LANSING – Legislation to ensure that Michigan makes no more tax voucher grants to companies through the Early Stage Venture Investment Corporation were sent to the full Senate Thursday.

The three bills – HB 4195, HB 4196 and HB 4365 – were reported unanimously by the members of the Economic Development and International Investment Committee.

The committee also reported a bill changing how often the state has to certify what the taxable minimum wage will be under the employment security act. Democrats on the panel voted against that bill because it did not include a tie-bar to legislation to restore some unemployment benefits.

The early stage venture bills were made necessary when it was discovered the grants made after the corporation was set up in 2003 had failed to produce the economic development results hoped for, putting the state in a position of losing some $600 million. The discovery of that situation created a budgeting worry for the state which the bills are expected to help ease.

Under the legislation, the state could no longer issue any tax vouchers under the program and the total number of certificates available would be reduced to the $450 million already issued.

The bills also change the expiration date of the fund and the vouchers from 2054 to 2030.

The panel adopted an amendment stipulating that up to $154 million of any revenue the state recoups go to the General Fund, and that any monies after that go to the 21st Century Jobs Fund. Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) said the fund has helped finance companies that have grown and added more than 1,000 jobs to the state.

Under SB 500, the state would no longer determine quarterly if the base taxable wage under which unemployment protection tax is paid is $9,500 or has to be reduced to $9,000 based on the financial condition of the state’s unemployment compensation fund.

The bill would have the state make the declaration once a year, on June 30, if the wage remains at $9,500 or is reduced to $9,000.

Warren proposed tie-barring the bill to HB 4655, which would restore six weeks of unemployment benefits cut by the state in 2011. Jobless workers have not seen an increase in their benefits in nearly 40 years, and the bill would help provide benefits for those still unable to find work. The amendment failed along party lines.

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