Substitute Senate Bill No. 961
Public Act No. 17-162
AN ACT CONCERNING STATE HISTORICAL MUSEUMS AND THE RELOCATION OF BUSINESSES RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE STATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 10-409 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) With respect to historical preservation, there is established within the Department of Economic and Community Development a Historic Preservation Council. The Historic Preservation Council shall consist of twelve members to be appointed by the Governor. On or before January fifth in the even-numbered years, the Governor shall appoint six members for terms of four years each to replace those whose terms expire. One of such members shall be the State Historian and one shall be the State Archaeologist. Members shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 4-9a. No member shall serve for more than two consecutive full terms. Any member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from office. The Governor shall biennially designate one member of the council to be chairperson. The Governor shall fill any vacancy for any unexpired portion of the term and may remove any member as provided by section 4-12. No compensation shall be received by the members of the council but they shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses. The Department of Economic and Community Development may, with the advice of the Historic Preservation Council, (1) study and investigate historic structures and landmarks in this state and encourage and recommend the development, preservation and marking of such historic structures and landmarks found to have educational, recreational and historical significance; (2) prepare, adopt and maintain standards for a state register of historic places; (3) update and keep current the state historic preservation plan; (4) administer the [National] State Register of Historic Places Program; (5) assist owners of historic structures in seeking federal or other aid for historic preservation and related purposes; (6) recommend to the General Assembly the placing and maintaining of suitable markers, memorials or monuments or other edifices to designate historic structures and landmarks found to have historical significance; (7) make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the development and preservation of historic structures and landmarks owned by the state; (8) maintain a program of historical, architectural, and archaeological research and development including surveys, excavation, scientific recording, interpretation and publication of the historical, architectural, archaeological and cultural resources of the state; (9) cooperate with promotional, patriotic, educational and research groups and associations, with local, state and national historical societies, associations and commissions, with agencies of the state and its political subdivisions and with the federal government, in promoting and publicizing the historical heritage of Connecticut; (10) formulate standards and criteria to guide the several municipalities in the evaluation, delineation and establishment of historic districts; (11) cooperate with the State Building Inspector, the Codes and Standards Committee and other building officials and render advisory opinions and prepare documentation regarding the application of the State Building Code to historic structures and landmarks if requested by owners of historic structures and landmarks, the State Building Inspector, the Codes and Standards Committee or other building officials; (12) review planned state and federal actions to determine their impact on historic structures and landmarks; (13) operate the Henry Whitfield House of Guilford, otherwise known as the Old Stone House, the Prudence Crandall Museum, Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine and the Eric Sloane Museum and Kent Iron Furnace as [a] state historical [museum] museums and, in its discretion, charge a fee for admission to said [museum] museums and account for and deposit the same as provided in section 4-32; (14) provide technical and financial assistance to carry out the purposes of this section and sections 10-410 to 10-416, inclusive; (15) adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 for the preservation of sacred sites and archaeological sites; and (16) inventory state lands to identify sacred sites and archaeological sites. The department shall study the feasibility of establishing a state museum of Connecticut history at an appropriate existing facility. The Historic Preservation Council shall (A) review and approve or disapprove requests by owners of historic properties on which the department holds preservation easements to perform rehabilitation work on sacred sites and archaeological sites; (B) request the assistance of the Attorney General to prevent the unreasonable destruction of historic properties pursuant to the provisions of section 22a-19a; and (C) place and maintain suitable markers, memorials or monuments to designate sites or places found to have historic significance. The council shall meet monthly. The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation may provide technical assistance to the council.
Sec. 2. Section 32-5a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2017):
The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and the board of directors of Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated shall require, as a condition of any financial assistance provided on and after June 23, 1993, under any program administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development or such corporation to any business organization, that such business organization: (1) Shall not relocate outside of the state for ten years after receiving such assistance or during the term of a loan or loan guarantee, whichever is longer, unless the full amount of the assistance is repaid to the state and a penalty equal to five per cent of the total assistance received is paid to the state, except that this subdivision shall not be applicable to financial assistance by the corporation in the form of an equity investment or other financial assistance, including a convertible or seed loan, with predominantly equity characteristics, and (2) shall, if the business organization relocates within the state during such period, offer employment at the new location to its employees from the original location if such employment is available. For the purposes of subdivision (1) of this section, the value of a guarantee shall be equal to the amount of the state's liability under the guarantee. As used in this section, "relocate" means the physical transfer of a substantial portion, as determined by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, of the operations of a business [in its entirety] or [of] any division of a business [which] that independently receives any financial assistance from the state from the location such business or division occupied at the time it accepted the financial assistance to another location. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to establish the terms and conditions of repayment, including specifying the conditions under which repayment may be deferred, following a determination by the commissioner of a legitimate hardship.