(a)  An eligible life sciences company may elect to determine its “base employment” for the purposes of this chapter on January 1 of any year subsequent to 2011, rather than on January 1, 2011. As a result of the election, rules comparable to those set forth elsewhere in this chapter shall be applied to determine the rate reduction available for each of the three (3) taxable years following the first anniversary of the date the eligible life sciences company elected to use to determine its “base employment” and for the taxable years following that three (3) year period. This election: (1) Shall be made in a manner that may be determined by the tax administrator; and (2) Shall not be available to an eligible company that previously claimed a rate reduction under this chapter.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.14-12

  • Eligible life sciences company: means a business corporation, partnership, firm, unincorporated association or other entity engaged in life sciences research, development, manufacturing or commercialization in the state, as further defined in this section, and any affiliate thereof, which is, or the members of which are, subject to taxation. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.14-4
  • Life sciences: means in advanced and applied sciences that expand the understanding of human physiology and have the potential to lead to medical advances or therapeutic applications including, but not limited to, agricultural biotechnology, biogenerics, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemical synthesis, chemistry technology, diagnostics, genomics, image analysis, marine biology, marine technology, medical devices, nanotechnology, natural product pharmaceuticals, proteomics, regenerative medicine, RNA interference, stem cell research, veterinary science or computer and information technology. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.14-4
  • Rate reduction: means the reduction in tax rate specified in §?42-64. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.14-4
  • State: means the State of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-64.14-4

(b)  The commission shall make no determination under subsection (a) of this section until it has first prepared and publicly released an analysis of the impact the proposed investment will or may have on the state. The analysis shall be supported by appropriate data and documentation and shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:

(1)  The impact on the industry or industries in which the applicant will be involved;

(2)  State fiscal matters, including the state budget (revenues and expenses);

(3)  The financial exposure of the taxpayers of the state under the plans for the proposed investment and negative foreseeable contingencies that may arise therefrom;

(4)  The approximate number of full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal and/or permanent jobs projected to be created, construction and non-construction;

(5)  Identification of geographic sources of the staffing for identified jobs;

(6)  The projected duration of the identified construction jobs;

(7)  The approximate wage rates for each category of the identified jobs;

(8)  The types of fringe benefits to be provided with the identified jobs, including healthcare insurance and any retirement benefits;

(9)  The projected fiscal impact on increased personal income taxes to the State of Rhode Island; and

(10)  The description of any plan or process intended to stimulate hiring from the host community, training of employees or potential employees, and outreach to minority job applicants and minority businesses.

(c)  The commission shall monitor every impact analysis it completes through the duration of any approved tax credit.

History of Section.
P.L. 2011, ch. 245, § 3; P.L. 2011, ch. 267, § 3.