Legislation that would triple funding for the state’s research and development income tax credit — from $6 million to $18 million — unanimously passed the Senate and is slated to be heard by the House Ways and Means Committee at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The bill has strong support in the business community.

“Increasing the amount of funding allowed for the R&D tax credit would help to promote high-tech job creation in Maryland,” Ronald Wineholt, vice president of government affairs for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, said in a blog.

The current cap of $6 million has not been increased since the program was created in 2000, while Pennsylvania has more than tripled its program funding to $55 million a year, according to the chamber.

The Senate version does not include a provision that was in the original bill that would have allowed small businesses to receive a refundable credit. That part would be needed for the program to have much use for companies such as Sequella, said Marty Zug, CFO of the Rockville biotech.

“We haven’t been able to take advantage of that program yet,” Zug said.

Public-private partnership bill passes House

An administrative bill that would develop a uniform process for solicited and unsolicited public-private partnership proposals, making it easier for such projects to move forward, has been passed by the House. It is slated to be reviewed by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on Wednesday.

The House version includes an amendment that would speed the appeals process in cases involving public-private partnerships. The amendment would allow parties to bypass circuit court and appeal directly to the Maryland Court of Appeals.

The amended bill would affect a lawsuit against the $1.5 billion State Center mixed-use development project in downtown Baltimore that was filed by property owners who claim the project was not competitively bid. The project seeks to redevelop State Center into an urban village with 2 million square feet of office space for government and private use, 1,400 housing units and 250,000 square feet of retail.

The measure passed the House by an 80-53 vote.

kshay@gazette.net