February 7, 2012, Introduced by Senator KOWALL and referred to the Committee on Economic Development.
A bill to amend 1984 PA 270, entitled
"Michigan strategic fund act,"
by amending sections 9, 88b, 88c, 88h, and 88k (MCL 125.2009,
125.2088b, 125.2088c, 125.2088h, and 125.2088k), section 9 as
amended by 2011 PA 291, section 88b as amended by 2011 PA 250,
sections 88c and 88h as amended by 2011 PA 251, and section 88k as
added by 2005 PA 215.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
9. (1) The fund shall transmit to the legislature each
quarter
annually a status report of its activities. The report
shall include, but not be limited to, information on name and
location of all applicants, amount and type of financial assistance
being requested, type of project or product being financed, number
of net jobs created or retained, duration of financial assistance,
amount of financial support other than state resources, and the
status of any loans of the fund, excluding industrial development
revenue loans, which are in default. The report shall not include
information exempt from disclosure under section 5.
(2) The auditor general or a certified public accountant
appointed by the auditor general annually shall conduct and remit
to the legislature an audit of the fund and, in the conduct of the
audit, shall have access to all records of the fund at any time,
whether or not confidential. Each audit required by this section
shall include a determination of whether the fund is likely to be
able to continue to meet its obligations, including a report on the
status of outstanding loans and agreements made by the fund.
(3) The fund shall also transmit the status report described
in subsection (1) and audit described in subsection (2) to the
chairperson and minority vice-chairperson of the senate
appropriations subcommittee on general government and the house of
representatives appropriations subcommittee on general government.
The fund shall make the status report and audit available to the
public on the fund's website.
Sec. 88b. (1) The fund shall create and operate programs
authorized under this chapter. The fund board shall determine the
annual allocation of money for programs authorized under this
chapter and make authorized expenditures or investments from the
investment fund of the 21st century jobs trust fund created in the
Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.251 to 12.260, as
authorized under this chapter for programs and activities
authorized under this chapter.
(2) Money transferred or appropriated by law to the fund for
the purposes of carrying out this chapter or chapter 8C shall be
expended or invested by the fund as authorized by law for the
following purposes:
(a) 21st century investments.
(b) Grants and loans approved by the commercialization board
under section 88k.
(c) Other programs or activities authorized under this
chapter.
(d) For promotion of tourism in this state. For fiscal year
2010-2011 only, $20,000,000.00 for the promotion of tourism in this
state from funds appropriated in the jobs for Michigan investment
program - 21st century jobs fund line in section 109 of 2010 PA 191
with not less than $1,500,000.00 to be used for the 2010-2011
winter advertisement buy. For all funds used for promotion of
tourism in this state under this subdivision, the fund shall report
to the legislature at the same time and in the same manner as
provided in section 89d.
(e) Grants, loans, or other economic assistance under section
88r and community revitalization incentives under chapter 8C.
(3) Not more than 4% of the annual appropriation as provided
by law from the 21st century jobs trust fund created in the
Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.251 to 12.260, may be
used for the purposes of administering the programs and activities
authorized under this chapter. However, the fund and the fund board
shall not use more than 3% of the annual appropriation for
administering the programs and activities authorized under this
chapter unless the fund board by a 2/3 vote authorizes the
additional 1% for administration. The MEDC may charge actual and
reasonable fees for costs associated with loans under this chapter.
These fees are in addition to an amount of the appropriation used
for administering the programs and activities authorized under this
chapter.
(4) Not more than 5% of the annual appropriation as provided
by law from the 21st century jobs trust fund created in the
Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.251 to 12.260, may be
used for business development and business marketing costs. Not
less than 80% of the funds committed for business development and
business marketing costs shall be targeted to persons or entities
outside of this state. No funds may be used for any business
development and business marketing effort that includes a reference
to or the image or voice of an elected state officer or a candidate
for elective state office and that is targeted to a media market in
Michigan.
The fund board shall select all vendors for all marketing
expenditures
under this chapter by issuing a request for proposal.
At
a minimum, the request for proposal shall require the responding
entities
to disclose any conflict of interest, disclose any
criminal
convictions, disclose any investigations by the internal
revenue
service or any other federal or state taxing body or court,
disclose
any pertinent litigation regarding the conduct of the
entity,
and maintain records and evidence pertaining to work
performed.
The fund board shall establish a standard process to
evaluate
proposals submitted as a result of a request for proposal
and
appoint a committee to review the proposals. The fund or the
fund
board shall not appoint or designate any person paid or unpaid
to
a committee to review proposals if that person has a conflict of
interest
with any potential vendors as determined by the office of
the
chief compliance officer established in section 88i.
(5) The fund shall not use any money appropriated or
transferred for purposes authorized under this chapter to acquire
interests in or improve real property. The restriction under this
subsection does not prohibit the fund from taking a security
interest in real property. The restriction under this subsection
applies only to the fund and not to recipients of expenditures or
investments under this chapter.
(6) The fund board may select all vendors for all expenditures
and for program awards under this chapter by issuing a request for
proposal or an alternative competitive process as determined by the
fund board. At a minimum, the request for proposal shall require
the responding entities to disclose any conflict of interest,
disclose any criminal convictions, disclose any investigations by
the internal revenue service or any other federal or state taxing
body or court, disclose any litigation involving the entity, and
maintain records and evidence pertaining to work performed. The
fund board shall establish a standard process to evaluate proposals
submitted as a result of a request for proposal and appoint a
committee to review the proposals. The fund or the fund board shall
not appoint or designate any person paid or unpaid to a committee
to review proposals if that person has a conflict of interest with
any potential vendors as determined by the office of the chief
compliance officer established in section 88i.
(7) Application fees received for programs and activities
authorized under this chapter or chapter 8C may be used by the fund
for administering the programs and activities authorized under this
chapter or chapter 8C. The restrictions on expenditures under
subsection (3) do not apply to expenditure of application fee
revenue under this subsection.
Sec. 88c. (1) The fund board shall exercise the duties of a
fiduciary with respect to 21st century investments consistent with
the purposes of this chapter. The prudent investor rule shall be
applied by the fund board and any agent of the fund board in the
management of 21st century investments. The prudent investor rule
as applied to 21st century investments means that in making 21st
century investments, the fund board shall exercise the judgment and
care under the circumstances then prevailing that an institutional
investor of ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence would
exercise in similar circumstances in a like position. The fund
board shall maintain a reasonable diversification among 21st
century investments consistent with the requirements of this
chapter.
(2) The fund board shall select qualified private equity
funds, qualified venture capital funds, and qualified mezzanine
funds by issuing a request for proposal. At a minimum, the request
for proposal shall require a responding entity to disclose any
conflict of interest, disclose any criminal convictions, disclose
any investigations by the internal revenue service, the securities
and exchange commission, or any other federal or state taxing or
securities regulatory body, or court, or pertinent litigation
regarding the conduct of the person or entity. The fund board shall
establish a standard process to evaluate proposals submitted as a
result of a request for proposal and appoint a committee to review
the proposals.
(3) The fund board shall ensure that a recipient of money
under sections 88d, 88e, 88f, 88g, 88q, and 88r and chapter 8C
agrees as a condition of receiving the money not to use the money
for any of the following:
(a) The development of a stadium or arena for use by a
professional sports team.
(b) The development of a casino regulated by this state under
the Michigan gaming control and revenue act, 1996 IL 1, MCL 432.201
to 432.226, a casino at which gaming is conducted under the Indian
gaming regulatory act, Public Law 100-497, 102 Stat. 2467, or
property associated or affiliated with the operation of either type
of casino described in this subdivision, including, but not limited
to, a parking lot, hotel, motel, or retail store.
(4) The fund board shall establish requirements to ensure that
money expended under sections 88d, 88e, 88f, 88g, 88q, and 88r and
chapter 8C shall not be used for any of the following:
(a) Provision of money to a person who has been convicted of a
criminal offense incident to the application for or performance of
a state contract or subcontract. As used in this subdivision, if a
person is a business entity, person includes affiliates,
subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees as
determined by the board, and any person who, directly or
indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in that business entity of
20% or more.
(b) Provision of money to a person who has been convicted of a
criminal offense, or held liable in a civil proceeding, that
negatively reflects on the person's business integrity, based on a
finding of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or
destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or violation of
state or federal antitrust statutes. As used in this subdivision,
if a person is a business entity, person includes affiliates,
subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees, and any
person who, directly or indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in
that business entity of 20% or more.
(c) Provision of money to a business enterprise to induce
qualified businesses or small businesses to leave this state.
(d) Provision of money that would contribute to the violation
of internationally recognized workers rights, as defined in section
507(4) of the trade act of 1974, 19 USC 2467(4), of workers in a
country other than the United States, including any designated zone
or area in that country.
(e) Provision of money to a corporation or an affiliate of the
corporation who is incorporated in a tax haven country after
September 11, 2001, while maintaining the United States as the
principal market for the public trading of the corporation's stock.
As used in this section, "tax haven country" includes a country
with tax laws that facilitate avoidance by a corporation or an
affiliate of the corporation of United States tax obligations,
including Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Isle of
Man, the principality of Liechtenstein, the principality of Monaco,
and the Republic of the Seychelles.
(5) Before adopting a resolution that establishes or
substantially changes a 21st century investment program, including
any fees, charges, or penalties attached to that program, the fund
board shall give notice of the proposed resolution to the governor,
to the clerk of the house of representatives, to the secretary of
the senate, to members of the senate and house of representatives
appropriation committees, and to each person who requested from the
fund in writing or electronically to be notified regarding proposed
resolutions. The notice and proposed resolution and all attachments
shall be published on the fund's internet website not sooner than
10 days prior to the date that the proposed resolution is
considered by the fund board. The fund board shall hold a public
hearing
not sooner than 14 days and not longer than 30 days from
the
date notice of a proposed resolution is given and offer a
person an opportunity to present data, views, questions, and
arguments. Members of the fund board or 1 or more persons
designated by the fund board who have knowledge of the subject
matter of the proposed resolution shall be present at the public
hearing and shall participate in the discussion of the proposed
resolution.
The fund board may act on the proposed resolution no
sooner
than 14 days after on the day
of the public hearing. The
fund board shall produce a final decision document that describes
the basis for its decision. The final resolution and all
attachments and the decision document shall be provided to the
governor, to the clerk of the house of representatives, to the
secretary of the senate, and to members of the senate and house of
representatives appropriation committees and shall be published on
the fund's internet website.
(6) The notice described in subsection (5) shall include all
of the following:
(a) A copy of the proposed resolution and all attachments.
(b) A statement that the addressee may express any data,
views, or arguments regarding the proposed resolution.
(c) The address to which written comments may be sent and the
date by which comments must be mailed or electronically
transmitted, which date shall not be before the date of the public
hearing.
(d) The date, time, and place of the public hearing.
(7) The fund board shall employ or contract with a fund
manager or other persons it considers necessary to implement this
section. The person employed or contracted under this subsection
shall have not less than 10 years' experience in commercial
lending, private equity, mezzanine funding, or venture capital. The
person employed or contracted under this section shall exercise the
duties of a fiduciary toward investments from the investment fund
under this section. Management fees payable by the fund and other
investors in a qualified private equity fund, a qualified mezzanine
fund, or a qualified venture capital fund shall be considered an
investment expense and not an administrative cost incurred by the
fund.
(8) Subject to subsection (9), a record received, prepared,
used, or retained by an investment fiduciary in connection with an
investment or potential investment of the investment fund that
relates to investment information pertaining to a portfolio company
in which the investment fiduciary has invested or has considered an
investment that is considered by the portfolio company and
acknowledged by the investment fiduciary as confidential, or that
relates to investment information whether prepared by or for the
investment fiduciary regarding loans and assets directly owned by
the investment fiduciary and acknowledged by the investment
fiduciary as confidential, is exempt from the disclosure
requirements of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246, if at least annually the fund provides to the
fund board, and makes available to the public, a report of fund
investments during the prior state fiscal year that includes all of
the following:
(a) The name of each portfolio company in which the investment
fund invested during the reporting period.
(b) The aggregate amount of money invested by the investment
fund in portfolio companies during the reporting period.
(c) The rate of return realized during the reporting period on
the investments of the investment fund in portfolio companies.
(d) The source of any public funds invested by the investment
fund in portfolio companies during the reporting period.
(9) If a record described in subsection (8) is an agreement or
instrument to which an investment fiduciary is a party, only those
parts of the record that contain investment information are exempt
from the disclosure requirements of the freedom of information act,
1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(10) As used in subsections (8) and (9):
(a) "Investment fiduciary" means a person who exercises any
discretionary authority or control over an investment of the
investment fund or renders investment advice for the fund for a fee
or other direct or indirect compensation.
(b) "Investment information" means information that has not
been publicly disseminated or that is unavailable from other
sources, the release of which might cause a portfolio company or an
investment fiduciary significant competitive harm. Investment
information includes, but is not limited to, financial performance
data and projections, financial statements, list of coinvestors and
their level of investment, product and market data, rent rolls, and
leases.
(c) "Portfolio company" means an entity in which an investment
fiduciary has made or considered an investment on behalf of the
investment fund.
(d) "Record" means all or part of a writing, as that term is
defined in section 2 of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA
442, MCL 15.232.
Sec. 88h. (1) The jobs for Michigan investment fund is created
within the fund as a permanent fund authorized by section 19 of
article IX of the state constitution of 1963. Money in the
investment fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the
investment fund and shall not lapse to the general fund. Money in
the investment fund shall not be transferred to another
governmental entity or a separate legal entity and public body
corporate established under the urban cooperation act of 1967, 1967
(Ex Sess) PA 7, MCL 124.501 to 124.512, except as authorized in
this chapter.
(2) Money or other assets deposited in the investment fund
shall be held as permanent funds as provided under section 19 of
article IX of the state constitution of 1963 and invested only as
authorized under this chapter, including, but not limited to,
investments in the stock of a company, association, or corporation.
(3) The investment fund shall be invested as authorized under
this chapter for the benefit of the people of the state of Michigan
and for the purpose of creating incentives for the following in
this state:
(a) Retaining or creating jobs.
(b) Increasing capital investment activity.
(c) Increasing commercial lending activity.
(d) Encouraging the development and commercialization of
competitive edge technologies.
(e) Revitalizing Michigan communities.
(4) Funds or other assets of the investment fund also may be
invested in debt instruments or debt obligations for loans or
guarantees authorized under this chapter.
(5) The investment fund shall consist of all of the following:
(a) Any funds appropriated to, transferred to, or deposited in
the investment fund from the 21st century jobs trust fund under the
Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.251 to 12.260.
(b) Earnings, royalties, return on investments, return of
principal, payments made, or other money received by or payable to
the fund under agreements related to grants, loans, investments, or
expenditures by the fund under this chapter or chapter 8C.
(c) Assets, property, money, earnings, royalties, return on
investments, return of principal, payments made, or other money
owed, received by, or payable to the fund or the Michigan economic
development corporation under agreements related to grants, loans,
investments, or other payments funded by appropriations from the
state general fund or tobacco settlement revenue under 1 or more of
the following:
(i) Section 418 of 1999 PA 120, commonly known as the health
and aging research and development initiative or the Michigan life
sciences corridor initiative, or any successor program.
(ii) Section 410 of 2000 PA 292, commonly known as the health
and aging research and development initiative or the Michigan life
sciences corridor initiative, or any successor program.
(iii) Section 410 of 2001 PA 80, commonly known as the health
and aging research and development initiative or the Michigan life
sciences corridor initiative, or any successor program.
(iv) Section 410 of 2002 PA 517, commonly known as the Michigan
life sciences corridor initiative, or any successor program.
(v) Section 410 of 2003 PA 169, commonly known as the Michigan
life sciences and technology tri-corridor initiative, or any
successor program.
(vi) Section 510 of 2004 PA 354, commonly known as the Michigan
technology tri-corridor and life sciences initiative, or any
successor program.
(vii) Section 801 of 2005 PA 11, commonly known as the
technology tri-corridor and life sciences initiative, or any
successor program.
(viii) Section 381(1)(c) of 2003 PA 173, providing for payments
to the life sciences commercial development fund.
(d) Money or assets received by the state treasurer or the
fund from any source for deposit in the investment fund.
(e) Interest and earnings on any funds or other assets
deposited in the investment fund or other net income of the
investment fund.
(6) The net income of the investment fund may be expended by
the fund only for purposes authorized under this chapter or chapter
8C pursuant to an appropriation authorized by law. As used in this
section, the net income of the investment fund shall be computed
annually as of the last day of the state fiscal year in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, excluding any
unrealized gains or losses.
(7) The fund board shall be the trustees of the investment
fund and shall direct the investment and reinvestment of the funds
and
assets of the investment fund as provided under, and consistent
with
the objectives of , this
chapter or chapter 8C.
(8) The fund board may establish restricted subaccounts within
the investment fund as necessary to administer the investment fund.
The fund board may contract with the state treasurer to assist the
fund board in administering the investment fund. The fund board may
authorize money in the investment fund not invested as authorized
under sections 88d, 88e, 88f, 88g, 88q, and 88r and chapter 8C to
be managed by the state treasurer as part of the common cash fund
of this state under 1967 PA 55, MCL 12.51 to 12.53. Money managed
by the state treasurer under this subsection shall be separately
accounted for by the state treasurer. When authorized under this
subsection, the state treasurer may invest the funds or assets of
the investment fund in any investment authorized under 1855 PA 105,
MCL 21.141 to 21.147, for surplus funds of this state, in
obligations issued by any state or political subdivision or
instrumentality of the United States, or in any obligation issued,
assumed, or guaranteed by a solvent entity created or existing
under the laws of the United States or of any state, district, or
territory of the United States, which are not in default as to
principal or interest.
(9) A member of the fund board or officer of the fund shall
not gain from any investment of funds or assets of the investment
fund. A member of the fund board or officer of the fund shall not
have any direct or indirect interest in an investment of funds or
assets of the investment fund. A member of the fund board or person
connected with the investment fund directly or indirectly, for
himself or herself, or as an agent or partner of others, shall not
borrow any of the funds or assets of the investment fund or in any
manner use funds or assets of the investment fund except as
authorized under this chapter. A member of the fund board or
officer of the fund shall not become an endorser or surety or
become in any manner an obligor for money loaned by or borrowed
from the investment fund. Failure to comply with this subsection
constitutes misconduct in office subject to removal under section
94. In addition to any other sanction, a person who violates this
subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment
for not more than 90 days or a fine of not more than $500.00, or
both.
Sec. 88k. (1) The strategic economic investment and
commercialization board is created within the fund. The
commercialization board shall exercise its powers, duties, and
decision-making authority under this chapter independently of the
fund, the fund board, and the department of treasury.
(2) The commercialization board shall award grants and loans
from the 21st century jobs trust fund created in the Michigan trust
fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.251 to 12.256, and the investment
fund only for basic research, applied research, university
technology transfer, and commercialization of products, processes,
and services to encourage the development of competitive edge
technologies to create jobs in this state.
(3) Subject to subsection (2), the fund as determined by the
commercialization
board shall do all of the following:
(a)
Establish establish a competitive process to award grants
and make loans for competitive edge technologies. The competitive
process shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
(a) (i) A
provision that the applications must be peer-reviewed
by
independent peer review experts based on the scientific and
technical
merit, personnel expertise, commercial merit, and the
ability
to leverage additional funding of the application reviewed
by a joint-evaluation committee. Scientific and technical merit,
personnel expertise, commercial merit, and the ability to leverage
additional
funding shall may be given equal weight in the review
and scoring process as determined by the fund board.
(b) (ii) A
preference for proposals that can contribute to the
development of economic diversification or the creation of
employment opportunities in this state.
(c) (iii) A
provision that out-of-state business must have a
significant existing or proposed business presence in this state.
(d) (iv) A
provision that the program will utilize contracts
with measurable milestones, clear objectives, provisions to revoke
awards for breach of contract, and repayment provisions for loans
given to qualified businesses that leave Michigan within 3 years of
the execution of the contract or otherwise breach the terms of the
contract.
(e) (v) A
provision that the applicant leverage other
resources as a condition of the grant or loan. If an applicant is
seeking a grant or a loan under this chapter to match federal funds
for small business innovation research or small business technology
transfer programs, the grant or loan under this chapter shall not
exceed 25% of the federal funds and must leverage third-party
commercialization funding at both the phase I and phase II levels.
(f) (vi) Limit
overhead rates for recipients of grants and
loans
awards to reflect actual overhead, but
not greater than 15%
of
the grant or loan.administrative
fees, and management fees, to
an amount as determined by the fund board.
(g) (vii) Except
as provided in subparagraph (v), subdivision
(e), a provision that grants can only be awarded to Michigan
institutions of higher education, Michigan nonprofit research
institutions, and Michigan nonprofit corporations.
(h) (viii) A
preference for collaborations between institutions
of higher education, Michigan nonprofit research institutions,
Michigan nonprofit corporations, and qualified businesses.
(i) (ix) A
provision authorizing the award of grants to
institutions of higher education to serve as match to promote or
secure the award and receipt of competitively awarded federal
research grants related to competitive edge technologies. A
matching grant shall not exceed 10% of the amount of the
competitively awarded federal research grants received.
(j) (x) A
provision encouraging the redevelopment of existing
scientific wet lab space for the commercialization of life science
technology.
(k) (xi) A
preference for proposals that meet 1 or more of the
following:
(i) (A)
Forecast revenues within 2 years.
(ii) (B)
Have outside investments from
investors with
experience and management teams with experience in the industry
targeted by the proposal.
(iii) (C)
Have outside directors with
expertise in the industry
targeted by the proposal.
(b)
The fund shall contract with independent peer review
experts
selected by the commercialization board to assist the
commercialization
board with its responsibilities under this
chapter.
(4) The commercialization board shall establish standards to
ensure that money expended under this chapter will result in
economic benefit to this state and ensure that a major share of the
business activity resulting from the expenditures occurs in this
state.
(5) The commercialization board shall ensure that a recipient
of money expended under this chapter agrees as a condition of
receiving the money not to use the money for any of the following:
(a) The development of a stadium or arena for use by a
professional sports team.
(b) The development of a casino regulated by this state under
the
Michigan gaming control and revenue act, the Initiated Law of
1996 IL 1, MCL 432.201 to 432.226, a casino at which gaming is
conducted under the Indian gaming regulatory act, Public Law 100-
497, 102 Stat. 2467, or property associated or affiliated with the
operation of either type of casino described in this subdivision,
including, but not limited to, a parking lot, hotel, motel, or
retail store.
(6) The commercialization board shall establish requirements
to ensure that money expended under this section shall not be used
for any of the following:
(a) Grants or loans to a person who has been convicted of a
criminal offense incident to the application for or performance of
a state contract or subcontract. As used in this subdivision, if a
person is a business entity, then person includes affiliates,
subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees as
determined by the fund board, and any person who, directly or
indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in that business entity of
20% or more.
(b) Grants or loans to a person who has been convicted of a
criminal offense, or held liable in a civil proceeding, that
negatively reflects on the person's business integrity, based on a
finding of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or
destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or violation of
state or federal antitrust statutes. As used in this subdivision,
if a person is a business entity, then person includes affiliates,
subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees as
determined by the fund board, and any person who, directly or
indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in that business entity of
20% or more.
(c) Grants or loans to induce a qualified business or a small
business to leave this state.
(d) Grants or loans that would contribute to the violation of
internationally recognized workers rights, as defined in section
507(4) of the trade act of 1974, 19 USC 2467(4), of workers in a
country other than the United States, including any designated zone
or area in that country.
(e) Grants or loans to a corporation or an affiliate of the
corporation incorporated in a tax haven country after September 11,
2001, but with the United States as the principal market for the
public trading of the corporation's stock. As used in this section,
"tax haven country" includes a country with tax laws that
facilitate avoidance by a corporation or an affiliate of the
corporation of United States tax obligations, including Barbados,
Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Commonwealth of
the Bahamas, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, the Principality of
Liechtenstein, the Principality of Monaco, and the Republic of the
Seychelles.
(7) When the commercialization board approves a grant or a
loan under this chapter, the commercialization board shall state
the specific objective reasons the applicant was selected over
other applicants for a grant or loan under this chapter.
(8) After March 31, 2006, before adopting a resolution that
establishes or substantially changes a program operated by the
commercialization board, including any fees, charges, or penalties
attached to that program, the commercialization board shall give
notice of the proposed resolution to the governor, to the secretary
of the senate, to the clerk of the house of representatives, to
members of the senate and house of representatives standing
committees on appropriations, and to each person who requested from
the fund in writing or electronically to be notified regarding
proposed resolutions. The notice and proposed resolution and all
attachments shall be published on the fund's internet website not
sooner than 10 days prior to the date that the proposed resolution
is considered by the commercialization board. The commercialization
board shall hold a public hearing not sooner than 14 days and not
longer than 30 days from the date notice of a proposed resolution
is given and offer a person an opportunity to present data, views,
questions, and arguments. Commercialization board members or 1 or
more persons designated by the commercialization board who have
knowledge of the subject matter of the proposed resolution shall be
present at the public hearing and shall participate in the
discussion of the proposed resolution. The commercialization board
may
act on the proposed resolution no sooner than 14 days after on
the day of the public hearing. The commercialization board shall
produce a final decision document that describes the basis for its
decision. The final resolution and all attachments and the decision
document shall be provided to the governor, to the secretary of the
senate, to the clerk of the house of representatives, and to
members of the senate and house of representatives standing
committees on appropriations and shall be published on the fund's
internet website.
(9) The notice described in subsection (8) shall include all
of the following:
(a) A copy of the proposed resolution and all attachments.
(b) A statement that the addressee may express any data,
views, or arguments regarding the proposed resolution.
(c) The address to which written comments may be sent and the
date by which comments must be mailed or electronically
transmitted, which date shall not be before the date of the public
hearing.
(d) The date, time, and place of the public hearing.