SENATE BILL No. 1397

 

 

June 18, 2008, Introduced by Senators CROPSEY, ALLEN, JACOBS, HUNTER and GILBERT and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Tourism.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1984 PA 270, entitled

 

"Michigan strategic fund act,"

 

by amending section 88c (MCL 125.2088c), as added by 2005 PA 225.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 88c. (1) The fund board shall exercise the duties of a

 

fiduciary with respect to 21st century investments consistent with

 

the purposes of this chapter. The prudent investor rule shall be

 

applied by the fund board and any agent of the fund board in the

 

management of 21st century investments. The prudent investor rule

 

as applied to 21st century investments means that in making 21st

 

century investments, the fund board shall exercise the judgment and

 

care under the circumstances then prevailing that an institutional

 

investor of ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence would

 


exercise in similar circumstances in a like position. The fund

 

board shall maintain a reasonable diversification among 21st

 

century investments consistent with the requirements of this

 

chapter.

 

     (2) The fund board shall select qualified private equity

 

funds, qualified venture capital funds, and qualified mezzanine

 

funds by issuing a request for proposal. At a minimum, the request

 

for proposal shall require a responding entity to disclose any

 

conflict of interest, disclose any criminal convictions, disclose

 

any investigations by the internal revenue service, the securities

 

and exchange commission, or any other federal or state taxing or

 

securities regulatory body, or court, or pertinent litigation

 

regarding the conduct of the person or entity. The fund board shall

 

establish a standard process to evaluate proposals submitted as a

 

result of a request for proposal and appoint a committee to review

 

the proposals.

 

     (3) The fund board shall ensure that a recipient of money

 

under sections 88d, 88e, 88f, and 88g agrees as a condition of

 

receiving the money not to use the money for any of the following:

 

     (a) The development of a stadium or arena for use by a

 

professional sports team.

 

     (b) The development of a casino regulated by this state under

 

the Michigan gaming control and revenue act, the Initiated Law of

 

1996 IL 1, MCL 432.201 to 432.226, a casino at which gaming is

 

conducted under the Indian gaming regulatory act, Public Law 100-

 

497, 102 Stat. 2467, or property associated or affiliated with the

 

operation of either type of casino described in this subdivision,

 


including, but not limited to, a parking lot, hotel, motel, or

 

retail store.

 

     (4) The fund board shall establish requirements to ensure that

 

money expended under sections 88d, 88e, 88f, and 88g shall not be

 

used for any of the following:

 

     (a) Provision of money to a person who has been convicted of a

 

criminal offense incident to the application for or performance of

 

a state contract or subcontract. As used in this subdivision, if a

 

person is a business entity, person includes affiliates,

 

subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees, and any

 

person who, directly or indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in

 

that business entity of 20% or more. A director or officer of a

 

nonprofit entity may satisfy the requirements of this subdivision

 

if he or she files an affidavit with the fund affirming that he or

 

she has not been convicted of a criminal offense incident to the

 

application for or performance of a state contract or subcontract.

 

     (b) Provision of money to a person who has been convicted of a

 

criminal offense, or held liable in a civil proceeding, that

 

negatively reflects on the person's business integrity, based on a

 

finding of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or

 

destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or violation of

 

state or federal antitrust statutes. As used in this subdivision,

 

if a person is a business entity, person includes affiliates,

 

subsidiaries, officers, directors, managerial employees, and any

 

person who, directly or indirectly, holds a pecuniary interest in

 

that business entity of 20% or more. A director or officer of a

 

nonprofit entity may satisfy the requirements of this subdivision

 


if he or she files an affidavit with the fund affirming that he or

 

she has not been convicted of a criminal offense, or held liable in

 

a civil proceeding, that negatively reflects on the person's

 

business integrity, based on a finding of embezzlement, theft,

 

forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records,

 

receiving stolen property, or violation of state or federal

 

antitrust statutes.

 

     (c) Provision of money to a business enterprise to induce

 

qualified businesses or small businesses to leave this state.

 

     (d) Provision of money that would contribute to the violation

 

of internationally recognized workers rights, as defined in section

 

507(4) of the trade act of 1974, 19 USC 2467(4), of workers in a

 

country other than the United States, including any designated zone

 

or area in that country.

 

     (e) Provision of money to a corporation or an affiliate of the

 

corporation who is incorporated in a tax haven country after

 

September 11, 2001, while maintaining the United States as the

 

principal market for the public trading of the corporation's stock.

 

As used in this section, "tax haven country" includes a country

 

with tax laws that facilitate avoidance by a corporation or an

 

affiliate of the corporation of United States tax obligations,

 

including Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman

 

Islands, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Isle of

 

Man, the principality of Liechtenstein, the principality of Monaco,

 

and the Republic of the Seychelles.

 

     (5) Before adopting a resolution that establishes or

 

substantially changes a 21st century investment program, including

 


any fees, charges, or penalties attached to that program, the fund

 

board shall give notice of the proposed resolution to the governor,

 

to the clerk of the house of representatives, to the secretary of

 

the senate, to members of the senate and house of representatives

 

appropriation committees, and to each person who requested from the

 

fund in writing or electronically to be notified regarding proposed

 

resolutions. The notice and proposed resolution and all attachments

 

shall be published on the fund's internet website. The fund board

 

shall hold a public hearing not sooner than 14 days and not longer

 

than 30 days from the date notice of a proposed resolution is given

 

and offer a person an opportunity to present data, views,

 

questions, and arguments. Members of the fund board or 1 or more

 

persons designated by the fund board who have knowledge of the

 

subject matter of the proposed resolution shall be present at the

 

public hearing and shall participate in the discussion of the

 

proposed resolution. The fund board may act on the proposed

 

resolution no sooner than 14 days after the public hearing. The

 

fund board shall produce a final decision document that describes

 

the basis for its decision. The final resolution and all

 

attachments and the decision document shall be provided to the

 

governor, to the clerk of the house of representatives, to the

 

secretary of the senate, and to members of the senate and house of

 

representatives appropriation committees and shall be published on

 

the fund's internet website.

 

     (6) The notice described in subsection (5) shall include all

 

of the following:

 

     (a) A copy of the proposed resolution and all attachments.

 


     (b) A statement that the addressee may express any data,

 

views, or arguments regarding the proposed resolution.

 

     (c) The address to which written comments may be sent and the

 

date by which comments must be mailed or electronically

 

transmitted, which date shall not be before the date of the public

 

hearing.

 

     (d) The date, time, and place of the public hearing.

 

     (7) The fund board shall employ or contract with a fund

 

manager or other persons it considers necessary to implement this

 

section. The person employed or contracted under this subsection

 

shall have not less than 10 years' experience in commercial

 

lending, private equity, mezzanine funding, or venture capital. The

 

person employed or contracted under this section shall exercise the

 

duties of a fiduciary toward investments from the investment fund

 

under this section. Management fees payable by the fund and other

 

investors in a qualified private equity fund, a qualified mezzanine

 

fund, or a qualified venture capital fund, or other investments

 

authorized by this chapter shall be considered an investment

 

expense and not an administrative cost incurred by the fund.

 

     (8) Subject to subsection (9), a record received, prepared,

 

used, or retained by an investment fiduciary in connection with an

 

investment or potential investment of the investment fund that

 

relates to investment information pertaining to a portfolio company

 

in which the investment fiduciary has invested or has considered an

 

investment that is considered by the portfolio company and

 

acknowledged by the investment fiduciary as confidential, or that

 

relates to investment information whether prepared by or for the

 


investment fiduciary regarding loans and assets directly owned by

 

the investment fiduciary and acknowledged by the investment

 

fiduciary as confidential, is exempt from the disclosure

 

requirements of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL

 

15.231 to 15.246, if at least annually the fund provides to the

 

fund board, and makes available to the public, a report of fund

 

investments during the prior state fiscal year that includes all of

 

the following:

 

     (a) The name of each portfolio company in which the investment

 

fund invested during the reporting period.

 

     (b) The aggregate amount of money invested by the investment

 

fund in portfolio companies during the reporting period.

 

     (c) The rate of return realized during the reporting period on

 

the investments of the investment fund in portfolio companies.

 

     (d) The source of any public funds invested by the investment

 

fund in portfolio companies during the reporting period.

 

     (9) If a record described in subsection (8) is an agreement or

 

instrument to which an investment fiduciary is a party, only those

 

parts of the record that contain investment information are exempt

 

from the disclosure requirements of the freedom of information act,

 

1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

 

     (10) As used in subsections (8) and (9):

 

     (a) "Investment fiduciary" means a person who exercises any

 

discretionary authority or control over an investment of the

 

investment fund or renders investment advice for the fund for a fee

 

or other direct or indirect compensation.

 

     (b) "Investment information" means information that has not

 


been publicly disseminated or that is unavailable from other

 

sources, the release of which might cause a portfolio company or an

 

investment fiduciary significant competitive harm. Investment

 

information includes, but is not limited to, financial performance

 

data and projections, financial statements, list of coinvestors and

 

their level of investment, product and market data, rent rolls, and

 

leases.

 

     (c) "Portfolio company" means an entity in which an investment

 

fiduciary has made or considered an investment on behalf of the

 

investment fund.

 

     (d) "Record" means all or part of a writing, as that term is

 

defined in section 2 of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA

 

442, MCL 15.232.