HSB 127 (LSB 1261YC (5) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON SORENSEN)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to small businesses and the community attraction and tourism program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 15F.201, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  “Small business” means any enterprise which is located in this state, which is operated for profit and under a single management, and which has either fewer than twenty employees or an annual gross income of less than four million dollars computed as the average of the enterprise’s immediately preceding three consecutive fiscal years.
    Sec. 2.  Section 15F.202, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   A city or county in the state or, a public organization, or a small business may submit an application to the board for financial assistance for a project under the program. The assistance shall be provided only from funds, rights, and assets legally available to the board and shall be in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans, and credit enhancement and financing instruments. The application shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
    Sec. 3.  Section 15F.204, subsections 5, 6, and 7, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   5.  The board shall allocate all moneys in the fund in the following manner:
   a.  One-third of the moneys shall be allocated to provide assistance to cities and counties, or to small businesses located wholly within the city or county, which meet the following criteria:
   (1)  A city which has a population of ten thousand or less according to the most recently published census.
   (2)  A county which has a population that ranks in the bottom thirty-three counties according to the most recently published census.
   b.  Two-thirds of the moneys shall be allocated to provide assistance to any small business, city, and county in the state, which may include a small business, city, or county included under paragraph “a”.
   6.  If two or more cities, or counties, or small businesses submit a joint project application for financial assistance under the program, all joint applicants must meet the criteria of subsection 5, paragraph “a”, in order to receive any moneys allocated under that paragraph.
   7.  If any portion of the allocated moneys under subsection 5, paragraph “a”, has not been awarded by April 1 of the fiscal year for which the allocation is made, the portion which has not been awarded may be utilized by the board to provide financial assistance under the program to any small business, city, or county in the state.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill permits a small business to submit an application for financial assistance through the community attraction and tourism program. “Small business” is defined in the bill. The bill makes conforming changes to Code section 15F.204.