Section 4.  Disposition and Use of Proceeds.--The proceeds
     realized from the sale of bonds under the provisions of this
     act, and such other moneys as the General Assembly shall, from
     time to time, appropriate for like purposes, shall be paid into
     a special fund in the State Treasury, hereby created, to be
     known as the Veterans' Compensation Fund, and shall be used for
     the payment of compensation to certain veterans as provided for
     in the constitutional amendment hereinbefore cited and in
     legislation passed in conformity therewith.
        Section 5.  Registration of Bonds.--The Auditor General shall
     prepare the necessary registry books, to be kept in the office
     of the duly authorized loan and transfer agent of the
     Commonwealth, for the registration of any bonds at the request
     of owners thereof. All bonds which are issued without interest
     coupons attached shall be registered in the registry books kept
     by the duly authorized loan and transfer agent of the
     Commonwealth.
        Section 6.  Information to General Assembly.--It shall be the
     duty of the Governor to include in every biennial budget
     submitted to the General Assembly full information relating to
     the issuance of bonds under the provisions of this act to enable
     the General Assembly to provide, by appropriation, the moneys
     necessary for the sinking fund of the Commonwealth for the
     payment of the interest on said bonds and the principal thereof
     at maturity.
        Section 7.  Special Fund; Investments; Redemption of Bonds.--
     All bonds issued under the authority of this act shall be
     redeemed at maturity, and all interest due from time to time on
     such bonds shall be paid, from the Veterans' Compensation
     Sinking Fund. For specific purpose of redeeming said bonds at
     maturity and paying all interest thereon in accordance with the
     information received from the Governor, the General Assembly
     shall appropriate biennially the moneys necessary for the
     payment of the interest on said bonds and the principal thereof
     at maturity. All moneys so appropriated shall be paid into the
     Veterans' Compensation Sinking Fund by the State Treasurer, and
     all of such moneys not necessary to pay accruing interest shall
     be invested by the Board of Finance and Revenue in such
     securities as are provided by law for the investment of the
     sinking funds of the Commonwealth.
        The Board of Finance and Revenue is authorized at any time to
     use any of the moneys in the Veterans' Compensation Fund, not
     necessary for the payment of compensation to veterans in
     accordance with the provisions of the constitutional amendment
     hereinbefore cited and the legislation passed in conformity
     therewith, for the purchase and retirement of all or any part of
     the bonds issued under the authority of this act. In the event
     that all or any part of said bonds shall be purchased by the
     Board of Finance and Revenue, they shall be canceled and
     returned to the State Treasurer as canceled and paid bonds and
     thereafter all payments of interest thereon shall cease; and the
     canceled bonds and coupons shall be destroyed within two years
     after cancellation in the presence of the Governor, the Auditor
     General, and the State Treasurer, and a certificate evidencing
     the destruction, satisfactory to the duly authorized loan and
     transfer agent of the Commonwealth, shall be furnished to it.
     All canceled bonds and coupons shall be so marked as to make the
     canceled bonds and coupons nonnegotiable.
        Section 7.1.  Whenever the State Treasurer shall have paid to
     the loan and transfer agent sufficient moneys from the Veterans'
     Compensation Sinking Fund to redeem all the bonds issued
     pursuant to this act, and the interest thereon, and upon
     certification of this fact by the State Treasurer to the
     Governor and upon certification by the Adjutant General to the
     Governor that all applications for compensation filed with him
     on or before July 1, 1948, have been fully considered and that
     all compensation payable under the act of January 5, 1934 (1933-
     34 P.L.223), amended February 19, 1945 (P.L.3), known as the
     "Veterans' Compensation Act," has been paid, the balance, if
     any, in the Veterans' Compensation Fund shall be transferred to
     the General Fund.
        (7.1 added Feb. 9, 1961, P.L.5, No.4)
        Section 8.  Present Biennium Requirements.--The Board of
     Finance and Revenue shall determine the amount of money
     necessary for the payment of interest on the bonds and the
     principal thereof, if any, for the two fiscal years beginning
     June first, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three, and the
     times and amounts of such payments; and the amount so determined
     shall be transferred from the Veterans' Compensation Fund to the
     Veterans' Compensation Sinking Fund, and, for such purpose, as
     much of the money in the Veterans' Compensation Fund as may be
     necessary is hereby appropriated. Should the moneys in the
     Veterans' Compensation Fund for any reason not be available for
     the payment of interest on the bonds or the principal thereof,
     if any, the funds necessary for such purpose are hereby
     appropriated from the General Fund; and whenever any moneys are
     transferred from the Veterans' Compensation Fund for the payment
     of said interest on, and principal of, said bonds, and such
     moneys are needed for the payment of compensation to veterans as
     provided by law, there is hereby appropriated from the General
     Fund a sum sufficient to restore to the Veterans' Compensation
     Fund the moneys so transferred.
        Section 9.  Quorum.--Whenever in this act any action is to be
     taken or decision made by the Governor, the Auditor General, and
     the State Treasurer, and the three officers shall not be able
     unanimously to agree, the action or decision of the Governor and
     either the Auditor General or State Treasurer shall be binding
     and final, except that it shall be the mandatory duty of the
     Governor, the Auditor General, and the State Treasurer to issue
     bonds, in accordance with the constitutional amendment quoted in
     the first section of this act, in such time that payment of
     compensation to veterans, as provided for in said constitutional
     amendment and legislation passed in conformity therewith, may be
     made upon the establishment of the qualifications of those
     entitled thereto.