HB1885--RURALWORKFORCEDEVELOPMENTACT
SPONSOR: Pollitt(52)
Thisbillcreatesthe"MissouriRuralWorkforceDevelopmentAct",
whichprovidesataxcreditforcertaininvestmentsmadein
businesseslocatedinruralareasinthisstate.
Thebillallowsinvestorstomakecapitalinvestmentsinarural
fund.Aruralfundwishingtoacceptinvestmentsascapital
investmentsmustapplytotheDepartmentofEconomicDevelopment.
Theapplicationmustincludetheamountofcapitalinvestment
requested,acopyoftheapplicant'slicenseasaruralbusinessor
smallbusinessinvestmentcompany,evidencethattheapplicanthas
madeatleast$100millionininvestmentsinnonpubliccompanies
locatedincountiesthroughouttheUnitedStateswithapopulation
lessthan50,000,evidencethattheapplicanthasmadeatleast$30
millionininvestmentsinnonpubliccompanieslocatedinMissouri,
andabusinessplanthatincludesarevenueimpactstatement
projectingstateandlocaltaxrevenuetobegeneratedbythe
applicant'sproposedqualifiedinvestments. Theruralfundmust
alsosubmitanonrefundableapplicationfeeof$5,000.
TheDepartmentmustgrantordenyanapplicationwithin30daysof
receipt. TheDepartmentmustdenyanapplicationifsuch
applicationisincompleteorinsufficient,iftherevenueimpact
assessmentdoesnotdemonstratethatthebusinessplanwillresult
inapositiveeconomicimpactonthestateovera10yearperiod,
oriftheDepartmenthasalreadyapprovedthemaximumamountof
capitalinvestmentauthority.
Investorsareallowedataxcreditforaperiodofsixyears
beginningwiththeyeartheinvestormadeacapitalinvestment.
Thetaxcreditmustbeequaltoapercentageofthecapital
investment. Thepercentagemustbezeroforthefirsttwoyears,
and15%forthesubsequentfouryears.Taxcreditsissuedmustnot
berefundable,butmaybecarriedforwardtoanyofthefive
subsequenttaxyears.Nomorethan$25milliondollarsintax
creditsmaybeauthorizedinagivencalendaryear.
Ruralfundsmustusecapitalinvestmentsmadebyinvestorstomake
qualifiedinvestmentsineligiblebusinesses. Aneligiblebusiness
isabusinessthat,atthetimeofthequalifiedinvestment,has
fewerthan250employeesandhasitsprincipalbusinessoperations
inthestate.
TheDepartmentmayrecapturetaxcreditsiftheruralfunddoesnot
invest60%ofitscapitalinvestmentauthorityinqualified
investmentswithintwoyearsofthedateofthecapitalinvestment, and100%ofitscapitalinvestmentauthoritywithinthreeyears,if
theruralfundfailstomaintainqualifiedinvestmentsequalto90%
ofitscapitalinvestmentauthorityinyearsthreethroughsix,if
priortoexitingtheprogramor30daysafterthesixthyear,the
ruralfundmakesadistributionorpaymentthatresultsinthefund
havinglessthan100%ofitscapitalinvestmentauthorityinvested
inqualifiedinvestments,oriftheruralfundviolatesprovisions
ofthebill.
RuralfundsmustsubmitannualreportstotheDepartment,including
thenameandlocationofeacheligiblebusinessreceivinga
qualifiedinvestment,thenumberofjobscreatedandjobsretained
asaresultofqualifiedinvestments,theaveragesalaryofsuch
jobs,andanyotherinformationrequiredbytheDepartment.
Atanytimeafterthesixthanniversaryofthecapitalinvestment,
aruralfundmayapplytotheDepartmenttoexittheprogram. The
Departmentmustrespondtosuchapplicationwithin15days.A
ruralfundmustbesubjecttopenaltiesfornotmeetingprojected
jobcreationmetrics.
TheDepartmentmustnotacceptnewapplicationsfortaxcredits
afterDecember31,2032.
ThisbillissimilartoSB675(2022).