Insurance taxes: income taxes: credits: community development financial institution investments.

Existing laws governing the taxation of insurers, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law, authorize, until January 1, 2017, a credit in an amount equal to 20% of a qualified investment, as defined, made into a community development financial institution, as defined, but not to exceed, in the aggregate amount under all those laws, $10,000,000 per year. Existing law provides that a credit shall not be allowed under those laws unless the California Organized Investment Network certifies that the investment made by the taxpayer is a qualified investment, as defined. Existing law requires a community development financial institution to apply to the California Organized Investment Network on behalf of the taxpayer for certification of the amount of the investment and the credit amount allocated to the taxpayer. The bill would increase the $10,000,000 limitation on the aggregate amount of qualified investments to $50,000,000. This bill would require a community development financial institution to provide in the application a detailed description of the intended use of the investment funds, as described, and to provide specified information about the taxpayer. This bill would require the California Organized Investment Network, when accepting and evaluating applications for certification from any community development financial institution on behalf of the taxpayer and issuing certificates, to grant highest priority to those applications where the intended use of the investments has the greatest aggregate benefit for low-to-moderate income areas or households or rural areas or households. This bill would require the Insurance Commissioner to establish tax credit issuance cycles throughout the year as necessary in order to issue tax credit certificates to those applications granted the highest priority. This bill would prohibit the total amount of investments certified by the California Organized Investment Network in any calendar year to any one community development financial institution from exceeding 30% of the annual aggregate amount of qualified investments, except as specified. This bill would require that each year 10% of the annual aggregate amount of qualified investments be reserved for investment amounts of less than or equal to $200,000, as specified. This bill would also allow the California Organized Investment Network to certify investments for the credit until January 1, 2017. This bill would require, on or before June 30, 2016, the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report to the Legislature on the effects of the tax credits allowed, with a focus on employment in low-to-moderate income and rural areas, and on the benefits of these tax credits to low-to-moderate income and rural persons. Existing law authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to issue regulations to implement the credit. This bill would instead authorize the Insurance Commissioner to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations to implement the credit, and would deem the initial adoption of the regulations to be emergency regulations, as specified. Existing law authorizes the California Organized Investment Network, in allocating qualified investment credits, when certain conditions are met, to prioritize applications for those credits, as specified. This bill would revise those conditions. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.