Substitute Senate Bill No. 801
Public Act No. 13-2
AN ACT MAKING MANUFACTURING ASSISTANCE ACT FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS EXPRESS PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 32-235 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) For the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section, the State Bond Commission shall have the power, from time to time to authorize the issuance of bonds of the state in one or more series and in principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate one billion fifteen million three hundred thousand dollars, provided one hundred forty million dollars of said authorization shall be effective July 1, 2011, and twenty million dollars of said authorization shall be made available for small business development. Two hundred eighty million dollars of said authorization shall be effective July 1, 2012, and forty million dollars of said authorization shall be made available for [small business development] the Small Business Express program established pursuant to section 32-7g and not more than twenty million dollars of said authorization may be made available for businesses that commit to relocating one hundred or more jobs that are outside of the United States to the state. Any amount of said authorizations that are made available for small business development or businesses that commit to relocating one hundred or more jobs that are outside of the United States to the state, but are not exhausted for such purpose by the first day of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which such amount was made available, shall be used for the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this subsection, a "small business" is one employing not more than one hundred employees.
(b) The proceeds of the sale of said bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Department of Economic and Community Development (1) for the purposes of sections 32-220 to 32-234, inclusive, including economic cluster-related programs and activities, and for the Connecticut job training finance demonstration program pursuant to sections 32-23uu and 32-23vv, provided (A) three million dollars shall be used by said department solely for the purposes of section 32-23uu and not more than five million two hundred fifty thousand dollars of the amount stated in said subsection (a) may be used by said department for the purposes of section 31-3u, (B) not less than one million dollars shall be used for an educational technology grant to the deployment center program and the nonprofit business consortium deployment center approved pursuant to section 32-41l, (C) not less than two million dollars shall be used by said department for the establishment of a pilot program to make grants to businesses in designated areas of the state for construction, renovation or improvement of small manufacturing facilities, provided such grants are matched by the business, a municipality or another financing entity. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall designate areas of the state where manufacturing is a substantial part of the local economy and shall make grants under such pilot program which are likely to produce a significant economic development benefit for the designated area, (D) five million dollars may be used by said department for the manufacturing competitiveness grants program, (E) one million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, for the purposes of subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of section 32-7f, (F) fifty million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of grants to the United States Department of the Navy, the United States Department of Defense or eligible applicants for projects related to the enhancement of infrastructure for long-term, on-going naval operations at the United States Naval Submarine Base-New London, located in Groton, which will increase the military value of said base. Such projects shall not be subject to the provisions of sections 4a-60 and 4a-60a, (G) two million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. , for manufacturing initiatives, including aerospace and defense, and (H) four million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to companies adversely impacted by the construction at the Quinnipiac Bridge, where such grant may be used to offset the increase in costs of commercial overland transportation of goods or materials brought to the port of New Haven by ship or vessel, [and] (2) for the purposes of the small business assistance program established pursuant to section 32-9yy, provided fifteen million dollars shall be deposited in the small business assistance account established pursuant to said section 32-9yy, [. The provisions of sections 32-220 to 32-234, inclusive, shall not apply to such funds authorized pursuant to this subdivision] and (3) to deposit twenty million dollars in the small business express assistance account established pursuant to section 32-7h.
(c) All provisions of section 3-20, or the exercise of any right or power granted thereby which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply to all bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this section, and temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in accordance with said section 3-20 and from time to time renewed. Such bonds shall mature at such time or times not exceeding twenty years from their respective dates as may be provided in or pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the State Bond Commission authorizing such bonds. None of said bonds shall be authorized except upon a finding by the State Bond Commission that there has been filed with it a request for such authorization, which is signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and states such terms and conditions as said commission, in its discretion, may require. Said bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be general obligations of the state and the full faith and credit of the state of Connecticut are pledged for the payment of the principal of and interest on said bonds as the same become due, and accordingly and as part of the contract of the state with the holders of said bonds, appropriation of all amounts necessary for punctual payment of such principal and interest is hereby made, and the Treasurer shall pay such principal and interest as the same become due.