AN ACT relating to economic development.
     Create new sections of KRS Chapter 154 to provide definitions; allow the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to promulgate regulations for making an application to become a certified capital company; require the applicant to pay a nonrefundable application fee of $7,500; require a certified capital company's equity capitalization to be a minimum of $500,000 at the time of application; require the authority to review the application and verify that at least two principals of a certified capital company have not less than two years of experience in venture capital; require the authority to issue or refuse certification of the application within thirty days of its receipt; allow an applicant that was refused certification to submit an amended application for review; state that no insurance company shall directly or indirectly own fifteen percent or more of the voting equity interests of a certified capital company; allow any certified investor to earn a vested credit against state premium tax liability equal to one hundred percent of the investor's investment of capital; state than any credit that may be applied against state tax liability in any one year may not exceed the tax liability of the investor in that year; allow credits to be carried forward indefinitely; state that the aggregate amount of capital for which tax credits shall be allowed for all investors shall not exceed ten million dollars of credits per year for ten years; state that credits shall be allocated to certified investors in the order that tax credit allocation claims are received by the authority; require certified capital companies to make qualified investments within a designated time frame; allow qualified businesses to receive follow-on investments; allow a certified capital company, before an investment is made, to request an opinion from the authority stating whether a business shall be considered a qualified business; establish guidelines for investing certified capital when such capital is not invested in certified businesses; set forth reporting requirements for certified capital companies; require each certified capital company to pay an annual certification fee of five thousand dollars to the authority; require that not less than ten percent of qualified investments made by certified capital companies shall be made in businesses headquartered or located in a low-income community within the Commonwealth; establish parameters and criteria for distributions from certified capital companies to certified investors; require the authority to conduct an annual review of each certified capital company to determine if the company is abiding by the requirements for certification; provide criteria and guidelines for the decertification of a certified capital company; allow earned tax credits to be transferred or sold to any other person with state premium tax liability.

     Feb 25-introduced in House
     Feb 26-to Appropriations and Revenue (H)