Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the reappointment of former State Representative Carla Nelson to the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority. 

Nelson, of Rochester, is currently employed by the Olmsted Financial Group.  From 2003 to 2004, she was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.  While in the legislature, Nelson was a member of the higher education finance, education policy, and metropolitan and government affairs committees. 

House Speaker Steve Sviggum appointed Nelson to the Education Commission of the States.  Nelson has also served on the education committee of the National Council of State Legislatures, the education committee of the Council of State Government, and the commerce and economic development committee of the American and Legislative Exchange Council. 

From 1998 to 2000, Nelson was a reading teacher at Willow Creek Middle School in Rochester.  From 1992 to 1998, she worked as a Title One teacher at Holmes Elementary School in Rochester. 

Nelson has a significant record of community service.  She has been a board member of the Greater Rochester Area University Center and a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee to the University of Minnesota Extension.  In January 2005, Governor Pawlenty appointed Nelson to the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board.  

Nelson has also served on the government affairs committee of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the board of directors of Rochester Junior Achievement, and the board of directors of the Rochester Music Guild. 

Nelson received a B.S. in education from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and a M.S. in education and teacher leadership from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.  She is appointed as a member of the Authority for a four-year term ending January 5, 2009.  Nelson replaces Carol Blomberg on the Authority.   

Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority (HEFA) was created by the state legislature in 1971 to assist nonprofit institutions of higher education within the state in financing or refinancing capital construction projects by issuing tax-exempt revenue bonds. Beginning in Fiscal Year 1988, the legislature also asked that the Authority finance limited types of projects at certain public higher education institutions. The Authority receives no General Fund tax dollars or any other legislative funding. The operating funds come from fees charged to the institutions that benefit from tax-exempt bonds. 

The Authority has access to capital improvement funds only through borrowing directly. When a higher education institution needs funds for capital improvements, the Authority is able to provide more favorable interest rates because of its status as a government entity. Since the Authority is an agency of the state, the interest paid by the institution to the bondholders is exempt from both state and federal income taxes. The Authority has no liability to repay the bondholders.

The Authority is authorized to have a maximum total of $800 million outstanding bond principal.  In Fiscal Year 2004, the Authority completed four financings for a total of $59 million.  In total, twenty-one nonprofit, post-secondary institutions in Minnesota have utilized the program of the Authority and realized interest savings on financing their capital improvements.

The Authority operates under a board of ten members, eight of whom are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the State Senate. A representative of the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office and the President of the Minnesota Private College Council are the two ex-officio members of the Authority.