Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund Self-Sufficiency Act of 1983

(Measure passed House, amended, roll call #36 (283-111))

Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund Self-Sufficiency Act of 1983 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (REA) to eliminate the requirement for a State certificate of convenience and necessity before the Administrator may make loans to provide rural telephone service.

Revises the liabilities and uses of the Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund established under REA to provide that notes of the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury to obtain funds for loans shall be equity capital of the Fund. States that assets of the Fund shall be available only for: (1) payment of interest and principal on loans to the Administrator from the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) for certificates of beneficial ownership issued to such Secretary or in the private market.

Requires the Administrator to maintain two separate accounts within the fund: (1) the Electrification Account; and (2) the Telephone Account. Lists the items that shall be accounted for in each Account respectively, and restricts the purposes for which the assets of each Account shall be available.

Authorizes the Administrator, after Federal Financing Bank approval, to repurchase specified certificates of beneficial ownership under certain conditions affecting their interest rates. Establishes guidelines for interest-bearing insured loans made by the Administrator to electric and telephone borrowers, including the requirement that interest rates shall be high enough to provide income in excess of anticipated interest expenses.

Requires the Administrator to establish a reserve in each of the two accounts to cover the cost of such insured loans. States that if such reserves are inadequate to cover such cost the Secretary of Agriculture shall request the necessary funds in his next budget request.

Requires the Administrator to review a borrower's loan eligibility every five years.

Directs the Administrator to: (1) guarantee loans to specified borrowers or to accommodate or subordinate liens or mortgages held in the Fund, according to prescribed rules and regulations; and (2) promulgate such rules and regulations within 90 days after the effective date of this Act.

Prescribes guidelines under which certain lenders are authorized to adjust interest rates on loans guaranteed by the Administrator.

Requires rural electrification borrowers to obtain concurrent supplemental financing according to prescribed guidelines in any fiscal year in which the minimum loan level for insured rural electrification loans is less than $1,000,000,000.

Repeals certain provisions governing the loan-making authority of the Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank which require approval by the Secretary of Agriculture of facilities or lines to be acquired with such loans. Eliminates loan restrictions placed upon potential borrowers whose net worth exceeds their assets by twenty percent.