Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Higher Education Financing Healthcare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee lays over bill to let higher‑education conduit authority offer financing to nonprofit health providers
Summary
Senate File 1676 would expand the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority’s conduit bonding authority to allow nonprofit hospitals, clinics and nursing homes access to lower‑cost financing; the committee laid the bill over for possible omnibus inclusion.
Senate File 1676, presented by Senator Hoffman on April 3, would expand the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority’s (MHEFA) authority so nonprofit healthcare institutions — hospitals, nursing homes and clinics — could access conduit financing similar to that used by private colleges.
Barry Fick, executive director of the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority, told the committee the authority has issued 253 financings totaling more than $3.57 billion since 1972 and currently has roughly $1.2 billion outstanding for 17 private schools. ‘‘We function as a conduit borrower . . . we are not responsible for repayment, nor is the state responsible,’’ Fick said, and the fiscal note prepared by the authority shows no effect on the state budget because services are funded by borrower fees.
Senator Hoffman said the change would help community hospitals and long‑term‑care providers access lower‑cost financing for building projects, and he noted 14 other states already offer similar products to nonprofit healthcare institutions. Committee members had no objections; the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus measure.
