(a) There is created a body corporate and politic to be known as the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority, which shall be deemed to be an instrumentality of this state and a public corporation; and by that name, style, and title such body may contract and be contracted with, bring and defend actions, and implead and be impleaded. The authority shall consist of five members, as follows: three appointees of the Governor, one appointee of the Speaker of the House of Representatives who is a member of the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia, and one appointee of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate who is a member of the board of regents. The initial term of office of the Governor's appointees shall end on June 30, 2007. The initial term of office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives' appointee shall end on June 30, 2008. The initial term of office of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate's appointee shall end on June 30, 2009. After the expiration of these initial terms of office, the terms of office of all succeeding members shall be for three years. If, at the end of any term of office of any member, a successor thereto has not been appointed, the member whose term of office has expired shall continue to hold office until his or her successor is so appointed.

(b) The authority shall elect one of its members as chairperson and another as vice chairperson and a secretary and treasurer, who need not necessarily be a member of the authority. The majority of the members of the authority shall constitute a quorum. No vacancy on the authority shall impair the right of the quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the authority, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The members of the authority shall be entitled to and shall be reimbursed for their reasonable travel and expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties and shall receive the same per diem as do members of the General Assembly. The authority may hire staff or may have staff assigned from within the university system or from the Technical College System of Georgia for the purposes of carrying out the duties and responsibilities contained in this chapter, with compensation paid from resources available to the authority or the board of regents or the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia, as such boards and the authority may agree. The authority shall make bylaws for its own government. It shall have perpetual existence. Any change in name or composition of the authority shall in no way affect the vested rights of any person under the provisions of this chapter or impair the obligations of any contracts existing under this chapter.

(c) The authority is assigned to the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission for administrative purposes only as prescribed in Code Section 50-4-3.

(d) No member of the authority shall transact any business, as such term is defined in Code Section 45-10-20, with the state, the University System of Georgia or any of its institutions, or the Technical College System of Georgia or any of its institutions.