LANSING – Negotiations continue on legislation that would sell one-quarter of the state’s annual payments from the national tobacco settlement to fund promising tech start ups and create jobs.
The House Commerce Committee moved some of the bills implementing this proposal to the full House on Wednesday, but they do not reflect the deal that officials claimed existed last week between the Granholm administration and the Legislature. Wednesday’s activity indicated there is no deal yet.
Under the proposal, the state would sell one-quarter of the annual tobacco payments to investors in exchange for an immediate lump-sum payment of about $1 billion. The money would then be distributed to venture capital and equity firms to put more capital into the state’s economy. The catch is that the state would forfeit its rights one-quarter of about 20 more years of tobacco settlements, which are about $285 million each year.
The committee’s most significant move was to link the securitization/jobs fund bills to the House Republican business tax plan with a tie-bar so that neither package of bills can become law without both being signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), a leading House member on the issue, said reports of an agreement last week were “fairly accurate.” However, he said of the legislation’s present status, “We don’t have a deal.”
Huizenga declined to discuss what issues remain unresolved.
Rep. Andy Dillon (D-Redford), who teamed up with Huizenga to sponsor the securitization concept, also said of the situation, “It’s not done.”
Dillon declined to discuss specifics. However, he did voice disappointment at the tying of the tax and securitization bills. Without the tie-bar, Dillon said some of the committee’s Democrats would have supported the bills approved Wednesday.
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