BioRegion News: June 5, 2009 -- Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law this week a pair of bills sought by state life science leaders.Both bills, however, include changes that scale down the tax breaks that were originally proposed through the measures, reflecting the state's need to balance its budget by wiping out a $1.4 billion shortfall blamed on the ongoing economic upheaval.
Ritter on June 1 signed House Bill 09-1035, which expands the categories of business eligible for refunds of up to $50,000 in state sales and use taxes paid on personal property for research and development to include medical-device makers, producers of biofuels, and other "clean" technologies that are headquartered in Colorado and that employ 50 or fewer full-time employees. Biotech businesses are already eligible for the credit.
The governor, a Democrat in his first term, also enacted House Bill 09-1105, which provides tax incentives for angel investors in life-sciences startups, as well as other companies "primarily in research and development or manufacturing of new technologies, products, or processes."
