BILL REQ. #:  S-0849.1 

Read first time 02/15/2005.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to the small business incubator program; and amending RCW 43.176.030.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 43.176.030 and 2004 c 237 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The small business incubator program is created in the department of community, trade, and economic development to provide start-up and operating assistance to qualified small business incubators.
     (2) The department shall award grants to qualified small business incubator organizations for:
     (a) Construction and equipment costs, up to a maximum of three million dollars per recipient; and
     (b) Provision of technical assistance to small businesses, up to a maximum of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars per year per recipient.
     (3) The department shall:
     (a) Require a grant recipient to show that it has the resources to complete the project in a timely manner and the state grant is not the sole source of funds;
     (b) Develop, in conjunction with the Washington association of small business incubators, criteria for receipt of grant funds, including criteria related to organizational capacity, community need, and the availability of other economic development resources;
     (c) Accept and receive grants, gifts, and pledges of funds for the support of the small business incubator program, which shall be deposited in the small business incubator account established in RCW 43.176.040; ((and))
     (d) Integrate the promotion of small business incubators as economic development tools in its strategic plan; and
     (e) Develop state tax incentive proposals for persons that invest or otherwise provide financial assistance to clients of qualified small business incubators certified by the Washington association of small business incubators. The department shall submit a report to the appropriate committee of the house of representatives and senate of the state of Washington, by December 1, 2005, with recommendations on state tax incentives that should be considered by the legislature to encourage investment in the clients serviced by qualified small business incubators certified by the Washington association of small business incubators.