Substitute House Bill No. 5264
Public Act No. 22-97
AN ACT CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL AID
APPLICATIONS FILED WITH CONNECTICUT INNOVATIONS,
INCORPORATED AND ESTABLISHING AN ATTENDANCE POLICY
FOR CONNECTICUT INNOVATIONS, INCORPORATED'S BOARD
OF DIRECTORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 32-40 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022):
(a) All applications for financial aid shall be forwarded, together with
an application fee prescribed by the corporation, to the chief executive
officer of the corporation. Each such application shall be processed in
accordance with the written procedures adopted by the corporation
under subdivision (5) of subsection (d) of section 32-35. The board of
directors or a duly constituted committee thereof shall approve or deny
each application recommended by the chief executive officer. If the
board of directors or any such committee approves an application, the
board or such committee may authorize the corporation to enter into an
agreement or agreements on behalf of the corporation to provide
financial aid to the applicant. The applicant shall be promptly notified
of such action by the corporation.
(b) In making the decision as to approval or denial of an application, Substitute House Bill No. 5264
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the board or any committee of the board shall give priority to those
applicants (1) whose businesses are defense-dependent, or are located
in municipalities which the Commissioner of Economic and
Community Development has declared have been severely impacted by
prime defense contract cutbacks pursuant to section 32-56, and (2)
whose proposed research and development activity, technology,
product or invention is to be used to convert all or a portion of the
applicant's business to non-defense-related industrial or commercial
activity, or to create a new non-defense-related industrial or commercial
business. For purposes of this section, a defense-dependent business is
any business that derives over fifty per cent of its gross income,
generated from operations within the state, from prime defense
contracts or from subcontracts entered into in connection with prime
defense contracts, a significant portion of whose facilities and
equipment are designed specifically for defense production and cannot
be converted to nondefense uses without substantial investment.
(c) All financial and credit information and all trade secrets contained
in any application for financial aid submitted to the corporation or
obtained by the corporation concerning any applicant, project, activity,
technology, product or invention shall be exempt from the provisions of
subsection (a) of section 1-210.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this
section, the board of directors may delegate to staff of the corporation
the authority to approve any application for financial aid filed pursuant
to this section for not more than [one hundred fifty] five hundred
thousand dollars, provided (1) such application is processed in
accordance with the written procedures adopted by the corporation
under subdivision (5) of subsection (d) of section 32-35, and (2) the sum
of the financial aid requested in such application and the total amount
of financial aid awarded to the applicant by the corporation during the
preceding twelve-month period does not exceed [one hundred fifty] five Substitute House Bill No. 5264
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hundred thousand dollars.
Sec. 2. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 32-35 of the general statutes
are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective
October 1, 2022):
(b) (1) The corporation shall be governed by a board of seventeen
directors. Nine members shall be appointed by the Governor, six of
whom shall be knowledgeable, and have favorable reputations for skill,
knowledge and experience, in the development of innovative start-up
businesses, including, but not limited to, expertise in academic research,
technology transfer and application, the development of technological
invention and new enterprise development and three of whom shall be
knowledgeable, and have favorable reputations for skill, knowledge
and experience, in the field of financial lending or the development of
commerce, trade and business. Four members shall be the
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, the
president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, the
Treasurer and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management,
who shall serve ex officio and shall have all of the powers and privileges
of a member of the board of directors. Each ex-officio member may
designate his deputy or any member of his staff to represent him at
meetings of the corporation with full power to act and vote in his behalf.
Four members shall be appointed as follows: One by the president pro
tempore of the Senate, one by the minority leader of the Senate, one by
the speaker of the House of Representatives and one by the minority
leader of the House of Representatives. [Each member appointed by the
Governor shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor but no longer than
the term of office of the Governor or until the member's successor is
appointed and qualified, whichever is longer. Each member appointed
by a member of the General Assembly shall serve in accordance with
the provisions of section 4-1a. A director shall be eligible for
reappointment. The Governor shall fill any vacancy for the unexpired Substitute House Bill No. 5264
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term of a member appointed by the Governor. The appropriate
legislative appointing authority shall fill any vacancy for the unexpired
term of a member appointed by such authority.] Except as provided in
subdivision (2) of this subsection, (A) each member appointed by the
Governor shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor but not longer than
the term of office of the Governor or until the member's successor is
appointed and qualified, whichever is longer, (B) the Governor shall fill
any vacancy for the unexpired term of a member appointed by the
Governor, (C) each member appointed by a member of the General
Assembly shall serve in accordance with the provisions of section 4-1a,
and (D) the appropriate legislative appointing authority shall fill any
vacancy for the unexpired term of a member appointed by such
authority. A director shall be eligible for reappointment.
(2) Any member appointed by the Governor or appointed by a
member of the General Assembly who fails to attend three consecutive
meetings of the board or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings
of the board held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have
resigned from the board.
(3) Not later than thirty days after the occurrence of any vacancy, the
chief executive officer of Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, in
consultation with the chairperson of the board, shall recommend a
person to fill such vacancy to the appropriate appointing authority.
(c) The Governor shall appoint a chairperson from among the board
members. The directors shall annually elect one of their number as
secretary. The board may elect such other officers of the board as it
deems proper. Members shall receive no compensation for the
performance of their duties hereunder but shall be reimbursed for
necessary expenses incurred in the performance thereof.