Committee moves forward with Decade Act changes to economic development and tax credits

The Budget and Taxation Committee moved Senate Bill 388 — known in committee as the "Decade Act" — with amendments after a detailed staff presentation and member discussion.

The chair summarized the bill as an administration‑sponsored package that "alters various economic development programs and tax credits," including renaming the Economic Development Opportunities Fund (the Sunny Day Fund) the Strategic Closing Fund and relocating it to the Department of Commerce; creating a Maryland Small Business Development Financing Fund; transferring the RISE Zone and Build Our Future Grant programs to MEDCO; and extending several tax credits, including the Job Creation Tax Credit through January 2032 and the R&D tax credit for tax years 2026–2030.

Under the amendments, the committee restored a 60‑day Local Policy Committee (LPC) review and approval process for proposed uses of the Strategic Closing Fund even though the account would be moved out of the State Reserve Fund and therefore no longer routed through the budget amendment process. Committee staff explained the change preserves the existing local review role.

Other changes in the amended version include reallocation and clarifying edits: the draft language that would have split 1.5% of video lottery terminal (VLT) revenues equally between two accounts was struck so that 1.5% continues to flow to SMWOBA; the maximum investment cap in the equity participation program was increased from $2 million to $3 million; Commerce would have 30 days to act on eligible fund manager loan disbursement requests; Commerce must consider fund manager performance metrics and periodically issue RFPs to add eligible managers; and reporting previously produced for FY21–24 would be resumed.

Committee members questioned the authorization for eligible fund managers to use grant funds for marketing purposes and sought guardrails. One participant asked that the committee establish a norm or limit for marketing spending to avoid excessive use of grant dollars for promotional activities; staff and members agreed to revisit that element with the work group.

Pages 67–70 of the amendment also remove provisions related to the Biotech Investment Incentive Tax Credit (referred to in the transcript as BITSEA/BITSEY) because the committee had already advanced Senate Bill 247, which converts that program to a grant and would conflict with the Decade Act’s original language.

After the discussion the chair moved the bill as presented with amendments and called for the question. Members expressed support for continued work on detail items and for possible floor amendments as necessary. The motion carried by voice vote; a numerical tally was not recorded in the transcript.

What’s next: The committee advanced the bill to subsequent committees as required by jurisdictional rules and said staff would follow up on marketing limits, funding balances and any necessary drafting clarifications.