ARTICLE 4

RELATING TO DEBT MANAGEMENT ACT JOINT RESOLUTIONS

     SECTION 1. This article shall serve as joint resolution required pursuant to Rhode Island

General Law § 35-18-1, et seq. and propose legislation related thereto.

     SECTION 2. Section 2, Article 6 of Chapter 88 of the 2019 Public Laws is hereby amended

to read as follows:

     Section 2. University of Rhode Island – Memorial Union – Auxiliary Enterprise

     WHEREAS, The Council on Postsecondary Education and the University have a long-

standing commitment to the overall development of their students; and

     WHEREAS, The University believes that the Memorial Union celebrates life at URI and

acts as the nexus for campus community, student engagement, and leadership. It is an intersection

connecting the academic core of campus and the campus’s socially active residential community.

The student union at the University is an integral part of the educational ecosystem that shapes the

student experience; and

     WHEREAS, The Council on Postsecondary Education and the University of Rhode Island

are proposing a project which involves the renovation and expansion of the Memorial Union to

meet the ongoing and growing needs of their students; and

     WHEREAS, The University engaged a qualified architectural firm, which has completed

an advanced planning study for this renovation; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Public Corporation Debt Management Act requires the

General Assembly to provide its consent to the issuance or incurring by the State of Rhode Island

and other public agencies of certain obligations including financing guarantees or other agreements;

and

     WHEREAS, The design and construction associated with this work of an Auxiliary

Enterprise building will be financed through the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building

Corporation (RIHEBC) revenue bonds, with an expected term of thirty (30) years; and

     WHEREAS, The total project costs associated with completion of the project through the

proposed financing method is fifty-one million five hundred thousand dollars ($51,500,000) fifty-

seven million six hundred thousand dollars ($57,600,000), including cost of issuance. Debt service

payments would be supported by revenues derived from student fees and retail lease payments

associated with the respective Auxiliary Enterprises of the University of Rhode Island occupying

said facility. Total debt service on the bonds is not expected to exceed one hundred twelve million

three hundred thousand dollars ($112,300,000) one hundred twenty-five million six hundred

thousand dollars ($125,600,000) in the aggregate based on an average interest rate of six (6%)

percent; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to

exceed fifty-one million five hundred thousand dollars ($51,500,000) fifty-seven million six

hundred thousand dollars ($57,600,000) for the Memorial Union project for the auxiliary enterprise

building on the University of Rhode Island campus; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Joint Resolution shall take effect upon passage.

     SECTION 3. Section 4, Article 6 of Chapter 88 of the 2019 Public Laws is hereby amended

to read as follows:

     Section 4. University of Rhode Island – Combined Health & Counseling Center – Auxiliary

Enterprise

     WHEREAS, The Council on Postsecondary Education and the University have a long-

standing commitment to the health and wellness of their students; and

     WHEREAS, The University has a desire to create a one-stop center to address the physical,

emotional, and mental health of its students; and

     WHEREAS, The Council on Postsecondary Education and the University of Rhode Island

are proposing a project which involves the construction of a new Combined Health & Counseling

Center to meet the ongoing and growing health needs of their students; and

     WHEREAS, The University engaged a qualified architectural firm, which has completed

an advanced planning study for this new building; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Public Corporation Debt Management Act requires the

General Assembly to provide its consent to the issuance or incurring by the State of Rhode Island

and other public agencies of certain obligations including financing guarantees or other agreements;

and

     WHEREAS, The design and construction associated with this work of an Auxiliary

Enterprise building will be financed through the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building

Corporation (RIHEBC) revenue bonds, with an expected term of thirty (30) years; and

     WHEREAS, The total project costs associated with completion of the project through the

proposed financing method is twenty-six nine hundred thousand dollars ($26,900,000) twenty-nine

million dollars ($29,000,000), including cost of issuance. Debt service payments would be

supported by revenues derived from student fees associated with the respective Auxiliary

Enterprises of the University of Rhode Island occupying said facility. Total debt service on the

bonds is not expected to exceed fifty-eight million seven hundred thousand dollars ($58,700,000)

sixty-three million three hundred thousand dollars ($63,300,000) in the aggregate based on an

average interest rate of six (6%) percent; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to

exceed twenty-six million nine hundred thousand dollars ($26,900,000) twenty-nine million dollars

($29,000,000) for the Combined Health & Counseling Center project for the auxiliary enterprise

building on the University of Rhode Island campus; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That, this Joint Resolution shall take effect upon passage.

     SECTION 4. Section 5, Article 16 of Chapter 47 of the 2018 Public Laws is hereby

amended to read as follows:

     Section 5. Eleanor Slater Hospital Project-Regan Building Renovation

     WHEREAS, The Eleanor Slater Hospital (the "Hospital") provides long-term acute care

and post-acute care for approximately two hundred twenty (220) individuals with complex

psychiatric and medical needs on two campuses - Pastore and Zambarano; and

     WHEREAS, The Hospital is licensed by the Rhode Island Department of Health

("RIDOH") and accredited triennially by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care

Organizations ("JCAHO") that enables it to bill Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurances

for the care it provides; and

     WHEREAS, The revenue the Hospital can bill Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers

approximates $55.0 million annually; and

     WHEREAS, On the Pastore campus the patients who have psychiatric needs are currently

in three buildings (Pinel, Regan and Adolph Meyer) that are older buildings that have not been

updated in many years; and

     WHEREAS, In January 2017, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS")

published new standards designed to address the increased number of suicides and suicide attempts

in hospitals; such standards required significant renovations to reduce ligature risks on inpatient

psychiatric units; and

     WHEREAS, In September 2017, JCAHO performed its triennial survey, identified

significant ligature risks at the Pinel and the Adolph Meyer Buildings and as a result, gave the

Hospital a rating of Immediate Threat to Life, requiring it to submit a long-term plan to address the

ligature risks in both buildings; and

     WHEREAS, The Pinel and the Adolph Meyer Buildings currently do not meet JCAHO

and CMS requirements and a loss of accreditation for not meeting the submitted plan could lead to

the loss of approximately $55.0 million in federal Medicaid match; and

     WHEREAS, The Hospital submitted to JCAHO a plan to renovate the Benton Center and

the Regan Building, and to close the Pinel and Adolph Meyer Buildings, thus enabling it to achieve

full accreditation; and

     WHEREAS, A renovation of the existing Pinel and Adolph Meyer Buildings would not be

financially beneficial due to the magnitude of renovations that would need to be performed on these

buildings to allow the Hospital to achieve full accreditation; and

     WHEREAS, The renovation of the Benton Center will be completed in June 2018, utilizing

Rhode Island Capital Plan Fund financing, enabling the Hospital to close the Pinel Building and 2

units in the Adolph Meyer Building and relocate approximately forty-five (45) psychiatric patients

to Benton; and

     WHEREAS, This will leave approximately fifty (50) to fifty-five (55) psychiatric patients

remaining in the Adolph Meyer Building; and

     WHEREAS, There are significant ligature risks that exist in Adolph Meyer and the current

size of the units are twelve (12) to fifteen (15) beds sizes that are too small to be efficient in

hospitals, while the size of the patient care units in Regan are twenty-four (24) to twenty-eight (28)

beds - more typical of patient care units today; and

     WHEREAS, Closing inefficient units in the Adolph Meyer Building will enable the

Hospital to reduce operating costs and address the deficiencies cited by the JCAHO; and

     WHEREAS, There are currently three (3) floors in the Regan Building that can house

patients, one that is vacant, one currently with twenty-eight (28) psychiatric patients, and another

with currently seventeen (17) medical patients; and whereas a fourth floor can be renovated into an

inpatient unit; and

     WHEREAS, To accommodate the remaining psychiatric patients in the Adolph Meyer

Building, three (3) floors would require extensive renovations to meet the current building

standards for psychiatric inpatient units, including requirements for ligature resistant features,

program areas, step down areas, quiet rooms, restraint rooms and private rooms that currently do

not exist in the Regan or the Adolph Meyer Buildings; and

     WHEREAS, The renovated facility would have a total of one hundred five (105) beds with

larger inpatient units and program space within the units, thus enabling the Hospital to reduce

operating costs and develop programs to assist patients in their recovery and ultimate discharge;

and

     WHEREAS, Due to its age, the Regan Building requires significant infrastructure upgrades

including: elevator replacement, masonry and window leak repair, and a partial roof replacement

with an estimated total cost of nine million dollars ($9,000,000)In order to accommodate patients

relocating from Adolph Meyer to the 6th floor of Regan, significant ligature risk remediation work

needs to be performed with an estimated total cost of seven million and nine hundred thousand

dollars ($7,900,000); and

     WHEREAS, The capital costs associated with this project are estimated to be forty-nine

million, eight hundred fifty thousand dollars ($49,850,000). This includes $27,850,000 from the

Rhode Island Capital Plan Fund for the renovation of the Benton and Regan Buildings and

$22,000,000 from the issuance of Certificates of Participation to finance the Regan Building

renovations and other improvements to Eleanor Slater Hospital facilities. The total issuance would

be $22,000,000, with total lease payments over fifteen (15) years on the $22,000,000 issuance

projected to be $32,900,000, assuming an average coupon of five percent (5.0%). The lease

payments would be financed within the Department of Administration from general revenue

appropriations; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That a renovation of the Regan Building as part of Eleanor Slater Hospital,

is critical to provide patients with an environment that meets current building standards for

psychiatric hospitals and to meet CMS and JCAHO accreditation requirements; and be it further

     RESOLVED, This General Assembly hereby approves the issuance of certificates of

participation in an amount not to exceed $22,000,000 for the renovation of the Regan Building,

part of the Eleanor Slater Hospital and new construction of various facilities of the Eleanor Slater

Hospital system, including Regan, Benton, Mathias and Adolph Meyer Buildings on the Pastore

Campus, Beazley Building on the Zambarano campus, and newly constructed facilities as may be

determined to best address present and future public healthcare service needs; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall apply to bonds issued within five (5) years of

the date of passage of this resolution; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall take effect upon passage by this General

Assembly.

     SECTION 5. Eleanor Slater Hospital Zambarano Campus Transformation

     WHEREAS, The Zambarano facility (“Zambarano”) of Eleanor Slater Hospital provides

mental and physical healthcare services to people with varied care and treatment needs on its

Zambarano campus (“Zambarano”) located in Burrillville; and

     WHEREAS, The healthcare services provided at Zambarano are unique in Rhode Island;

and

     WHEREAS, The healthcare services provided at Zambarano include services that are

critical to the health, safety, and wellness of Rhode Islanders; and

     WHEREAS, The Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and

Hospitals (“Department”) projects that there will be a sustained need in Rhode Island’s healthcare

system for services that will not be easily accommodated by private healthcare providers; and

     WHEREAS, The State has an obligation to ensure that all Rhode Islanders can receive

healthcare that is appropriate to their needs at the exact time they require it; and

     WHEREAS, Support of individual freedom and integration within the community is a core

principle of healthcare delivery today and has guided the Department’s strategy for ensuring that

all Rhode Islanders will receive care in the least-restrictive setting appropriate for their needs; and

     WHEREAS, Hospital-based settings are considered restrictive, in that they do not afford

their patients independence over their affairs to the maximum extent appropriate even though

hospital settings are a critical piece of Rhode Island’s healthcare system; and

     WHEREAS, Healthcare settings that are less restrictive should be preferred over more

restrictive settings in all cases when clinically appropriate; and

     WHEREAS, The least-restrictive setting appropriate for present and future patients of

Zambarano is assessed by the Department to be a facility that allows for the delivery of skilled

nursing facility services, custodial care nursing facility services, intensive care facility services,

traumatic brain injury facility services, and other services that may enable the Department to

provide healthcare in the least-restrictive and most therapeutically appropriate possible setting for

individuals who otherwise cannot access healthcare at their level of need; and

     WHEREAS, Healthcare facilities are required by their accrediting bodies to adhere to

certain standards regarding patient and staff safety, cleanliness, ventilation, efficiency, and other

factors essential to the delivery of healthcare; and

     WHEREAS, A modern healthcare facility is necessary to provide present and future

patients at Zambarano with the highest quality healthcare; and

     WHEREAS, Facilities on the Zambarano campus include 307,000 square feet of space

across 32 buildings; and

     WHEREAS, Of the buildings on the Zambarano campus, only the Beazley Building,

formerly called the Wallum Lake Administration Building, is occupied by patients receiving care

at the Hospital; and

     WHEREAS, Construction of the Beazley Building was completed in 1938; and

     WHEREAS, The condition of the Beazley Building has deteriorated despite renovations

undertaken over the course of its use as a state healthcare facility; and

     WHEREAS, The Beazley Building has aged past the point at which renovation of the

building is considered practical; and

     WHEREAS, Constructing a new healthcare facility on the Zambarano campus has been

deemed more practical than renovating the Beazley Building according to the assessment

undertaken by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance; and

     WHEREAS, Construction of a new facility on the Zambarano campus will allow patients

receiving healthcare at Zambarano today to continue to receive healthcare at Zambarano with

minimal interruption to their care; and

     WHEREAS, The Beazley Building was not designed to provide the services that the

Department has deemed are most critical for a state healthcare facility at Zambarano to provide,

namely skilled nursing facility services, custodial care nursing facility services, intensive care

facility services, and other services that may enable the Department to provide healthcare in the

least restrictive and most therapeutically appropriate possible setting for individuals who otherwise

cannot access healthcare at their level of need; and

     WHEREAS, Construction of a new facility allows the state to build a facility that more

closely reflects present and future assessed healthcare service needs; and

     WHEREAS, The capital costs associated with this project are estimated to be fifty-three

million, six hundred thousand dollars ($53,600,000), all of which will be dedicated to the

construction of a new facility at Zambarano. The total issuance would be fifty-three million six

hundred thousand dollars ($53,600,000), with total lease payments over fifteen (15) years on the

$53,600,000 issuance projected to be sixty-six million five hundred thousand dollars ($66,500,000)

assuming an estimated average interest rate of two and seventy-five hundredths percent (2.75%).

The payments would be financed within the department of administration from general revenue

appropriations; and

     RESOLVED, That construction of a new facility at Zambarano is necessary to provide

patients at Eleanor Slater Hospital with the highest quality treatment in the least restrictive setting

appropriate for their care; and be it further

     RESOLVED, This General Assembly hereby approves the issuance of certificates of

participation in an amount not to exceed fifty-three million six hundred thousand dollars

($53,600,000) for the construction of the new facility at Zambarano; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall apply to bonds issued within five (5) years of

the date of passage of this resolution; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall take effect upon passage by this General

Assembly.

     SECTION 6. DCYF Child Welfare Information System Replacement

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island department of children, youth, and families is a department

of the State of Rhode Island, exercising public and essential governmental functions of the State,

created by the General Assembly pursuant to chapter 72 of title 42; and

     WHEREAS, A new Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System would be a

comprehensive, automated case management tool that supports child welfare practice. This

information system would be a complete, current accurate and unified case management history of

all children and families served by Rhode Island’s Title IV-E. Such modern systems allow child

welfare agencies to respond more adeptly to changes in standards and practices, as well as provide

advanced analytics and data to ensure that children in care are kept safe; and

     WHEREAS, The current department of children, youth, and families Child Welfare

Information System (RICHIST) is over twenty two (22) years old and relies on dated technology

(Sybase with PowerBuilder). The system has been highly customized over the years and is difficult

to maintain. This technology, as set up today, impedes current child welfare practice through its

lack of configurability, lack of mobile access for workers in the field, and lack of access to real-

time information when making decisions impacting child placement and services. The system is

currently on premise supported by a vendor. This dated technology also makes it difficult to acquire

appropriate technical support to work on the system; and

     WHEREAS, The project costs associated with the replacement of RICHIST are estimated

to be twenty-eight million dollars ($28,000,000) and implementation costs would be shared by the

federal government at forty percent (40%) begin in fiscal year 2021.

     WHEREAS, The total payments on the State’s obligation over ten (10) years on the state’s

share of seventeen million dollars ($17,000,000) issuance are projected to be nineteen million seven

hundred thousand dollars ($19,700,000), assuming an estimated average interest rate of two and

seventy-five hundredths percent (2.75%). The payments would be financed within the department

of administration from general revenue appropriations; and

     WHEREAS, The department of children, youth, and families will be able to leverage

federal funding available to pay for forty percent (40%) of the system implementation costs during

development; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this general assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to

exceed seventeen million dollars ($17,000,000) for the provision of replacing the department of

children, youth, and families’ child welfare information system, including costs of financing; and

be it further

     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage by

the General Assembly.

     Section 7. This article shall take effect upon passage.