HB 120-AIDEA: NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT PROGRAM  10:22:02 AM CHAIR HERRON announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 120, "An Act creating a new markets tax credit assistance guarantee and loan program within the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority; and providing for an effective date." 10:22:15 AM MARK DAVIS, Economic Development Officer, Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA), Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), informed the committee HB 120 would enable AIDEA to work with a federal tax program called the New Markets Tax Credit Assistance (NMTC) program. House Bill 120 is a companion bill to HB 119, and both bills provide AIDEA with new tools for economic development. He explained that the NMTC program will allow AIDEA to cooperate with qualified equity investors who, working with a community development entity such as Alaska Growth Capital (AGC), put money in projects and receive a tax credit up to 39 percent on their federal taxes. However, Mr. Davis warned that a problem with the program is that banks on the lending side are required to take interest-only payments for seven years and cannot place a lien, thus banks have been unwilling to make these loans. In search of a solution, AIDEA consulted with other states, NMTC funds, AGC, and its legal counsel. With their suggestions, HB 120 was drafted to allow AIDEA to offer a guarantee to the bank, thereby encouraging the availability of private capital for projects in targeted low-income communities, which is the purpose of the NMTC program. CHAIR HERRON directed that additional written testimony be made part of the record. [The additional written testimony was submitted to the library with other documents for the permanent record.] 10:24:48 AM CHAIR HERRON closed public testimony. 10:25:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE OLSON moved to report HB 120 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being no objection, HB 120 was reported out of the House Special Committee on Economic Development, International Trade and Tourism. 10:25:42 AM