Substitute Senate Bill No. 260
AN ACT AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL USES OF FUNDS AVAILABLE TO CTNEXT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 32-235 of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(b) The proceeds of the sale of said bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Department of Economic and Community Development (1) for the purposes of sections 32-220 to 32-234, inclusive, including economic cluster-related programs and activities, and for the Connecticut job training finance demonstration program pursuant to sections 32-23uu and 32-23vv, provided (A) three million dollars shall be used by said department solely for the purposes of section 32-23uu and not more than five million two hundred fifty thousand dollars of the amount stated in said subsection (a) may be used by said department for the purposes of section 31-3u, (B) not less than one million dollars shall be used for an educational technology grant to the deployment center program and the nonprofit business consortium deployment center approved pursuant to section 32-41l, (C) not less than two million dollars shall be used by said department for the establishment of a pilot program to make grants to businesses in designated areas of the state for construction, renovation or improvement of small manufacturing facilities, provided such grants are matched by the business, a municipality or another financing entity. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall designate areas of the state where manufacturing is a substantial part of the local economy and shall make grants under such pilot program which are likely to produce a significant economic development benefit for the designated area, (D) five million dollars may be used by said department for the manufacturing competitiveness grants program, (E) one million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, for the purposes of subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of section 32-7f, (F) fifty million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of grants to the United States Department of the Navy, the United States Department of Defense or eligible applicants for projects related to the enhancement of infrastructure for long-term, on-going naval operations at the United States Naval Submarine Base-New London, located in Groton, which will increase the military value of said base. Such projects shall not be subject to the provisions of sections 4a-60 and 4a-60a, (G) two million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc., for manufacturing initiatives, including aerospace and defense, and (H) four million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to companies adversely impacted by the construction at the Quinnipiac Bridge, where such grant may be used to offset the increase in costs of commercial overland transportation of goods or materials brought to the port of New Haven by ship or vessel, (2) for the purposes of the small business assistance program established pursuant to section 32-9yy, provided fifteen million dollars shall be deposited in the small business assistance account established pursuant to said section 32-9yy, (3) to deposit twenty million dollars in the small business express assistance account established pursuant to section 32-7h, (4) to deposit four million nine hundred thousand dollars per year in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2019, inclusive, and June 30, 2021, and nine million nine hundred thousand dollars in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, in the CTNext Fund established pursuant to section 32-39i, which shall be used by CTNext to provide grants-in-aid to designated innovation places, as defined in section 32-39j, planning grants-in-aid pursuant to section 32-39l, and grants-in-aid for projects that network innovation places pursuant to subsection (b) of section 32-39m, provided not more than three million dollars be used for grants-in-aid for such projects, and further provided any portion of any such deposit that remains unexpended in a fiscal year subsequent to the date of such deposit may be used by CTNext for any purpose described in subsection (e) of section 32-39i, (5) to deposit two million dollars per year in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, in the CTNext Fund established pursuant to section 32-39i, which shall be used by CTNext for the purpose of providing higher education entrepreneurship grants-in-aid pursuant to section 32-39g, provided any portion of any such deposit that remains unexpended in a fiscal year subsequent to the date of such deposit may be used by CTNext for any purpose described in subsection (e) of section 32-39i, (6) for the purpose of funding the costs of the Technology Talent Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 32-7p, provided two million dollars per year in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, shall be used for such purpose, (7) to provide (A) a grant-in-aid to the Connecticut Supplier Connection in an amount equal to two hundred fifty thousand dollars in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, and (B) a grant-in-aid to the Connecticut Procurement Technical Assistance Program in an amount equal to three hundred thousand dollars in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, (8) to deposit four hundred fifty thousand dollars per year, in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, in the CTNext Fund established pursuant to section 32-39i, which shall be used by CTNext to provide [four hundred fifty thousand dollars in each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, for the purposes of] growth grants-in-aid pursuant to section 32-39g, provided any portion of any such deposit that remains unexpended in a fiscal year subsequent to the date of such deposit may be used by CTNext for any purpose described in subsection (e) of section 32-39i. Not later than thirty days prior to any use of unexpended funds under subdivision (4), (5) or (8) of this subsection, the CTNext board of directors shall provide notice of and the reason for such use to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce and finance, revenue and bonding.