The Senate Economic Development Committee sent Senate Bill 29 to the Senate Finance Committee in Wednesday’s meeting.
Senate Bill 29 would create a five-year credit for businesses on post-coal mine sites. Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, explained this bill is intended to help create businesses in post coal-mine areas which have been surfaced mined and are currently not occupied.
“(The bill) is meant to give a jumpstart on new businesses and encourage people to develop in areas where coal-mines no longer operate,” Stollings said. “This is really something people could look at and want to take advantage of.”
Currently, the bill is intended to give potential tax credits to businesses for five years following the first expenditures used by the business. Stollings said that the bill was introduced last session and was sent from the Senate to the House where it died.
Following a series of questions from the senators, the committee unanimously voted to add two amendments to the bill.
Sen. Michael Romano, D-Harrison, proposed two amendments — one amendment added the term “entities employed at the post coal-mine site” to a section of the bill. The second amendment changed the unused tax credit discussed in another section of the bill from five years to the first 10 taxable years during which a business is located on a post-coal mine site.
The committee unanimously voted to send the bill to the full Senate following referral to the Senate Finance Committee.
