2003 House Bill 5255 ↩

House Roll Call 727: Passed

To extend the Dec. 31, 2003 sunset of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) until Dec. 31, 2009, and expand the types of firms MEGA could grant benefits to. MEGA is authorized to grant tax credits to companies that promise (but are not required to guarantee) to create or retain a certain number of jobs. The bill would add a provision requiring the governor to appoint to the current eight-member MEGA board two members nominated by the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. The bill would also require that gubernatorial appointments to MEGA be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. MEGA beneficiary firms would be required to make a good-faith effort to use Michigan-based suppliers and vendors when purchasing goods and services, and to disclose to the state the names of corporate officers, board members, and partners. The bill would eliminate MEGA's power to impose administrative rules on participating businesses, and contains language authorizing tax breaks targeted at a facility in Greenville owned by the ElectroLux company which employs 2,000 workers and is scheduled to close. It also creates new tax credit categories, one for eligible businesses in a county with a population of 75,000 or less, and one for “distressed businesses,” defined as a business with 150 or more employees who laid off more than 30 percent of its employees during a consecutive two-year period during the last four years.