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Senate passes life-science tax-credit package; Tax Commission asks for technical fix
Summary
Senators approved a Technology and Life Science Economic Development Act that creates new tax credits and an administrative appropriation for GOED, then reconsidered the measure to allow an amendment requested by the Tax Commission to change mandatory rulemaking language to permissive language.
Senator Bramble presented second substitute House Bill 4 96, the Technology and Life Science Economic Development Act, saying it "enacts a nonrefundable income tax credit for certain capital gains transactions related to life science establishments" and also establishes refundable credits tied to increased state tax revenue. The sponsor told the Senate the bill includes an administrative appropriation to the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) to manage the program.
Floor discussion noted a fiscal note and an initial allocation to GOED for administration: the sponsor cited a fiscal note of about $1,500,000 and indicated $200,000 was directed to GOED to administer tax-credit applications for the 2011'12 year, with a certificate-issuance cap of $1,300,000 for that fiscal year.
Senators debated the bill's role in economic development and urged timely administration; the Senate read the bill under suspension of the rules and recorded passage. Shortly afterward, Senator Bramble asked to reconsider because the Tax Commission notified staff that mandatory rulemaking language needed to be permissive (change a statutory "shall" to "may"). The body agreed to reconsider and awaited the Tax Commission amendment before final enrollment.
Next steps: Sponsors are preparing a corrective amendment requested by the Tax Commission; the Senate will amend before final enrollment and return the enrolled version to the House for signatures.
