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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 570
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6167
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING OPPOR TUNITY ZONES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Economic 1
and Community Development shall, not later than January 1, 2020, 2
collaborate with local, private and civic partners to host a series of not 3
less than five regional events in the state advertising the state's 4
federally designated opportunity zones. 5
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Economic and 6
Community Development shall conduct a study relating to the federal 7
opportunity zone program, established pursuant to the Tax Cuts and 8
Jobs Act of 2017, P.L. 115-97, and how the state may incentivize the use 9
of such program in the state. Such study shall: (1) Identify corporations 10
and other beneficiaries of capital gains within the state to develop a 11
strategy that focuses such corporations and other beneficiaries' 12
qualified opportunity fund investments locally and encourages a 13
cycling of capital within the state; (2) identify existing state incentive 14
programs that may be used in conjunction with opportunity zone 15
benefits; (3) identify existing incentives for businesses participating in 16 Committee Bill No. 570
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the small business express program to move to opportunity zones and 17
recommend additional incentives, including, but not limited to, 18
reducing the amount of time a business is required to be in business to 19
qualify for a grant and increasing the grant amount for every job 20
created; (4) develop a plan to issue bonds of the state for the purpose 21
of providing low-interest loans to investors who develop mixed-22
income housing in the state's opportunity zones; and (5) recommend 23
incentives for investors to develop mixed-income housing that utilizes 24
solar power or other renewable energy sources in the state's 25
opportunity zones. Not later than February 1, 2020, the commissioner 26
shall submit a report on the results of such study, including 27
recommendations for any requisite legislative proposals, to the joint 28
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 29
matters relating to commerce, in accordance with the provisions of 30
section 11-4a of the general statutes. 31
Sec. 3. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 32-726 of the 32
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 33
thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 34
(b) (1) The commissioner shall establish an office of the permit 35
ombudsman for the purpose of expediting review of permit 36
applications for projects that would (A) create at least one hundred 37
jobs, (B) create fifty jobs, if such project is to be located in an enterprise 38
zone designated pursuant to section 32-70, (C) be located in a 39
brownfield, as defined in section 32-760, (D) be compatible with the 40
state's responsible growth initiatives, (E) be considered transit-oriented 41
development, as defined in section 13b-79kk, (F) develop green 42
technology business, (G) develop bioscience business, (H) develop any 43
of the state's federally designated opportunity zones, or [(H)] (I) meet 44
the criteria set forth in subdivision (2) of this subsection. Projects 45
ineligible for review under this section are projects for which the 46
primary purpose is to (i) effect the final disposal of solid waste, 47
biomedical waste or hazardous waste in this state, (ii) produce 48
electrical power, unless the production of electricity is incidental and 49 Committee Bill No. 570
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not the primary function of the project, (iii) extract natural resources, 50
(iv) produce oil, or (v) construct, maintain or operate an oil, petroleum, 51
natural gas or sewage pipeline. For purposes of this section, 52
"responsible growth initiatives" includes the principles of smart 53
growth, as defined in section 1 of public act 09-230, and "green 54
technology business" means an eligible business with not less than 55
twenty-five per cent of its employment positions being positions in 56
which green technology is employed or developed and may include 57
the occupation codes identified as green jobs by the Department of 58
Economic and Community Development and the Labor Department 59
for such purposes. The permit ombudsman shall also assist and 60
provide guidance to bioscience businesses seeking to expedite the 61
review and approval of permits required by local zoning authorities. 62
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 32-726(b)(1)
CE Joint Favorable