AB733: Bill Text

LRB-3606/2

MPG&JK:kjf&nwn:rs

2011 - 2012 LEGISLATURE

2011 Assembly BILL 733

March 15, 2012 - Introduced by Representatives Jorgensen, Barca, Berceau, Bernard Schaber, Bewley, Danou, Fields, Mason, Molepske Jr, Pasch, Seidel, Sinicki, Staskunas and Turner, cosponsored by Senator T. Cullen. Referred to Committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business.

AB733,1,10 An Act to amend 1.12 (1) (b), 13.172 (1), 13.48 (13) (a), 13.62 (2), 13.94 (1) (mm), 13.94 (4) (a) 1., 13.95 (intro.), 16.002 (2), 16.004 (4), 16.004 (5), 16.004 (12) (a), 16.045 (1) (a), 16.15 (1) (ab), 16.41 (4), 16.417 (1) (b), 16.52 (7), 16.528 (1) (a), 16.53 (2), 16.54 (9) (a) 1., 16.765 (1), 16.765 (2), 16.765 (5), 16.765 (6), 16.765 (7) (intro.), 16.765 (7) (d), 16.765 (8), 16.85 (2), 16.865 (8), 100.45 (1) (dm), 101.177 (1) (d) and 230.03 (3); and to create 13.94 (1) (dx), 13.94 (1s) (c) 6., 19.42 (10) (t), 19.42 (13) (p), 40.02 (54) (n), 70.11 (38v), 71.10 (5w), 71.30 (12) and chapter 239 of the statutes; relating to: creation of the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority and creation of the business seed fund, to be administered by the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Wisconsin SEED FUND authority

This bill creates an authority to be known as the "Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority" (authority).

Composition and General Operation

Board of directors

Under the bill, the authority is governed by a seven-member board of directors (board) that consists of four members from the private sector nominated by the governor and appointed with the advice and consent of the senate, one member appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one member appointed by the senate majority leader, and the chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Except for the chief executive officer of WEDC, the members of the board serve staggered four-year terms and must have experience that qualifies them to serve on the board.

The bill gives the board the powers necessary or convenient to carry out its duties, as well as specific powers to conduct its corporate business. Under the bill, the authority is a participating employer in the Wisconsin Retirement System. The board may hire an executive director. In addition to the members appointed by the governor, the members of the board appointed by the speaker of the assembly and the senate majority leader and the executive director of the authority, if any, are subject to state ethics laws.

Business Seed Fund

The bill directs the authority to establish a fund to be known as the "business seed fund" (fund).

Financing of the fund

The bill allows a financial institution to designate to the Department of Revenue that up to 80 percent of its estimated income or franchise tax payment be deposited into the fund (participant financial institution). The bill defines a financial institution to be a bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, trust company, or credit union, whether chartered under the laws of this state, another state or territory, or under the laws of the United States.

Grants, loans, and investments of business seed fund capital

Moneys in or received from the fund are referred to as "fund capital" in the bill. Under the bill, the authority may make a grant or loan of fund capital to, or may make an investment of fund capital in, a business proposed to the authority by a participant financial institution. The authority may commit fund capital to such a grant, loan, or investment only if all of the following requirements are satisfied:

1. The business is or will be headquartered in Wisconsin.

2. The business is a seed or early stage business as determined by the authority.

3. The participant financial institution or the business demonstrates to the satisfaction of the authority that the grant, loan, or investment will assist the business to create and retain for a period of time established by the authority full-time jobs in addition to any existing full-time jobs the business already provides.

4. The authority's loan or investment in a business is on terms that are substantially equivalent to the terms applicable for the business's other lenders or investors that are in the seed capital industry.

Under the bill, the authority may share profits from a loan or investment with the participant financial institution that proposes that loan or investment. Also, the authority may require that a business that receives a grant of fund capital repay to the authority the amount of the grant under conditions established by the authority.

Reporting Requirements

Under the bill, the authority must submit an annual report to the legislature and the governor that contains all of the following information:

1. An accounting of the moneys the authority received from participant financial institutions during the preceding year.

2. An accounting of all expenditures from the fund during the preceding year for any purpose.

3. For each business that received a grant, loan, or investment from the authority, the name and address of the business; a description of the nature of the business; the amount of the grant, loan, or investment; a description of the purposes for which the business used or is using the grant, loan, or investment; and a statement of the number of employees the business employed when the business first received a grant, loan, or investment of fund capital, the number of employees the business employed on January 1 of the year preceding the year of the report, and the number of employees the business employed on December 31 of that year.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB733, s. 1 Section 1. 1.12 (1) (b) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 7, is amended to read:

AB733,3,9 1.12 (1) (b) "State agency" means an office, department, agency, institution of higher education, the legislature, a legislative service agency, the courts, a judicial branch agency, an association, society, or other body in state government that is created or authorized to be created by the constitution or by law, for which appropriations are made by law, excluding the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan Authority, the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

AB733, s. 2 Section 2. 13.172 (1) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is amended to read:

AB733,4,8 13.172 (1) In this section, "agency" means an office, department, agency, institution of higher education, association, society, or other body in state government created or authorized to be created by the constitution or any law, that is entitled to expend moneys appropriated by law, including the legislature and the courts, and any authority created in subch. II of ch. 114 or subch. III of ch. 149 or in ch. 231, 233, 234, 238, 239, or 279.

AB733, s. 3 Section 3. 13.48 (13) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is amended to read:

AB733,4,23 13.48 (13) (a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), every building, structure or facility that is constructed for the benefit of or use of the state, any state agency, board, commission or department, the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority, the Fox River Navigational System Authority, the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or any local professional baseball park district created under subch. III of ch. 229 if the construction is undertaken by the department of administration on behalf of the district, shall be in compliance with all applicable state laws, rules, codes and regulations but the construction is not subject to the ordinances or regulations of the municipality in which the construction takes place except zoning, including without limitation because of enumeration ordinances or regulations relating to materials used, permits, supervision of construction or installation, payment of permit fees, or other restrictions.

AB733, s. 4 Section 4. 13.62 (2) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is amended to read:

AB733,5,5 13.62 (2) "Agency" means any board, commission, department, office, society, institution of higher education, council, or committee in the state government, or any authority created in subch. II of ch. 114 or subch. III of ch. 149 or in ch. 231, 232, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239, or 279, except that the term does not include a council or committee of the legislature.

AB733, s. 5 Section 5. 13.94 (1) (dx) of the statutes is created to read:

AB733,5,11 13.94 (1) (dx) Biennially, beginning in 2013, conduct a financial audit of the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority and a program evaluation audit of the programs administered by the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority under ch. 239. The legislative audit bureau shall file a copy of each audit report under this paragraph with the distributees specified in par. (b).

AB733, s. 6 Section 6. 13.94 (1) (mm) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 32, is amended to read:

AB733,5,23 13.94 (1) (mm) No later than July 1, 2012, prepare a financial and performance evaluation audit of the economic development programs administered by the University of Wisconsin System, the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, the department of natural resources, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the department of tourism, the technical college system, and the department of transportation. In this paragraph, economic development program has the meaning given in s. 23.167 (1). The legislative audit bureau shall file a copy of the report of the audit under this paragraph with the distributees specified in par. (b).

AB733, s. 7 Section 7. 13.94 (1s) (c) 6. of the statutes is created to read:

AB733,6,2 13.94 (1s) (c) 6. The Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority for the cost of the audit required to be performed under sub. (1) (dx).

AB733, s. 8 Section 8. 13.94 (4) (a) 1. of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is amended to read:

AB733,6,21 13.94 (4) (a) 1. Every state department, board, examining board, affiliated credentialing board, commission, independent agency, council or office in the executive branch of state government; all bodies created by the legislature in the legislative or judicial branch of state government; any public body corporate and politic created by the legislature including specifically the Fox River Navigational System Authority, the Lower Fox River Remediation Authority, the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority, the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a professional baseball park district, a local professional football stadium district, a local cultural arts district, and a long-term care district under s. 46.2895; every Wisconsin works agency under subch. III of ch. 49; every provider of medical assistance under subch. IV of ch. 49; technical college district boards; every county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437; every nonprofit corporation or cooperative or unincorporated cooperative association to which moneys are specifically appropriated by state law; and every corporation, institution, association or other organization which receives more than 50% of its annual budget from appropriations made by state law, including subgrantee or subcontractor recipients of such funds.

AB733, s. 9 Section 9. 13.95 (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is amended to read:

AB733,7,12 13.95 Legislative fiscal bureau. (intro.) There is created a bureau to be known as the "Legislative Fiscal Bureau" headed by a director. The fiscal bureau shall be strictly nonpartisan and shall at all times observe the confidential nature of the research requests received by it; however, with the prior approval of the requester in each instance, the bureau may duplicate the results of its research for distribution. Subject to s. 230.35 (4) (a) and (f), the director or the director's designated employees shall at all times, with or without notice, have access to all state agencies, the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority, the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority, the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan Authority, the Lower Fox River Remediation Authority, the Wisconsin Seed Fund Authority, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and the Fox River Navigational System Authority, and to any books, records, or other documents maintained by such agencies or authorities and relating to their expenditures, revenues, operations, and structure.