HOUSE BILL No. 5920

 

November 6, 2014, Introduced by Rep. Schor and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

 

     A bill to amend 1984 PA 270, entitled

 

"Michigan strategic fund act,"

 

by amending section 7 (MCL 125.2007), as amended by 2005 PA 225.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 7. (1) The fund shall have the powers and duties provided

 

in this act, the powers delegated by other laws or executive

 

orders, including, but not limited to, the power to:

 

     (a) Sue and be sued; to have a seal and alter the same at

 

pleasure; to have perpetual succession; to make, execute, and

 

deliver contracts, conveyances, and other instruments necessary or

 

convenient to the exercise of its powers; and to make and amend

 

bylaws.

 

     (b) Solicit and accept gifts, grants, loans, and other aids

 

from any person or the federal, state, or a local government or any


 

agency of the federal, state, or a local government, or to

 

participate in any other way in any federal, state, or local

 

government program.

 

     (c) Make grants, loans, and investments; to guarantee and

 

insure loans, leases, bonds, notes, or other indebtedness, whether

 

public or private; and to issue letters of credit.

 

     (d) Construct; acquire by gift, purchase, installment

 

purchase, or lease; and reconstruct, improve, repair, or equip a

 

project or any part of a project.

 

     (e) Borrow money and issue bonds and notes to finance part or

 

all of the project costs of a project, or of a loan under

 

subdivision (r) for an export transaction, and to secure those

 

bonds and notes by mortgage, assignment, or pledge of any of its

 

money, revenues, income, and properties. The authority provided by

 

this subdivision includes, but is not limited to, issuing bonds and

 

notes to acquire and install machinery, equipment, furnishings, and

 

other personal property, notwithstanding that the fund does not own

 

or propose to own or finance the building or land in or near to

 

which the machinery, equipment, furnishings, and other personal

 

property is or is to be located.

 

     (f) Acquire or contract to acquire from any person,

 

municipality, the federal or state government, or any agency of the

 

foregoing, or otherwise, leaseholds, real or personal property or

 

any interest in real or personal property; to own, hold, clear,

 

improve, and rehabilitate and to sell, assign, exchange, transfer,

 

convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of or encumber

 

leaseholds, real or personal property or any interest in real or


 

personal property, as is convenient for the accomplishment of the

 

purposes of this act and of the fund.

 

     (g) Procure insurance against any loss in connection with the

 

fund's property, assets, or activities.

 

     (h) Invest any money of the fund at the fund's discretion, in

 

any obligations determined proper by the fund, and name and use

 

depositories for its money.

 

     (i) Engage personnel as is necessary and engage the services

 

of private consultants, managers, counsel, auditors, engineers, and

 

scientists for rendering professional management and technical

 

assistance and advice, payable out of any money of the fund legally

 

available for this purpose.

 

     (j) Charge, impose, and collect fees and charges in connection

 

with any transaction and provide for reasonable penalties for

 

delinquent payment of fees or charges.

 

     (k) Indemnify and procure insurance indemnifying any members

 

of the board from personal loss or accountability from liability

 

asserted by a person on the bonds or notes of the fund or from any

 

personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of

 

the bonds, notes, insurance, or guarantees; by reason of

 

acquisition, construction, ownership, or operation of a project; or

 

by reason of any other action taken or the failure to act by the

 

fund.

 

     (l) Enter into a lease for the use or sale of a project. The

 

lease may provide for options to purchase or renew.

 

     (m) Mortgage or create security interests in a project or any

 

part of a project, or in a lease or loan, or in the rents,


 

revenues, or sums to be paid thereunder, in favor of the holders of

 

the bonds or notes issued by the fund.

 

     (n) Convey or release a project or any part of a project to a

 

lessee, purchaser, or borrower under any agreement after provision

 

has been made for the retirement in full of the bonds or notes

 

issued for that project under terms and conditions provided in the

 

agreement or as may be agreed with the holders of the bonds or

 

notes, at any time where the obligation of the lessee, purchaser,

 

or borrower to make the payments prescribed shall remain fixed as

 

provided in the agreement notwithstanding the conveyance or

 

release, or as may otherwise be agreed with the holders of the

 

bonds or notes.

 

     (o) Make loans, participate in the making of loans, undertake

 

commitments to make loans and mortgages, buy and sell loans and

 

mortgages at public or private sale, rewrite loans and mortgages,

 

discharge loans and mortgages, foreclose on a mortgage, commence an

 

action to protect or enforce a right conferred upon the fund by a

 

law, mortgage, loan, contract, or other agreement, bid for and

 

purchase property which was the subject of the mortgage at a

 

foreclosure or other sale, acquire or take possession of the

 

property and in that event complete, administer, pay the principal

 

and interest on obligations incurred in connection with that

 

property, and dispose of and otherwise deal with the property, in a

 

manner as may be necessary or desirable to protect the interests of

 

the fund.

 

     (p) Certify, for the purpose of determining eligible

 

investments for the basis of a single business tax credit, minority


 

venture capital companies, as defined by law.

 

     (q) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, to

 

create and operate centers, accounts, and funds as required or

 

permitted by law for the use and disbursement of assets of the

 

fund. The powers granted under this subdivision do not apply to

 

chapter 8A.

 

     (r) To make Make loans to a financial institution to

 

facilitate financing of all or part of an export related

 

transaction including, but not limited to, pre-export working

 

capital financing and postexport receivable financing.

 

     (s) Do all other things necessary or convenient to achieve the

 

objectives and purposes of the fund, this act, or other laws that

 

relate to the purposes and responsibilities of the fund.

 

     (2) Beginning January 1, 2015, the fund board shall provide

 

that all loan, grant, incentive, or other economic assistance

 

programs operated under this act provide that the loan, grant,

 

incentive, or other economic assistance shall not be awarded to any

 

business entity that has undergone a tax inversion within the

 

immediately preceding 10-year period from the date of the

 

application for the loan, grant, incentive, or other economic

 

assistance under this act. As used in this subsection, "tax

 

inversion" means the relocation of a business entity's corporate

 

headquarters to a lower tax country while maintaining its material

 

operations in this country as determined by the state treasurer.