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Senators MATTHEWS, LAND, FORD, GLOVER, JACKSON, PATTERSON and WASHINGTON proposed the following Amendment No. 120 (3362R303.JWM), which was adopted:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part II, on page 601, after line 31, by adding a new section to read:

A. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Many of South Carolina's urban and rural communities face critical social and economic problems arising in part from the lack of economic growth, people living in poverty, and the lack of employment and other opportunities.

(2) The restoration and maintenance of these communities will require increased access to credit and capital for development activities, including investment in businesses, housing, human development, and other activities that promote the long-term economic and social viability of the community.

(3) Access to credit and capital is essential to unleash the untapped entrepreneurial energy of South Carolina's poorest communities and to empower individuals and communities to become self-sufficient.

(4) Community development financial institutions have proven their ability to identify and respond to community needs for capital, credit, and development services in the absence of, or as a complement to, services provided by other lenders.

B. Title 34 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

Section 34-30-10. (A) There is created a South Carolina Community Development Financial Institutions Commission. The commission shall exist for the purpose of certifying entities as community development financial institutions, as defined in Section 34-30-40. The commission may also make grants to community development financial institutions from grant funds made available to it by the General Assembly or from other available funds. The General Assembly may appropriate funds to the commission to be used to make grants to community development financial institutions as authorized herein.

(B) In addition to any other powers set forth in this chapter, the commission may:

(1) adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out its powers;

(2) contract for and accept, for use in carrying out the provisions of this chapter, any grant or contribution of funds from any political subdivision of the State or from any other source and comply, subject to the provisions of this chapter, with the terms and conditions thereof; and

(3) do anything necessary or convenient to carry out its powers and functions.

(C) The commission may receive funds from, among other sources, state appropriations and private contributions.

Section 34-30-20. (A) The governing body of the commission shall consist of the following seven members:

(1) a chairman, representing a federally-chartered or state-chartered financial institution doing business in this State, who must be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(2) two members appointed by the Legislative Black Caucus;

(3) one member recommended by the South Carolina Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(4) one member recommended by an Urban League to be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate; and

(C) A member who is appointed to fill a vacancy on the Commission shall serve only for the remainder of the unexpired term and until a successor is appointed and qualified.

(D) The commission shall cease to exist on July 1, 2001, unless further authorized by the General Assembly.

Section 34-30-30. (A) Four appointed members of the commission are a quorum. However, the commission may not act on any matter unless at least four members in attendance concur.

(B) The commission shall determine the times and places of its meetings.

(C) Members of the commission, while serving on business of the commission, shall receive, to the extent funding is available, per diem, mileage, and subsistence as provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions.

(D) The commission may, to the extent funding is available, employ or contract for such staff and consultants as it deems necessary to assist in carrying out its duties and responsibilities under this chapter.

(E) In its internal functions, the commission shall keep proper records of its accounts and follow the procedures of this State that govern the purchase of office space, supplies, facilities, materials, equipment, and professional services. The commission must be audited by the State Auditor as provided in Chapter 7 of Title 11.

(F) The commission shall make an annual report on its condition and operations to the General Assembly and the Governor, including the information required to be reported by Section 34-30-60.

Section 34-30-40. (A) The commission may certify an entity as a community development financial institution if it meets the definition provided in subsection (B).

(B) For purposes of this section:

(1) `Community development financial institution' means an organization that:

(a) has a primary mission of promoting community development through the provision of credit, capital, or development services to small businesses or home mortgage assistance to individuals, including, but not

(b) provides service delivery throughout the State;

(c) maintains through representation on its governing board accountability to persons in need of the institution's services;

(d) is not an agent or instrumentality of the United States, or of any state or political subdivision of a state or maintains an affiliate relationship with the above;

(e) maintains a goal of providing a majority of its services to low-income individuals, minorities, or females;

(f) provides capital and technical assistance to small and micro businesses, or mortgage assistance to individuals; and

(g) has been certified or recertified as a community development financial institution as provided in this chapter.

(2) `Low-income' means individuals whose income level falls within the eightieth percentile of the mean income for a family of four within this State.

(3) The term `invest' includes any advance of funds to a community development financial institution whether by purchase of stock, the making of a loan, or otherwise.

(C) Banks and financial institutions chartered by the State of South Carolina are authorized to invest in community development financial institutions incorporated under the laws of this State, up to a maximum of ten percent of a chartered bank or financial institution's total capital and surplus.

(D) A federally-chartered or state-chartered financial institution holding company may qualify as a community development financial institution only if the holding company and the subsidiaries and affiliates of the holding company collectively satisfy the requirements of subsection (B). (E)A community development financial institution shall not be subject to any taxes based upon or measured by income which are now or may be hereafter levied by the State.

Section 34-30-50. (A) Certification of a community development financial institution shall expire two years from the date of certification.

(B) Certification of a community development financial institution may be renewed for additional two year periods upon application by the institution and approval by the commission.

(C) The commission shall not renew certification of an institution unless it continues to comply with the provisions of Section 34-30-40.

Section 34-30-60. Each year, every community development financial institution shall file with the commission, on or before the anniversary date of its certification, a report for the preceding calendar year. The report shall give information with respect to the financial condition of the institution, and shall include balance sheets at the beginning and end of the accounting period, a statement of income and expenses for the period, a reconciliation of surplus with the balance sheets, a schedule of assets used and useful by the institution to conduct its business, an analysis of charges, size and type of loans and other activities described in Section 34-30-40(B)(1)(a) and such other relevant information in form and detail as the commission may prescribe. Such report shall be made under oath and shall be in the form prescribed by the commission which shall make and publish annually an analysis and recapitulation of such reports, for inclusion in its annual report to the Governor and General Assembly as provided in Section 34-30-30(F)."

C. Article 10, Chapter 7, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 12-7-1255. (A) A taxpayer may claim as a credit against his state income tax, bank tax or premium tax liability fifty percent of all amounts invested in a community development financial institution, as defined in Section 34-30-40.

To qualify for this credit the taxpayer must obtain a certificate from the South Carolina Community Development Financial Institutions Commission certifying that the entity into which such funds are invested is a community development financial institution within the meaning of Section 34-30-40 and certifying that the credit taken or available to that taxpayer will not exceed the aggregate ten million dollar limitation of all such credits as provided in subsection (B) when added to the credits previously taken or available to other taxpayers making similar investments.

(B) The total amount of credits allowed under this section may not exceed in the aggregate ten million dollars for all taxpayers and all taxable years. The credit must be allowed to taxpayers in the order of the time of the making of the qualified investments in community development financial institutions.

The commission shall monitor the investments made by taxpayers in community development financial institutions as permitted by this section

(C) If the amount of the credit determined under subsection (A) exceeds the taxpayer's state tax liability for the applicable taxable year, then the taxpayer may carry the excess over to the immediately succeeding taxable years. However, the credit carryover may not be used for any taxable year that begins on or after ten years from the date of the qualified investment. The amount of the credit carryover from a taxable year must be reduced to the extent that the carryover is used by the taxpayer to obtain a credit under this chapter for any subsequent taxable year.

(D) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (A), (B), and (C) above, if on April 1, 1996, or as soon thereafter as the commission is able to determine, the total amount of tax credits which may be claimed by all taxpayers exceeds the total amount of tax credits authorized by this section, then the credits must be determined on a pro rata basis. For purposes of this subsection, any community development financial institution for which an investments may be claimed as a tax credit under this section must report all investments made prior to April 1, 1996 to the commission by April 1, 1996, which shall, as soon as reasonably possible, inform all community development financial institutions of the total of all investments in all institutions as of April 1, 1996.

(E) If a qualified investment which is the basis for a credit under this chapter is redeemed by a taxpayer within five years of the date it is purchased, the credit provided by this chapter for the qualified investment is disallowed, and any credit previously claimed and allowed with respect to the qualified investment so redeemed must be paid to the Department of Revenue and Taxation with the appropriate return of the taxpayer covering the period in which the redemption occurred. When payments are made to the Department of Revenue and Taxation under this section, the amount collected must be handled in the same manner as if no credit had been allowed.

(F) To receive the credit provided by this chapter, a taxpayer shall:

(1) claim the credit on the taxpayer's annual state income or premium tax return in the manner prescribed by the Department of Revenue and Taxation; and

(2) file with the Department of Revenue and Taxation and with the taxpayer's annual state income or premium tax return a copy of the form issued by the commission as to the qualified investment by the taxpayer, which includes an undertaking by the taxpayer to report to the Department of Revenue and Taxation any redemption of the qualified investment.

(1) the name, address, and identification number of the taxpayer who purchased a qualified investment; and

(2) the nature of the qualified investment purchased by the taxpayer and the amount paid for it.

These forms must be filed with the Department of Revenue and Taxation on or before the fifteenth day of the third month following the month in which the qualified investment is purchased. Copies of the forms to be provided to the Department of Revenue and Taxation must be mailed to the taxpayer on or before the fifteenth day of the second month following the month in which the qualified investment is purchased.

(H) No taxpayer may claim the tax credit provided in this section unless the community development financial institution in which the investment is made has been certified at the time the investment is made.

(I) A taxpayer may transfer or assign the tax credit provided in this section, except that for purposes of any time period within an act must occur under this section, such transfer or assignment shall relate back to the time of original investment made by the transferor or assignor.

(J) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the total amount of credits which may be allowed by the Department of Revenue and Taxation shall not exceed five million dollars, respectively, for the fiscal years 1996-97 and 1997-98. Any credit which is disallowed because of this subsection may be carried forward as provided in this section."

D. The General Assembly may provide funds in the annual General Appropriation Act only to be used to provide funds available to the commission to make grants to community development financial institutions and may also provide funds in the annual General Appropriation Act to be used to pay salaries, employee benefits, and administrative expenses of the commission.

E. This section takes effect upon approval of the Governor, except that Section C. applies to tax years beginning after 1995./

Amend sections, totals and title to conform.

Senator LAND explained the amendment.

Senator LAND moved that the amendment be adopted.

The amendment was adopted.

Senator LAND proposed the following Amendment No. 126 (PFM\7455BDW.95), which was adopted:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part II, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

A. Section 44-2-20(7) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(7) `Owner' means:

(a) in the case of an underground storage tank system in use on November 8, 1984, or brought into use after that date, a person who owns an underground storage tank system used for storage, use, or dispensing of regulated substances;

(b) in the case of an underground storage tank system in use before November 8, 1984, but no longer in use on that date, a person who owned such an underground storage tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use; or

(c) a person who has assumed legal ownership of the underground storage tank through the provisions of a contract of sale or other legally binding transfer of ownership.

`Owner' does not include a person who, without participating in the management of an underground storage tank and otherwise not engaged in petroleum production, refining, and marketing, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect the owner's security interest in the property, real and personal. It also does not include persons who acquire title to the property through foreclosure or other means necessary to enforce the security interest."

B. Section 44-2-80 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 486 of 1988, is amended to read:

"Section 44-2-80. Any A person who releases a regulated substance from an underground storage tank shall immediately shall undertake to contain, remove, and abate the release to the satisfaction of the department. However, the undertaking to contain, remove, or abate a

C. This section takes effect July 1, 1995./

Amend sections, totals and title to conform.

Senator LAND explained the amendment.

Senator LAND moved that the amendment be adopted.

The amendment was adopted.

Senators MATTHEWS, FORD and GREG SMITH proposed the following Amendment No. 127 (JIC\5942HTC.95), which was adopted:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part II, by adding an appropriately numbered section to read:

The third paragraph of Section 9-11-140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Upon receipt of the proper proofs of death of an eligible member in service whose death was a natural and proximate result of an injury by external accident or violence incurred while undergoing a hazard peculiar to his the member's employment while in the actual performance of his duty, provided that the death was without wilful negligence on the part of the deceased and upon the finding and certification by the board that the death occurred, there must be paid to his widow, if he leaves a widow, to continue during her widowhood the member's surviving spouse, a pension of fifty percent of his the member's compensation at the time of death. If

Amend sections, totals and title to conform.

Senator LAND explained the amendment.

Senator MATTHEWS moved that the amendment be adopted.

The amendment was adopted.

Senator DRUMMOND proposed the following Amendment No. 133 (JIC\5934HTC.95), which was adopted:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part II, by adding an appropriately numbered section to read:

A. Section 12-37-450(B) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 137 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"(B) Counties and municipalities must be reimbursed for the revenue lost as a result of the business inventory tax exemption based on the 1987 tax year millage and 1987 tax year assessed value of inventories in the counties and municipalities. If an amount of reimbursement to a political subdivision within a county is attributable to a separate millage for debt service for any purpose, when that debt is paid, the appropriate

B. This section takes effect July 1, 1995./

Amend sections, totals and title to conform.

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