Amendment #421 to H3400
Small Business Capital Improvement Program
Mr. Durant of Spencer moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:
"SECTION XXXX. Chapter 62 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6N, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, the following section:-
Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
“Commissioner”, the commissioner of revenue.
“Department”, the department of revenue.
“Eligibility statement”, a statement authorized and issued by the department certifying that a given project is a qualified project. The department shall, in consultation with the commissioner, promulgate regulations establishing criteria upon which the eligibility statements will be issued. The eligibility statement shall specify the maximum annual amount of the Massachusetts Small Business Express program. The department shall only authorize the tax credits to qualified projects which are placed in service on or after January 1, 2016.
“Small Business”, a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporate trust, corporation or other business, including its affiliates that is: (i) independently owned and operated, (ii) not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on government contracts, (iii) qualifies as a small business under the criteria and size standards of the Small Business Administration regulations and (iv) is under 500 employees in the manufacturing and mining industries or under100 employees for all wholesale trade industries or does under $6 million of business annually for retail and service industries or does under $28.5 million of business annually for general & heavy construction industries or does under $12 million of business annually for all special trade contractors and under $0.75 million of business for agricultural industries
(b)(1) There shall be a Massachusetts Small Business Express program established for the purpose of establishing matching grants for small businesses capital projects. The department may authorize annually under this section together with section 38GG of chapter 63 the total sum of: (i) $5,000,000; (ii) unused Massachusetts Small Business Express program funds, if any, for the preceding calendar years; and (iii) Massachusetts Small Business Express program funds returned to the department by a qualified project.
(2) Unless otherwise provided in this section or the context clearly requires otherwise, the department shall authorize, administer, and determine eligibility for the Massachusetts Small Business Express program.
(3) The department shall allocate the total available Massachusetts Small Business Express program funds among as many qualified projects as fiscally feasible, with the goal of increasing employment in the Commonwealth.
(c)The commissioner or the department, through the promulgation of regulations, may require the filing of additional documentation necessary to determine the eligibility or accuracy of the program claimed under the provisions of this section.
(d) The department, in consultation with the commissioner, shall monitor and oversee compliance with the Massachusetts Small Business Express program and may promulgate regulations requiring the filing of additional documentation deemed necessary to determine continuing eligibility for the Massachusetts Small Business Express program. The department or the commissioner shall report specific occurrences of noncompliance to appropriate state, federal and local authorities.
(e) The department may pursue methods of enhancing the efficiency of the Massachusetts Small Business Express program including but not limited to: pursuing opinions from the United States department of treasury's internal revenue service in the form of general counsel memoranda, private letter rulings and other notices, rulings or guidelines; by reviewing other state programs which utilize an option for small businesses to receive such payments; and any other such methods.