Connecticut legislators have proposed creating “green” economic development zones to encourage the development of innovative companies in environmental and energy technologies and services.
The bill comes as Connecticut officials are still working out how to spend billions in federal stimulus money expected for a wide range of projects ”“ and as state and local officials vie to get their bills through the legislative process.
Even as the Connecticut General Assembly deliberates on the proposed economic development zones, a separate working group created by Gov. M. Jodi Rell is preparing proposals for how the infusion can best be spent. And the legislative committee on energy and technology has offered up several proposals.
The green zones bill was written by the commerce committee of the Connecticut General Assembly, whose co-chairs are East Hartford Sen. Gary LeBeau and Waterbury Rep. Jeffrey Berger. The step is not unprecedented in the tri-state area, albeit on a smaller level ”“ Middlesex County in New Jersey proposed creating such zones last year.
Businesses in such zones would be eligible to receive similar benefits as companies within the state”™s existing enterprise zones, which include an 80-percent tax abatement on eligible real estate and other property for five years; and credits covering up to half the corporate taxes owed by a business. The new law would apply only to areas eligible for small-town economic assistance under existing state law.
The proposed zones would be subject to the approval of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, whose commissioner is Joan McDonald.
The assembly is already working on another bill that would determine how to spend any stimulus money to increase the number of green jobs in the state, while promoting renewable energy and conservation.
Even as Vice President Joe Biden set about soliciting input for $500 million in green-jobs training nationally as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed a 15-point plan last month in an attempt to establish guidelines to train workers for expertise in environmental work, whether handyman trades like plumbers or scientific endeavors like chemists. If jobs involve products or services that reduce energy consumption and/or preserve natural resources, they qualify ”“ and according to the White House pay between 10 percent and 20 percent more than jobs not meeting that description.
In a gubernatorial directive, Rell instructed community colleges to come up with eight certificate programs capable of training more than 300 students within two years, after the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $2 million from a DOL initiative called Sustainable Operations: Alternative and Renewable Energy, or SOAR for short. She also directed the community college system to chase down any scholarship opportunities that may become available from the National Science Foundation or its affiliates.
Rell told the state education department to create a “Green Collar Corps” to train future workers on how to perform energy audits and design, including through the state”™s vocational school program.
The governor ordered the Office of Policy and Management to investigate how to reallocate funds to support the new 21st Century Green Jobs Training Initiative.
And she asked the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission to create a “Green Collar Jobs Council” comprising the departments of Education, Higher Education, Environmental Protection, Labor, and Economic and Community Development; the Energy Workforce Development Consortium; and representatives of business and industry.
Rell also envisions “green” transportation corridors along Interstates 95 and 91, though was short on details on what the corridors would mandate.
