Relating to the lease of state property, and making appropriations

Under current law, the department of administrative services (DAS) may dispose of real property belonging to the state with the authorization of a constitutional majority of each house of the general assembly and approval by the governor. If the property is not on the capitol complex and the general assembly is not in session, DAS may instead dispose of the property with the approval of the legislative council and the governor. If the property belongs to another state agency with the express statutory power to dispose of the property, that agency must also approve the disposition. This bill provides that disposing of state property may include leasing the property to a religious organization for the construction of a building to be used for religious purposes. If the property had been purchased or acquired with appropriated moneys, any payments derived from the leasing of a state-owned property must be deposited with the treasurer of state and credited to the general fund of the state or the fund from which the moneys were appropriated. The bill appropriates from that same fund a sum equal to the deposited proceeds to be credited to the state agency that owns the leased property, in accordance with the procedures under current law for handling proceeds from the disposition of state-owned real property.