Sec. 19. Existing rights and obligations. This Act may not in any way impair the contractual rights or obligations, existing on the effective date of this Act, of the Maine Educational Loan Authority or its bondholders or the nonprofit corporation formed under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 11407 and the former Title 20, section 2237 or its bondholders. This Act may not be construed to affect the exclusion from gross income of interest on any bonds that were issued by either the Maine Educational Loan Authority or the nonprofit corporation formed under Title 20-A, section 11407 and former Title 20, section 2237 prior to the effective date of this Act.

Sec. 20. Retroactivity. Those sections of this Act that enact the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 10, section 363, subsection 8, paragraph B-1 and Title 20-A, section 11407, subsection 2 are retroactive to July 15, 2000.

Sec. 21. Repeal of the Maine Revised Statutes, section 2237. Upon the repeal of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20, section 2237, any nonprofit corporation organized at the request of the Governor pursuant to that section is deemed to have been organized at the request of the Governor pursuant to Title 20-A, section 11407.

FISCAL NOTE

The State Planning Office within the Executive Department will incur some minor additional costs to conduct an annual economic analysis. These costs can be absorbed within the office's existing budgeted resources.

The additional costs associated with serving as a member of the group of representatives responsible for recommendations regarding the allocation of state ceilings can be absorbed by the Department of Economic and Community Development utilizing existing budgeted resources.

The Finance Authority of Maine will realize some minor savings from no longer being required to conduct an annual survey of the State's pulp and paper companies.