§1. Governmental Bonds and Loans.
(b) The maximum lawful rate of interest on loans made by or to governmental units in the State of Arkansas as set forth in Article 19, §13 of the Arkansas Constitution of 1874 is removed.
(c) Except as may be established by the General Assembly pursuant to Section 8 of this amendment, there shall be no maximum lawful rate on bonds issued by and loans made by or to governmental units.
§2. Loans by Federally Insured Depository Institutions.
The maximum lawful rate of interest, discount points, finance charges, or other similar charges that may be charged, taken, received, or reserved from time to time in any loan or financing transaction by or to any federally insured depository institution having its main office in this State shall be the maximum rate of interest that was applicable to federally insured depository institutions under 12 U.S.C. §1831u effective on March 1, 2009.§3. Other Loans.
The maximum lawful rate of interest on loans or contracts not described in Sections 1 and 2 shall not exceed seventeen percent (17%) per annum.§4. Energy Efficiency Project Bonds – Issuance – Terms and Conditions.
(b) Bonds may be secured by a pledge of the savings from the energy efficiency project and may be repaid from general revenues, special revenues, revenues derived from taxes or any other revenues available to the governmental unit.
(c) The authority conferred by this Section 4 shall be supplemental to other constitutional provisions which authorize the issuance of bonds.
§5. Definitions.
(b) The term “Federal Reserve Primary Credit Rate” means the Primary Credit Rate, or such successor rate, as established by and in effect in the Federal Reserve Bank in the Federal Reserve District in which Arkansas is located.
(c) The term “federally insured depository institution” means a state bank, a national bank, or a savings association, as such terms are defined in 12 U.S.C. §1813 as such statute existed on January 1, 2009, the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation, or its successor.
(d) The term “governmental unit” means the State of Arkansas; any county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision of the State of Arkansas; any special assessment or taxing district established under the laws of the State of Arkansas; and any agency, board, commission, or instrumentality of any of the foregoing.
(e) The term “loan or financing transaction by or to a federally insured depository institution” means all direct or indirect advances of funds and moneys that are conditioned on the obligation of a person or entity to repay the funds and moneys pursuant to loan agreements, lease agreements, installment sale agreements, security agreements, notes, bill of exchange, or other evidence of debt or other instruments or documents evidencing the indebtedness and are made by or to a federally insured depository institution.
(f) The term “loans made by or to governmental units” means all direct or indirect advances of funds and moneys that are conditioned on the obligation of a person or entity to repay the funds and moneys pursuant to loan agreements, lease agreements, installment sale agreements, security agreements, notes, or other instruments or documents evidencing the indebtedness and are made by or to governmental units.
§6. Miscellaneous.
(b) All contracts under Section 3 having a rate of interest in excess of the maximum lawful rate shall be void as to principal and interest and the General Assembly shall prohibit the same by law.
§7. [Ballot Title].
The ballot title for this amendment shall be:§8. [Interest Rate Limits].
Nothing in this amendment shall limit the power of the General Assembly to fix, from time to time, one or more interest rate limits on various types of bonds issued by and loans made by or to governmental units.§9. [Application of Amendment].
If this amendment or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the amendment and its application to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected.§10. [Amendment Provisions].
The provisions of this amendment, other than the provisions of Section 4 of this amendment, shall be self-executing.§11. [Three-fourths vote].
(b)
(B) Change capitalization for the purpose of uniformity;
(C) Correct manifest typographical and grammatical errors;
(D) Correct manifest errors in references to laws and other documents;
(E) Correct manifest errors in internal reference numbers;
(F) Number, renumber, redesignate, and rearrange the provisions of this amendment at issue;
(G) Change internal reference numbers to agree with renumbered sections, subsections, subdivisions, or other provisions of law;
(H) Insert or delete hyphens in words to follow correct grammatical usage;
(I) Change numerals or symbols to words or vice versa and add figures or words if they are merely repetitions of written words or vice versa for purposes of uniformity and style;
(J) Change the form of nouns, pronouns, and verbs for purposes of style and grammar;
(K) Correct punctuation; and
(L) Change gender-specific language to gender-neutral language.
(B) In the event that one (1) or more acts amending a provision of this amendment result in an irreconcilable conflict with one (1) or more acts amending a provision of this amendment enacted during the same session, the commission may, by a majority vote of the commission, revise this amendment so that the conflicting provision of the last enactment prevails.
(2) Includes the text of this amendment as amended by the revisions made under subsection (b) of this section.
